The Hawks are gearing up for their third matchup of the season with the Orlando Magic tonight in Atlanta and Atlanta is hoping to get their second win in a row.
With no new injuries on the injury report, the starting lineup for the Hawks was unlikely to change. Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, Saddiq Bey, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela will be the first five on the floor for Atlanta tonight.
Orlando will be rolling with Jalen Suggs, Caleb Houstan, Chuma Okeke, Paolo Banchero, and Goga Bitadze will be the first five for Orlando.
The Hawks are 4th in the NBA in PPG, but their shooting numbers are concerning. Atlanta is 22nd in field goal percentage, 6th in three-point attempts, 16th in three-point percentage, 6th in free throw attempts, 7th in rebounding, and 17th in turnovers. Atlanta takes a lot of threes but does not hit an exceptionally high number of them and they are not a high-percentage shooting team.
Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 11th in points per 100 possessions, 21st in effective field goal percentage, 13th in turnover percentage, 4th in offensive rebounding, and 8th in free throw rate. Atlanta is a good rebounding team and knows how to get to the free-throw line. That is the strength of their offense.
Trae Young is coming off of a 36-point, 13-assist game against the Spurs, a game in which he became the 10th youngest player in NBA history to reach 10,000 points. He is having an exceptional season, averaging 27.5 PPG and 10.9 APG, second in the NBA. He is among the All-Star conversation and he should be.
Jalen Johnson is having a monster breakout season for the Hawks and might be trending toward being their second-best player. He is a strong rebounder and makes highlight dunks in nearly every game. Johnson is averaging 15.0 PPG and 8..3 RPG. Against the Spurs, he had 16 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, and six steals.
Dejounte Murray is having an efficient season for the Hawks, averaging 20.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 4.8 APG. Despite all of the trade rumors surrounding him, he continues to play solid basketball.
The Hawks are going to be going against a good defense and one of the best defenders in the NBA. Jalen Suggs is going to be tasked with guarding Young or Murray tonight and he is an aggressive defender, even fouling out in the last matchup.
Tip-off will be at 7:30.
