Tip-off is getting closer between the Hawks and the Spurs and the starting lineup for Atlanta was just revealed. It is no surprise that there are no changes. Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, De’Andre Hunter, Saddiq Bey, and Clint Capela will remain the starters for the Hawks. Since Jalen Johnson went down with his wrist injury, Bey has started the last two games.
The Spurs are starting Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham, Keldon Johnson, Victor Wembanyama, and Zach Collins.
After being a game-time decision earlier today, Wembanyama is going to play tonight for San Antonio. It will be interesting to see how the Hawks try and defend him tonight.
The Hawks’ offense vs the Spur’s defense is going to be a huge mismatch in this game, even with Johnson out. Atlanta is coming into today’s game 2nd in PPG, 15th in field goal percentage, 12th in three-point percentage, 3rd in offensive rebounds per game, 5th in free throw attempts per game, and 20th in turnovers.
Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 3rd in points per 100 possessions, 12th in effective field goal percentage, 3rd in offensive rebounding percentage, 4th in free throw rate, and 17th in turnover rate.
Trae Young had a rough game vs Cleveland, but he was playing very well before that. He started the year off not shooting the ball well, but he should not have a lot of trouble facing this terrible Spurs defense tonight.
It will be the return of Dejounte Murray to San Antonio. The former Spurs guard has been slumping as of late after a great start to the season. He is averaging 19.6 PPG, 5.4 APG, and 4.3 RPG this season.
De’Andre Hunter came into the year as one of the most important players for the Hawks’s success this season and that is going to be even more true in the absence of Johnson. Hunter is the best wing defender on the Hawks by a mile now and he has to avoid injury and foul trouble until Johnson comes back. Saddiq Bey is starting now and his defense has been very poor.
The most interesting matchup will be between the Spur’s offense and the Hawks’s defense. Atlanta has a pretty bad defense, but the Spurs are not a good offensive team.
The Spurs are 25th in PPG, 24th in field goal percentage, 27th in three-point percentage, 21st in offensive rebounding, and 28th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, San Antonio is 27th in points per 100 possessions, 24th in effective field goal percentage, 26th in turnover percentage, 23rd in offensive rebounding percentage, and 30th in free throw rate.
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