Hawks lose to Rockets 109-102; Harden has 45 and Hawks Out-Rebounded 58-36

The Hawks struggled on the glass and against the pick-and-roll mastery of James Harden Friday night in a disappointing 109-102 loss. While there were many negatives (rebounding, shot selection early, and poor defense) the Hawks still kept it close (had a lead late) and might be able to find some positives in it.

Hawks Final Score: Rockets 109, Hawks 102

Hawks fall to the Rockets after a 45 point outburst from James Harden and Jeremy Lin's 21 points and 10 assists. Lou Williams led the Hawks with 22 points and five assists.

Hawks Vs. Rockets: Hawks down 53-44 at the half

The Hawks got off to a strong start, but their rebounding struggles have caused serious problems as the Hawks are getting pounded on the glass 34-20 and 15-5 on the offensive end. Asik's size has posed a serious problem for the Hawks who have no answer for his length on the boards. James Harden has 17 points to lead the Rockets.

The Hawks offense has shown up in spurts, but has struggled at times to move the ball as is wanted/needed. Devin Harris leads the Hawks with 9 points (all coming in the first 6 minutes), while Josh Smith eight points, five boards, and three blocks. Atlanta is shooting 40.9% from the field (18-44) and 25 percent from three.

Anthony Tolliver has gotten a lot of burn at the 3 and 4 spots, with Morrow and Ivan not seeing any action. Larry Drew seems to still be trying to find the right rotations sometimes going extremely big with Tolliver, Smith, Horford, and Pachulia on the floor together at the same time.

Drew sets starting lineup...sort of

Larry Drew set his starting lineup for tonight against the Rockets as Jeff Teague, Devin Harris, Kyle Korver, Josh Smith, and Al Horford, with the caveat that they could go bigger at the two pending match-ups. Petro, as expected, will be inactive with a sore back. Essentially, without explicitly stating names, he said he may go defensive with Stevenson on Harden rather than Harris, who is a lesser defender, but a much better ball-handler and scorer. The Rockets will start Jeremy Lin, James Harden, Chandler Parsons, Marcus Morris, and Omer Asik. Tip-off scheduled for 7:43 ET.

Shootaround Notes: Hawks Excited for Opener; Prep for Pick-and-Rolls and James Harden

The Hawks finally get their season underway after a week long layoff between their final preseason game and their regular season opener. The opener got a little tougher with the Rockets' addition of James Harden, and the Hawks defensive preparations have made him their focus.

Rockets Vs. Hawks Preview, start time, tv/radio info and more

The Danny Ferry era officially begins on Friday when the Atlanta Hawks host the Houston Rockets to open the 2012-13 regular season.