Atlanta Hawks vs Charlotte Hornets: Game Preview, Injury Report, Projected Starting Lineup for Tonight's Matchup

When Trae Young went down with an injury on October 29th, many fans and analysts were left wondering exactly how the Hawks would look in his absence. They could have bottomed out and turned into a Eastern Conference version of the Los Angeles Clippers, lacking cohesion and a team identity. Teams like the Bulls and Cavaliers have also struggled to keep pace in the Eastern Conference despite having their teams largely healthy. Therefore, it wouldn't have been entirely expected if the absence of Young was a death knell for their season.

Instead, Atlanta has been able to test its depth and tap into a more team-based approach to playmaking. They've empowered power forward Jalen Johnson as a ball-handler and allowed the offense to run through him with success. Nickeil Alexander-Walker has been a revelation as a complimentary scorer/playmaker while Onyeka Okongwu has taken a leap as a jump shooter. The Hawks also seem to have unearthed something in Vit Krejci, who has turned from a fun story into a legitimate game-swinging bench scorer.

They've done enough to survive Young's absence over almost two months and now, the Hawks are welcoming him back to a 7th seed who is only a half game out of the fourth seed. The Eastern Conference is currently bunched up and it's certainly possible that Young could be the extra push that propels them into a certified top-five seed. It is also possible that Young doesn't fit with this roster and his presence actually proves more harmful than beneficial. However, Atlanta will need to see Young's impact on this roster over a larger sample of games in order to make a decision on his future. It's no exaggeration to say that the way Young meshes with this decentralized Hawks roster will determine the team he's on next season.

Fortunately, he doesn't exactly have a difficult matchup to get back on track. There have been some positives for the Charlotte Hornets, namely the development of rookie Kon Knueppel. However, the overall results have been dissapointing once again and they're currently sporting a 8-18 record. Atlanta can't afford to overlook them as they just upset the Cavaliers, but there aren't many matchups that are better for Young to return in.

By the Numbers

Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, NBA, Johnson, Jalen Johnso — Nov 23, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) and Charlotte Hornets forward Moussa Diabate (14) fight for the ball during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Atlanta's offense has been surprisingly solid without Trae Young and their most recent win over the 76ers improved their standing in many offensive metrics. The Hawks are 13th in points, 10th in FG%, 7th in 3P%, 17th in FT%, 24th in rebounds (24th in OREB, 20th in DREB), 1st in assists, and 18th in turnovers per game. They're 13th in offensive rating this year.

On a per-game basis, the Hawks' defense rank 20th in points allowed, 15th in FG% allowed, 10th in 3P% allowed, 24th in rebounds allowed, 5th in steals, and 11th in blocks. They're 15th in defensive rating on the year, which puts them in a barely above-average tier despite having two great two-way players in NAW and Dyson Daniels.

Charlotte's offense has struggled in spite of having three talented scorers in Knueppel, LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. They're 19th in points, 24th in FG%, 22nd in 3P%, 3rd in FT%, 15th in rebounds (14th in OREB, 11th in DREB), 18th in assists, and 23rd in turnovers per game. They're 17th in offensive rating this season.

The Hornets' defense also isn't likely to put up much resistance. Although they did hold the Cavaliers to zero points in overtime, that type of effort hasn't been common for Charlotte this year. They are 24th in points allowed, 27th in FG% allowed, 29th in 3P% allowed, 4th in rebounds allowed, 29th in steals, and 14th in blocks. They're 24th in defensive rating, which marks them as one of the worst defenses in the NBA.

Three Reasons Atlanta Can Win This Game

Dyson Daniels, Daniels, Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, NB — Mar 18, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) goes to the basket against Charlotte Hornets guard Damion Baugh (7) during second quarter at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

It's one thing to be a bad defense and still swing games due to making defensive plays, but the Hornets don't even do that. They're also 27th in points in the paint whereas the Hawks are 9th. Ryan Kalkbrenner has been a solid rookie for the Hornets, but he isn't quite a dominant rim protector yet and the Hornets don't have enough complimentary defensive pieces to help him out. Sion James is a pretty good defender, but the rest of the starting lineup just doesn't have a lot of juice on that end of the floor. There should be a ton of opportunities to exploit them throughout this game.

During his rookie season, Brandon Miller shut a lot of the doubters up after outproducing fellow rookie Scoot Henderson, who was taken immediately after him with the third overall pick. However, he's going through a cold stretch right now. Miller has a ghastly eFG% of 43.6%, which is in the 7th percentile among all wings. He's also shooting 30% from deep (17th percentile) and doesn't have the defensive chops to make up for his offensive deficiencies right now. He has been dealing with a shoulder injury, but the production just hasn't been there and the Hawks should be able to tee off on Knueppel if LaMelo Ball isn't able to go for this one.

The reason why the matchup is so good for Trae Young tonight is because this is one of the teams he's roasted with regularity. In his last five games against the Hornets, he's averaging 26.4 points and 9.2 assists on an effiecient 67.2 TS%. They have really struggled to guard him, but it's possible that the combination of James' defense and a likely minutes restriction keep Young from truly affecting this game.

Three Reasons Atlanta Might Lose This Game

Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, NBA, Kon Knueppel, Knueppel — Nov 23, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel (7) tries to dribble past Atlanta Hawks guard Vit Krejci (27) during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

As mentioned above, the play of rookie Kon Knueppel has been a bright spot in an otherwise typical year for the Hornets. He's averaging 18.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists per game while canning 46% of his 3-pointers. Only Donovan Mitchell and Steph Curry are ahead of him in threes made this season, indicating how special Kon's range truly is. He's a great passer who can also light it up from deep and the Hawks have to be careful to not let Knueppel get to his spots.

The Hornets aren't an elite rebounding team, but they do a good job of keeping other teams off the board. They rank 4th in opponent rebonds and it's in large part due to the play of center Moussa Diabate and power forward Tidjane Saluan. Diabete leads the team in rebounds and it wouldn't be hard to see the Hornets get a lot of extra chances for points because they're losing the battle on the glass.

Speaking of rebounding, the Hornets are also quite good at turning those rebounds into points. They're 10th in second chance points and Diabete specifically is in the 99th percentile among all centers for how much better the Hornets are on the offensive glass when he's in the game. Their rebounding rate rises by nearly 11% with him on the court, which is incredibly important for the Hawks to limit due to it extending their defensive possessions. It's possible that the Hawks don't bring enough physicality to this matchup and get out-hustled like the Cavaliers did.

Injury Report

Atlanta Hawks: N'Faly Dante, Jacob Toppin and Kristaps Porzingis are all out for the Hawks today. Trae Young is questionable.

Charlotte Hornets: Pat Connaughton, Tre Mann and Collin Sexton are all out while LaMelo Ball is questionable.

How to Watch

Here is how you can watch tonight's game:

Tip-off time: 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Location: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC

Where to Watch: FanDuel Sports Network and NBATV

Projected Starting Lineups

Hawks

G - Trae Young

G - Dyson Daniels

F - Zaccharie Risacher

F - Jalen Johnson

C - Onyeka Okongwu

Hornets

G - Sion James

G - Kon Knueppel

F - Miles Bridges

F - Brandon Miller

C - Ryan Kalkbrenner