Every stretch of the season has it's own unique challenges. After beating the Raptors to move to 4-0, the Hawks had to keep their focus and go to Oklahoma City to face a team they knew they should beat handily. Though it wasn't their best effort of the season, they did what was needed and came away victorious. Tonight finds the team in a similar situation. Atlanta sits 2-1 on the current road trip with a chance to really help the cause by winning both ends of this doubleheader. But they can't just waltz into New Jersey and take home a W.

So far in 2008-09, the Hawks' focus has been the team's calling card. No one wins four straight on the road in this league without it, let alone come back from 23-point deficit against a playoff team. To keep up their current level of play, this team will have to stay sharp, especially given the known absence of Josh Smith and the potential absence of Zaza Pachulia (a game-time decision tonight with a shoulder injury). It's easy to put the two Nets games into the win column and think about how the schedule softens over the next few weeks, but that kind of thinking is what made this team so maddeningly inconsistent the last few years.

We can only think about the Nets and how to beat them, then come back and do the same darn thing tomorrow.

A couple notes before I head out:

- Tomorrow night's game isn't on TV. The only way to see it is to come down to Philips Arena. Won't you please join us?

- Sekou Smith points out that Wednesday night's Boston game posted a 3.9 rating, including a 6.73 for the fourth quarter, which is almost unheard of for a regular season game in November. To put it in perspective, the playoff games last year averaged a 2.

- The Newark Star-Ledger's Dave D'Allesandro answered a few questions for us about the Nets to preview the weekend's action. Definitely see what he has to say about what to expect from the dirty Jers'.

- I mentioned Zaza is gametime for tonight. The Nets Devin Harris is similarly injured, but word is he plans on testing his ankle in pre-game in hopes to see the floor. Harris has missed the last three games for New Jersey, who will also be without Josh Boone tonight (ankle contusion). Seems like we'll see a lot of small ball from both teams, potentially.