If there was an initial point at which fans could have believed that their team's deep roster would make good on a successful 2020-21 season, perhaps it was Dec. 30, 2020.
After scoring 33 points in a frenetic 145-141 Nets win over the Hawks in Brooklyn, Kevin Durant said of the feisty Hawks, "They have seven or eight starters on their team, I feel like."
Two nights later on the same floor in a new year, the Hawks put six scorers in double figures in a win over Brooklyn.
While the Hawks showed flashes in that back-to-back in Brooklyn, most of their success had to wait until later in the season.