AJ Griffin Ruled Out For Tonight's Game vs the Raptors

There has been another late addition to the Atlanta Hawks injury report for tonight's game vs the Toronto Raptors.

Hawks forward AJ Griffin is being listed as out due to personal reasons. Griffin has fallen out of the rotation this season, but his absence could be a big deal tonight. De'Andre Hunter (right knee soreness) is being listed as questionable and Trae Young (right shoulder soreness) is listed as probable. If Hunter is out, Griffin could have gotten some of those minutes, but now that is not going to happen.

An @emoryhealthcare injury report for tonight’s game at Toronto (2/2)

Kobe Bufkin (left thumb fracture): Out
AJ Griffin (personal reasons): Out
Mouhamed Gueye (right low back stress fracture): Out
Jalen Johnson (left distal radius fracture): Out
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 13, 2023

Monday night, Hawks head coach Quin Snyder opted to start Garrison Matthews in place of Hunter and that did not go well. Matthews did not play well and Bogdan Bogdanovic played a hefty amount of minutes last night and put up arguably the best performance of his career. Bogdanovic had 40 points and 10 three-pointers in the loss vs the Nuggets.

Will Snyder go back to Garrison Matthews tomorrow?

There are two other intriguing options. Onyeka Okongwu could start at the four and move Bey over to the three. Another option could be having Bogdan Bogdanovic start in place of Hunter but I assume Snyder wants to be able to bring Bogdanovic off the bench.

Hopefully, everything is okay with Griffin and he will be able to rejoin the team soon. I still believe in him as a player who still needs some development.

Viewing and Betting Information

Tip-off time: 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time

Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON

Where to Watch: NBA League Pass, Bally Sports Southeast

Spread and Over/Under: The Hawks are underdogs tonight, as they are 1.5 point underdogs according to the latest odds from the SI Sportsbook and the over/under is set at 239.5.

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