Ben Simmon's Status Revealed for Tonight's Game vs Atlanta

After being downgraded to questionable earlier today, Nets forward Ben Simmons was just ruled out for tonight's game vs the Hawks due to left leg soreness.

Nets say Ben Simmons is out tonight vs ATL due to left leg soreness.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 29, 2024

The Hawks are playing in their third game with point guard Trae Young and they are looking to move to 3-0 since his injury. While the offense has not completely cratered, it is not the same and that has been noticeable.

The good news for the Hawks is that in Young's absence, Dejounte Murray and Jalen Johnson have been fantastic.

With Trae Young out, Johnson was going to be asked to do a lot on offense, as well as being their top perimeter defender and he has responded.

After a near triple-double on Sunday, Johnson almost had one again last night. He finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds, and six rebounds while shooting 9-14 from the floor. He looked comfortable running the floor on offense and his transition game is already among the best in the NBA. Johnson is one of the most improved players in the NBA and he is only getting better.

After a tough couple of games, Clint Capela started to look like his old self a little bit on Tuesday vs Utah. He finished with nine points, 13 rebounds, and three blocked shots. Capela was finishing better at the rim and looked good on defense.

For the fourth time in the last five games, De'Andre Hunter scored 20 points coming off the bench. I think it might be safe to assume that this is the role Hunter is going to be in for the rest of the season and he is excelling at it.

Hunter finished with 20 points on 6-10 shooting and five rebounds last night and was the second-leading scorer on the team. Hunter has also been a good defender in this stretch and his emergence off the bench has been notable. He is quicker with his decision making and that has been one of the most notable things when watching under over the past month.

The Hawks come into the game 4th in PPG, 21st in field goal percentage, 7th in three-point attempts, 20th in three-point percentage, 5th in free throw attempts, 1st in offensive rebounding, and 13th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 10th in points per 100 possessions, 17th in effective field goal percentage, 7th in turnover percentage, 5th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 8th in free throw rate.

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