Injury Report: Atlanta Hawks vs Charlotte Hornets
The Atlanta Hawks are playing their final home game of the regular season tonight when they face the Charlotte Hornets and they might be getting their star point guard back tonight as well.
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.
Getting Young back would be huge for the offense. Murray has been great in Young's absence, but the Hawks have missed his playmaking ability and passing. Keep an eye out for the official word on Young's status and the others later today.
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.
