Atlanta Hawks Injury Report Released Ahead of Big-Time Matchup With Lakers

The Atlanta Hawks might be playing extremely short-handed versus the Los Angeles Lakers.

Hawks injury report for tonight vs. Lakers:

NAW (low back strain) is questionable.

Jalen Johnson (right quad contusion) is questionable.

Luke Kennard (illness) is out.

Kristaps Porzingis (illness management) is out.

Nikola Đurišić (elbow) is out.

Trae Young remains out.
— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) November 8, 2025

The injury report for Atlanta today is fairly lengthy. It was never in doubt that Trae Young and Nikola Durisic were going to sit, but Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kennard have now joined them as being unavailable for today. This is going to be a consistent factor for the Hawks to manage - Porzingis likely won't play in any of the Hawks' back-to-backs this year as they try to preserve him for the playoffs. Kennard is nice to have, but he's currently in a slump and the illness likely means that he won't be sidelined for long.

The more worrying factor is that Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker are all questionable. Johnson and NAW have been carrying a huge minutes load as starters for the Hawks. If both of them end up missing tonight, it could get ugly in Atlanta quickly.

Even with the injury concers, the Hawks still have a chance in this one. While the Lakers have been a great offense thus far, they do turn the ball over a lot. They're 21st in turnovers per game and 24th in TOV% as a team. Atlanta has been better at taking care of the ball (13th in TOV%) and great at turning opponents over (7th in opponent TOV%). They have two great perimeter defenders in Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, but Zaccharie Risacher also had a good defensive stint against the Raptors. He had two steals versus Toronto and it's possible that the Hawks could ride the turnover advantage into advantageous fast-break opportunities.

DeAndre Ayton has been a pleasant surprise for the Lakers, at least to start. The former No. 1 overall pick is averaging 17.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks on 65.7% from the field as LA's starting center. He's also been a passable help-side defender - he was a notable part of holding Victor Wembanyama to 19 points and eight rebounds in the Lakers' matchup with the Spurs. He does also get blocks at a decent rate, currently holding an impressive 3.9% block percentage. However, he's still suspectible inside the paint. He's a terrible defensive rebounder (career-low 18.7% defensive rebounding percentage this year) and that could set Onyeka Okongwu up for a big game. He's averaging the best DREB% season of his career (24.1%) and has enough of a shot for Ayton to chase him on the perimeter. Gueye has also been a great defender this year and could silence Ayton's offense.

However, the possible loss of Johnson and NAW in an impending matchup with Luka Doncic looms large. Doncic is on a tear even by his own lofty standards and the Hawks don't really have anyone who can match his scoring pace. He is averaging an incredible 40 points, 11 rebounds, 9.2 assists and 2 steals a game on 50/30/78.9 shooting splits. The fact that his three-ball actually hasn't been consistently going in is ludicrous to think about because he could very easily find it again and score even more. He's an offense unto himself - Dyson Daniels is going to have his hands full if he has to be the primary defender on Doncic for the entire night.

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