Atlanta Hawks Vs San Antonio Spurs: Preview, How to Watch, and Projected Starters For Today's SL Game

Overall, the Atlanta Hawks had a great time in Salt Lake City Summer League.

They went 2-1 during the tournament and picked up an impressive win against a very talented Oklahoma City Thunder squad featuring 2026 first-round picks Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz. They did lose a wire-to-wire opener against the Jazz, but the debut of Kingston Flemings (14 points, nine assists) went well, and he held his own against the No. 2 overall pick in Darryn Peterson.

Zuby Ejiofor didn't have an amazing game against Utah, but he made up for it with an excellent effort against Mara and the rest of the Thunder. He had 19 points and 15 rebounds while also dishing out three assists and making three of his eight attempts from deep. He held his own against Mara in the paint despite a huge size disadvantage, which is very encouraging to see.

Beating up on a Grizzlies team without Cam Boozer and Cedric Coward carries less weight, but it's a nice momentum builder ahead of the Hawks' debut in Las Vegas against the Spurs. San Antonio likely won't play one of their first-round picks in Jayden Quaintance, but Tarris Reed should be making his Las Vegas debut after being selected with the 26th overall pick.

Carter Bryant will also have a big role on this Spurs team in his sophomore season, and he'll be making his Summer League debut in Las Vegas today.

Game Preview

Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, NBA, Ejiofor, Zuby Ejiofor, Reed, Tarris Reed J — Mar 14, 2026; New York, NY, USA; St. John's Red Storm forward Zuby Ejiofor (24) controls the ball against Connecticut Huskies center Tarris Reed Jr. (5) during the first half of the men's Big East Conference Tournament Championship game at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ejiofor didn't play against the Grizzlies, but the Las Vegas Summer League opener is a matchup that will be useful for the Hawks from an evaluation standpoint. He'll likely be drawing a fair bit of Reed on defense, which is a call-back to their matchup in the Big East tournament.

Ejiofor definitively got the better of Reed in that one, putting up 18 points and nine rebounds. However, his work on the defensive end was staggering. He collected three steals and blocked seven shots for St John's, anchoring their defense and leading the 72-52 blowout.

Even so, Reed had 20 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks in the matchup prior. These two centers bring a fantastic combination of rebounding, defensive chops and interior scoring that they've shown off in the matchups against each other. Fans have no reason to expect anything different tonight.

For Flemings, he draws an interesting matchup with Ja'Kobi Gillespie. The two have history - while at Tennessee, Gillespie dropped 22 points against Houston and made nine clutch free throws to edge out a 25-point performance from Flemings. He scored 19 points for the Spurs' Summer League team when they went up against the Lakers, leading the team as a scorer and showing that he has some potential as a scorer at the next level.

One player to watch for Atlanta is Devon Higgs. Even though Higgs hasn't played a massive role through the first two games for the Hawks, he stepped up big against Memphis and scored 22 points in his first start of the summer. He's undoubtedly earned himself some more run tonight and it'll be interesting to see if he can supplant RayJ Dennis in the starting lineup.

The Hawks have to feel encouraged about their depth at the PF/C spots this summer. Alongside Zuby, Atlanta's also gotten strong perfromances from Jacob Toppin and Asa Newell to open Summer League provides some credence to the idea that the Hawks may be able to give Jalen Johnson some more rest this season.

Even though Johnson is one of the best do-it-all players in the NBA, he clearly struggled to maintain his defensive impact due to his workload on offense and the physicality of being schemed against as the No. 1 option. Giving him more time off during the season by finding significant roles for Ejiofor and Newell in the rotation. If Toppin can force Atlanta's hand and get himself called up for a few games, it'll be interesting if he can make something happen with the opportunity.

Although they have seen a lot of positives from the frontcourt, Henri Veesaar still has a ways to go. The former UNC standout has taken some time to adjust to the NBA, but he scored 11 points against Memphis and made two of his attempts from deep. Veesar clearly has touch as a shooter, but he needs to grow further as a rebounder and defender. Las Vegas should provide plenty of opportunity to do exactly that

How to Watch

Today's game will be shown at 4:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Projected Starters

G - Kingston Flemings

G - RayJ Dennis

F - Jacob Toppin

F - Asa Newell

C - Zuby Ejiofor

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