The Hawks and the Hornets will be meeting at State Farm Arena tonight, the final regular season home game for the Hawks. The two teams met just a few weeks ago in Atlanta and the Hawks won handily by 41 points.
The injury report for the Hawks will be worth keeping an eye on tonight. Trae Young, who has not played since February, has been upgraded to questionable tonight vs the Hornets. Young is not the only Hawks on the injury report though. De’Andre Hunter (rest), Wesley Matthews (right hamstring soreness), Dejounte Murray (right quad contusion) are also questionable for tonight. Saddiq Bey (left knee torn ACL), AJ Griffin (right ankle sprain), Jalen Johnson (right ankle sprain), Seth Lundy (left medial ankle impingement), Onyeka Okongwu (left big toe sprain) are all out tonight. Johnson was injured in the loss to the Miami Heat last night.
Because they are on a back-to-back and a lot of the players played heavy minutes, I would not be surprised if the Hawks either sat some players or played the bench guys more minutes. Atlanta still could get the No. 9 seed if the Chicago Bulls falter, but it seems like they will be the No. 10 seed and head to Chicago next week to keep their season alive.
All of those question marks make things tough to predict for this game tonight.
Dejounte Murray is one guy who has been logging heavy minutes for the Hawks and is coming off a 29-point triple-double vs the Heat last night. Murray has had to take the reigns of the offense without Young out, but I think it would benefit him if Snyder played Bufkin more minutes tonight.
Bogdan Bogdanovic has been one of the best players on the Hawks this season but is coming off a really rough shooting night vs the Heat. Bogdanovic was 4-17 and only scored 11 points. He missed several good looks last night and in a game that went to double overtime and was close, that was one of the differences.
De'Andre Hunter was one of the Hawks's best players last night, scoring 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He was taking advantage of mismatches vs Tyler Herro and look for him to do the same tonight.
Clint Capela is coming off of a rough performance himself. He scored six points and grabbed 11 rebounds and was a -11 when on the floor. With a capable guy like Bruno Fernando, I think it is wise of Snyder to not play Capela heavy minutes tonight.
If Young does indeed return, it will be interesting to see the bench rotation and if it changes.
Coming into this game, Atlanta ranks 6th in PPG, 20th in field goal percentage, 7th in three-point attempts, 18th in three-point percentage, 7th in free throw attempts, 1st in offensive rebounding, and 16th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Hawks are 10th in points per 100 possessions, 16th in effective field goal percentage, 11th in turnover percentage, 5th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 13th in free throw rate.
Charlotte is limping to the finish line of this season, but they could be catching the Hawks at the right time, coming off of a back-to-back. The Hornets have two guys in Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges that can cause headaches for opposing defenses and their best chance to win tonight is getting a big game from either of them.
Aside from Miller and Bridges though, the Hornets offense is one of the NBA's worst. They are 29th in PPG, 26th in field goal percentage, 17th in three-point attempts. 24th in three-point percentage, 30th in free throw attempts, and 18th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, Charlotte is 27th in points per 100 possessions, 27th in effective field goal percentage, 21st in turnover percentage, 27th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 30th in free throw rate.
The Hawks played one of their better defensive games last night, but it did not do much to raise their statistical profile on that end of the floor. The Hawks are 28th in PPG allowed, 27th in field goal percentage allowed, and 28th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Hawks are 25th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 28th in effective field goal percentage allowed.
Atlanta did not have much trouble scoring on the Hornets in the last game and they shouldn't tonight. The Hornets are 22nd in PPG allowed, 28th in field goal percentage allowed, and 25th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Charlotte is 28th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 30th in effective field goal percentage allowed.
Viewing and Betting Information
Tip-off time: 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Location: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA
Where to Watch: NBA League Pass, Bally Sports Southeast,
Spread and Over/Under: The Hawks will be favorites at home tonight, as they are currently 10.5 point underdogs according to the latest odds from the SI Sportsbook and the over/under is set at 221.5.
