Atlanta Hawks vs Memphis Grizzlies: Preview, How to Watch, and Projected Starters For Today's Summer League Game

The Atlanta Hawks are playing for the postseason again - kind of.

After a resounding win over the Boston Celtics, the Hawks are now 3-0 in Las Vegas and are hovering in 2nd place behind the Los Angeles Lakers by a minuscule margin. The top four teams will move on to the Summer League playoffs, where the Hawks should fare decently well due to their combination of exciting rookie talent and intriguing G League call-ups.

Their game against Boston has some asterisks associated with it. Hugo Gonzalez, who is arguably Boston's most intriguing young player at the moment, didn't suit up. However, the Hawks chose to sit both of their first-round rookies in Kingston Flemings and Zuby Ejiofor, as well as promising sophomore PF Asa Newell.

Instead, they won behind excellent performances from second-round rookie Henri Veesaar and former Exhibit 10 signee Kobe Johnson. The two combined for 50 points and eight made threes between them as they spurred Atlanta's offense to a decisive win.

There isn't much left to prove in Summer League, but today's game against the Grizzlies will be an important one to win if the Hawks want to solidify themselves as a threat to make the Summer League postseason. They could still clinch the top-four record necessary to make the playoffs, but it won't be guarenteed unless they win today.

Cedric Coward, Javon Small, and Cameron Boozer all played significant roles in Memphis's win over the Warriors on Tuesday. It's not entirely clear if they'll play today, but there's some incentive to win if they want the extra experience for their players. They're 2-1 and could vault themselves into the top four with a strong performance today.

Game Preview

Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, NBA, Christian Koloko, Koloko, — Mar 23, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Christian Koloko (35) reaches for the ball from the floor against the Memphis Grizzlies during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The two standouts of the Boston game have consistently been strong for the Hawks throughout the summer.

In particular, Kobe Johnson has earned strong consideration for a two-way spot. He's still just 22 years old and the undrafted guard is more than just Jalen Johnson's younger brother. He came off the bench against Boston and scored 30 points on just 18 shots while also grabbing seven rebounds. He's a strong driver to the rim, shows some promise as a cutter, and he can knock down shots in catch-and-release situations.

Veesaar's strong performance against Boston continued to show coaches that he's got a fairly projectable floor - his ability to draw attention as a legit shooting threat creates much more space to operate. It'll be interesting to see how Veesaar looks at the NBA level, but he went toe-to-toe with Boston's 2026 first-round selection in Houston center Chris Cenac Jr and arguably out played him.

Outside of those two, the rest of the team was fairly quiet. Gabe Madsen's starting spot continues to be a surprise considering how well Johnson is playing, but he is nevertheless playing a starter's minutes. Madsen was also the only other Hawk outside of Johnson and Veesar who made multiple three-pointers, so he deserves some credit for that. Devon Higgins had a decent game with 12 points, but the rest of the Hawks couldn't really get anything going.

For today's game, it will be fascinating to see how Atlanta fares with guarding Cameron Boozer. Boozer hasn't completely dominated the competition, but he's been extremely efficient and the leader of Memphis's offense thus far. He scored 23 points in his Las Vegas debut and continues to look like a player who's capable of handling a big role this season.

It's still unclear whether Boozer will play, but it'd be very intriguing to watch the matchup between him and Ejiofor. Ejiofor is a very strong defender and has the quickness to guard Boozer on the perimeter - that makes him a good candidate to put up a competitive showing on defense against the 3rd overall pick.

If Kingston Flemings does play, he'll have a good matchup in Javon Small. Despite being of small stature, the former West Virginia point guard is coming off a night where he scored 26 points on just 12 shots and sank five of his eight attempts from deep. Small's also a pesky defender who can make it difficult for opponents with a shaky handle.

While Flemings has shown advanced-level playmaking thus far, it's possible that Small could frustrate him despite Flemings having a physical and processing advantage. Furthermore, Grizzlies guard Brendan Hausen has also shown this summer that he's a capable three-point shooter against fringe NBA competition, so that could be a player who gives the Hawks problems tonight.

Regardles of the winner, Atlanta's had a strong performance in Vegas and there's several reasons to be very excited about what the rookies and two-way candidates showed ahead of next season. Being this close to the Summer League playoffs doesn't mean much for the season, but the long-term effects of Atlanta being able to find draft prospects and two-way guys that can acclimate quickly to the NBA level could result in a very deep Hawks team. That's especially valuable because depth comes at a premium nowadays in the NBA.

How to Watch

Today's game will be shown at 8:00 p.m. ET on Prime Video.

Projected Starters

G - Kingston Flemings

G - Kobe Johnson

F - Gabe Madsen

F - Asa Newell

C - Zuby Ejiofor

Add us as a preferred source on Google