Atlanta Hawks Announce Starting Lineup Without Trae Young For Today's game vs The Timberwolves

The Atlanta Hawks are about to tipoff their game vs Minnesota and they have just announced the starting lineups for this afternoon's game

Dec 27, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) boxes out New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Hawks are ready to move on from their dreadful month of December, but they have one game left in this calendar year before they can do that. If Atlanta is going to end its seven game winning streak, they are going to have to beat one of the top teams in the Western Conference.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are making their trip to Atlanta today and the Hawks are desperate for a win. The good news is that the injury report for Atlanta looks like it will break their way for this game. After missing the last few weeks, Kristaps Porzingis is off the injury report, but how much is he actually going to play? In his last game, Porzingis came off the bench against the Denver Nuggets, but did not play a large number of minutes.

After missing the last game vs Oklahoma City on Monday, Jalen Johnson is off the injury report for the Hawks tonight. The Hawks are going to need Johnson tonight to matchup with the size of Minnesota tonight.

Trae Young is going to be out though and that means that Nickeil Alexander-Walker is going to get the start in his place.

Here are today's starting lineups:

Hawks

G- Nickeil Alexander-Walker

G- Dyson Daniels

F- Zaccharie Risacher

F- Jalen Johnson

C- Onyeka Okongwu

Timberwolves

G- Donte DiVincenzo

G- Anthony Edwards

F- Jaden McDaniels

F- Julius Randle

C- Rudy Gobert

Who wins?

Dec 29, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) drives around Oklahoma City Thunder center Branden Carlson (15) during the first half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

This is going to be a tough matchup for the Hawks, but if they have their full arsenal at their disposal, I am interested to see how this looks. Trae Young was injured early in the season and he has not had much of a chance to play with Porzingis. That duo is one of, if not the main reason, that the Hawks received a lot of hype coming into the season.

If the Hawks are going to find a way to turn this season around, it is going to be because Porzingis and Young finally are able to play together and it clicks in the way that many thought it would at the beginning of the year. The defense with Young on the floor is still an issue, but if some of the offensive load can be taken off Jalen Johnson's shoulders, it might result in better defense from him.

The Timberwolves are known as a defensive team, but they have been one of the better offenses in the league this year. They are 9th in offensive rating and when Anthony Edwards is on, there are not many players that are tougher to cover in the league.

It might not make much sense to pick the Hawks given how they have looked over the past month, but I think this team looked energized on Monday vs Oklahoma City despite being a massive underdog. Now that they might be full healthy, I think that they are going to look better than they have since the start of the season.