Hawks vs Pacers: Game Preview, Injury Report, Projected Starting Lineups For Tonight's Game

The Atlanta Hawks are back in action against the Pacers tonight and they need a win in the worst way. This is their first matchup against Indiana this year, so it's a great chance for the Hawks to show they are beginning to find some stability after their seven-game free fall. Still, I would expect things to be significantly tougher than they usually are in tonight's game because of both the caliber of the opponent and the Hawks' injury woes.

Conversely to the Hawks, the Pacers have won four of their last five games and went 10-2 in the month of January. They struggled to start the year but they have found their offensive form of late, averaging 134.5 points in its last two wins. Indiana is currently the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference and could catch up to the Bucks if they slip this season.

In their last game against the Cavs, the Hawks were blown out, 137-115, and looked generally uncompetitive outside of a 30-point game from Zaccharie Risacher and 25 points off the bench from DeAndre Hunter. Jalen Johnson's season-ending injury puts a damper on the season, but things will have to be better tonight if Atlanta wants to get a win.

Game Preview

Coming into tonight's game, the Hawks are 11th in the NBA in PPG, 19th in FG%, 14th in 3PA, 28th in 3P%, 2nd in FTA, 28th in turnovers, and 8th in rebounding. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 22nd in points per 100 possessions, 22nd in effective field goal percentage, 20th in turnover percentage, 10th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 8th in free throw rate.

Currently, the Hawks rank 27th in PPG allowed, 26th in field goal percentage allowed, 23rd in three-point attempts allowed, and 26th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 15th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 27th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

The Pacers have firmly established themselves as one of the ten best offenses in the NBA. They come into this game ranking 9th in PPG, 4th in FG%, 26th in 3PA, 7th in 3P%, 20th in FTA, 26th in rebounding, and 10th in TO. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Pacers rank 11th in points per 100 possessions, 5th in effective field goal percentage, 7th in turnover percentage, 29th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 22nd in free throw rate.

Defensively, they are more exploitable. They rank 22nd in PPG allowed, 23rd in FG% allowed, 11th in 3PA allowed, and 9th in 3P% allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Cleveland is 17th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 19th in EFG% allowed.

By his lofty standards, Trae Young had a fairly quite night against the Cavs. He only scored 15 points on 5-16 shooting. He did have 10 assists, but the Hawks really need his scoring and he couldn't get it going against Cleveland. I'd expect things to be much better against the Pacers. T.J McConnell is a solid defender, but Young is coming into this matchup with extra motivation after being snubbed as an All-Star. He needs to have a big scoring game tonight.

Zaccharie Risacher hasn't been the most consistent scorer this year, but he looked fantastic against an elite Cavs defense. He had 30 points on an efficient 11-14 night shooting from the field and 5-6 from three in 25 minutes. When his threes are falling, Risacher can be the second or third best player on the court for Atlanta. The problem is that he hasn't been able to string multiple good games from three-point range over an extended run. Fortunately, his defensive instincts have translated rather immediately. He'll have a tough matchup against Pacers forward Pascal Siakam, who was named to the All-Star team after averaging 20.2 points per game on an efficient 52.6% from the floor and a career-best 41.3% from deep.

DeAndre Hunter's consistency off the bench have been much appreciated throughout the season and the team will need that from him again tonight. His two-way presence is invaluable to Atlanta in wake of Johnson's absence. While he'll draw Siakam on a few possessions, there will also be plenty of possessions where he's on Ben Sheppard or Bennedict Mathurin. Sheppard hit four of six attempts from deep against Detroit and shown significant growth as a shooter from his rookie year. Mathurin can score in bunches and is shooting a career-best 58.2 TS%.

This is a big matchup to watch for Onyeka Okongwu's development. After feasting against the Raptors, he struggled against the big lineups of Minnesota and Houston before turning in a solid performance against the double bigs lineup of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. If he can have a good game against Pacers center Myles Turner, that would go a long way towards Okongwu finding the form he had earlier in the month. Okongwu's defense has been good - Turner's three-point shooting is a facet of the Pacers' offense that his defense is going to be sorely needed against.

Dyson Daniels' ability to turn ball-handlers over is going to be crucial when it comes to slowing down Tyrese Haliburton. If Andrew Nembhard sits after he missed the Pacers' most recent game against Detroit, there will be less complementary ball-handlers to take pressure off Haliburton. Daniels has done well against Haliburton in the past, so it'll be interesting to see if he can continue his strong performance in this one.

Injury Report

Trae Young is listed as probable (right hamstring tightness) while Bogdan Bogdanovic (not with team) and Clint Capela (back spasms) remain out. Jalen Johnson (torn labrum, left shoulder) and Kobe Bufkin (right shoulder surgery) are out for the year. There has been no change in Cody Zeller's status as he is listed as out (not with team).

Enriqiue Freeman (illness), Andrew Nembhard (back) and Bennedict Mathurin (illness) are all questionable for Indiana.

Odds

The Hawks are 8.5 point underdogs tonight vs the Pacers and the total has been set at 240.5 according to Fanduel Sportsbook.

Game odd refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-Gambler.

Projected Starting Lineups

Hawks:

G- Trae Young

G - Dyson Daniels

F - Zaccharie Risacher

F - Vit Krejci

C - Onyeka Okongwu

Pacers

G- Tyrese Haliburton

G- Aaron Nesmith

F- Ben Sheppard

F- Pascal Siakam

C- Myles Turner

Game Preview

Injury Report

Odds

Projected Starting Lineups

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