Atlanta Hawks vs Dallas Mavericks: Game Preview, Injury Report, Projected Starting Lineups for Tonight's Matchup

Beating a 76ers team with three of their four best players out shouldn't be touted as a win that shows the Hawks are an underrated playoff team. However, a 125-116 win that the Hawks took control over in the second half marks their sixth straight win and topples the 76ers out of the No. 6 seed. Atlanta is now only two games back of the Magic for the sixth seed and should be able to draw close to the Heat or 76ers, leapfrogging one of them for the seventh seed.

In short, they are very much alive for the playoffs.

Tonight's game against the Mavericks is another must-win for the Hawks. Dallas has lost their last seven games and five of them were by a double-digit margin. These two teams have yet to play each other, but this is a game where the Hawks should be soundly favored. The possible re-addition of Jonathan Kuminga into the lineup only strengthens their advantage over the Mavericks.

By the Numbers

Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, NBA, Spencer Dinwiddie, Onyeka Okongwu, Mavericks, Dallas Maverick — Apr 2, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie (26) reacts in fron tof Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu (17) after scoring during the fourth quarter at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Over their win streak, the Hawks have largely been a pretty solid offense. They are 7th in points, 13th in FG%, 7th in 3P%, 20th in FT%, 19th in rebounds (22nd in OREB, 13th in DREB), 1st in assists, and 12th in turnovers per game. They're 16th in offensive rating this year.

The Hawks' defense has been a big part of their success as of late - they did a great job on Tyrese Maxey in the second half. Nevertheless, they are 21st in points allowed, 20th in FG% allowed, 14th in 3P% allowed, 26th in rebounds allowed, 5th in steals, and 19th in blocks. They're 14th in defensive rating this year.

The Mavericks have struggled to field a competent offense due to the lack of consistent backcourt options and an over-reliance on Cooper Flagg as a primary option. They're 23rd in points, 14th in FG%, 27th in 3P%, 29th in FT%, 10th in rebounds (25th in OREB, 3rd in DREB), 24th in assists, and 12th in turnovers per game. They're 26th in offensive rating this season.

While the offense has been disappointing, they are more competent on the defensive end. They are 22nd in points allowed, 14th in FG% allowed, 2nd in 3P% allowed, 28th in rebounds allowed, 27th in steals, and 9th in blocks. They're 15th in defensive rating.

Three Reasons Atlanta Can Win This Game

Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, NBA, Daniels, Dyson Daniels, Mavericks, Dallas Maverick — Apr 2, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) dribbles against the Dallas Mavericks during the second half at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

After playing a thin Philadelphia backcourt, the Hawks are going up against an even weaker matchup tonight in the Mavericks. Max Christie has occasional flashes, but he's not really a starter in the NBA yet, and the combination of him and Cooper Flagg has produced a -4.7 net rating across 1054 minutes. Brandon Williams and Ryan Nembhard aren't much more inspiring as backcourt partners for Flagg. The Mavericks' prized rookie has also struggled to lead an NBA offense due to his young age - he has an AST:USG ratio of 0.72 on the season (22nd percentile in the NBA) and he's currently also dealing with an injury that's limited his effectiveness on offense. This should be another matchup where Dyson Daniels and possibly even CJ McCollum can thrive.

If there are any questions about whether Jalen Johnson deserves an All-NBA spot this season, he's quieting those doubts. Johnson had a statement performance against the 76ers tonight, dropping 35 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists on only 19 shots. He's absolutely terrorized Philly this season, which is why they swept the series 4-0. The Mavericks are going to have a tough time stopping him tonight, even if they have a bigger lineup than the 76ers. PJ Washington has been incredibly disappointing on both ends of the court this season, and it's hard to see him faring well against a matchup as difficult as Johnson.

CJ McCollum has quietly been one of the biggest keys to the Hawks closing out the games they are supposed to. Even though he hasn't actually been hitting his threes at the usual frequency with which he makes them, he's been surprisingly good on defense. The Hawks are 7.7 points per 100 possessions on defense better in his minutes, and they have a 108.2 defensive rating over the 572 minutes he has played as a Hawk. He competed really well on that end against Tyrese Maxey, always putting himself in a position to contest the shot even if he doesn't force turnovers or blocks. That's important against the Mavericks because they are good at closing out on shooters. If McCollum can continue to help the Hawks in ways that aren't reliant on his shot, that will make it much easier to keep him on the court.

Three Reasons Atlanta Might Lose This Game

Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, NBA, Mavericks, Dallas Mavericks, — Apr 2, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Jaden Hardy (1) shoots over Atlanta Hawks guard Vit Krejci (27) during the second half at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

One of the keys behind the Hawks' win streak has been good three-point shooting. In four of the six games they won, they shot over 37% from deep as a team, and the two that they failed to eclipse that mark were against the Wizards. This is going to be a hard team to rely on for hot shooting against. The Mavs are 2nd in opponent three-point percentage, and they have tons of wings with length who can contest shots. Teams also attempt the fourth-fewest shots against the Mavericks from 25-29 feet and the fifth-fewest from 20-24 feet. Taking a lot of threes against Dallas and hoping for three-point variance would be a bad strategy.

Even though the Mavericks are largely terrible at guarding the paint, Daniel Gafford is still a force multiplier on defense. Dallas is 30th in opponent points in the paint despite Gafford being one of the best help defenders in the NBA. He's holding opponents to 2.5 TS%, worse than league average when contesting shots (6th in the NBA), and the Mavs have a 113.8 defensive rating with him on the court, which would rank as an average mark in the NBA. When Gafford sits, that number plunges to 116.7, which is about where the Chicago Bulls rank. With the exception of his last game against the Mavericks, Onyeka Okongwu has struggled with this matchup, and Gafford only played 20 minutes in the game in which Okongwu performed well in. The battle between these two could be a factor in deciding this game.

Klay Thompson obviously isn't the player he once was, but he's quietly important for a Mavs team that lacks shooters. Thompson is shooting 38.6% from deep on a whopping 7.7 attempts a game, which is a testament to how great of a shooter he can still be. There's no question that Thompson can absolutely get hot and the Hawks just got 50 points hung on them by the combination of Quentin Grimes and Kelly Oubre. Neither were shooting at Klay's level coming into the game and this is a defense that is liable to give up hot shooting nights. Thompson might be the latest shooter that the Hawks struggle to slow down.

Injury Report

Atlanta Hawks: Jonathan Kuminga is questionable.

Dallas Mavericks: Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively II are both out..

How to Watch

Here is how you can watch tonight's game:

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

Location: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA

Where to Watch: FanDuel Sports Network and NBATV

Projected Starting Lineups

Hawks

G - CJ McCollum

G - Dyson Daniels

F - Nickeil Alexander-Walker

F - Jalen Johnson

C - Onyeka Okongwu

Mavericks

G - Max Christie

G - Khris Middleton

F - PJ Washington

F - Cooper Flagg

C - Daniel Gafford

I think this game will be closer than people expect. Dallas has the defense to make it tough on Atlanta at times and force some cold stretches. The matchup between Cooper Flagg and the Hawks should be fun to watch and it'll be interesting to see how Flagg fares when he's guarding Johnson. Ultimately, the Mavericks don't have the firepower to keep up with Atlanta's offense and the solid defensive baseline they've showed of late. I expect the Hawks to ultimately pull away in the fourth quarter.