The Atlanta Hawks played their 12th game of the season on Monday in their loss to the Lakers and at the time, they had played the most games of any team in the league. The Hawks are on a well-deserved three-day break and will resume play on Friday night against the Chicago Bulls on the road.

So far, the Hawks have had what I would describe as a solid start to the season. They are 7-5 and currently fourth in the Eastern Conference, but they have some favorable matchups coming up and they can continue to stay in the upper echelon of the East.

Here are the burning questions facing Atlanta this week.

1. Can they take care of business?

It is the NBA and on any given night, any team can lose to anyone. Last night, the Spurs were down by 20 to the Chicago Bulls and while they were able to come back and get a win, it showed that if you play poorly enough, you can be beaten.

The Bulls and the Bucks have a combined record of 2-20 and are considered to be two of the worst teams in the league. While the Hawks are not considered to be on the same echelon as San Antonio or other contenders, they cannot afford to drop games like this. To keep pace in the Eastern Conference, wins against the bottom tier of teams is a must.

2. Backup center

The center depth on the Hawks is a bit questionable, but when Jock Landale was out with an injury, Atlanta got some valuable minutes from rookie Zuby Ejiofor. Were they game changing minutes? Not necessarily, but he was able to provide some skills that Landale has not and Hawks fans were wondering what would happen with Ejiofor and his minutes when Landale comes back.

In the game on Monday against the Lakers, Landale played 14 minutes and Ejiofor only played 3:52. His stint in the first half did not go very well, so that likely was the cause for him not getting more in the second half, but Landale was not exceptional in his minutes either.

So what will Quin Snyder do with the backup center minutes in these next two games?

3. Defense

The Hawks have been a middle-of-the-pack defense this season, ranking 16th in points allowed per 100 possessions, per Cleaning the Glass.

If the Hawks lose to either the Bulls or the Bucks, I think that it would be because their defense could not contain the opposing offense. Chicago has some talented players, such as Josh Giddey, Caleb Wilson (who left the game vs the Spurs), and Norm Powell (who did not play against the Spurs) and any of these players could go off and have a big game if the Hawks don't play sound defense.

Same goes for Milwaukee. Tyler Herro can score in a hurry and they have some intriguing young talent as well. The Hawks need to improve on that end of the floor and that starts tomorrow night in Chicago.