Atlanta Hawks vs San Antonio Spurs: Game Preview, Injury Report, Projected Starting Lineup for Tonight's Matchup

It's safe to say that Trae Young's return to the lineup didn't go as planned.

Although the Charlotte Hornets had been playing well as of late, they were red-hot from three in a way that the Hawks' defense wasn't able to slow down at all. The Hornets went 24-49 from deep, but just saying that they shot 49% from deep doesn't do it justice. LaMelo Ball and Kon Knueppel combined for 14 threes and Ball hit seven straight by himself in the first half. Brandon Miller had a great night as well, scoring 26 points and dishing out eight assists on 9-15 shooting.

To be clear, it'd be irresponsible to just blame this one on Young. Although he only played 20 minutes, he dished out eight points and 10 assists against three turnovers. Jalen Johnson and NAW carried the offense due to Young's minutes restriction. Johnson was absolutely incredible, scoring 43 points on 16-27 shooting where he hit four threes, grabbed 11 rebounds and also dished out nine assists. He is playing at a borderline All-NBA level and if he stays healthy, there's a good chance he'll make one of those teams this season. Alexander-Walker came off the bench and still made a big impact, scoring 28 points on 11-18 shooting and getting eight rebounds.

Even so, it was a disappointing night from Atlanta's defense and that is starting to become a theme. They got torched by the Nuggets and Pistons while also letting the Sixers and Wizards shoot over 40% from deep as a team. This has to be tightened up as the Hawks get into the second half of their schedule. Things won't get easier tonight as they go up against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, fresh off throttling the Wizards after losing the NBA Cup to the New York Knicks.

By the Numbers

Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, NBA, Young, Trae Young, — Feb 5, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) dribbles against the San Antonio Spurs in the first quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Now that the Hawks have Young back in the lineup, the offense should improve their standing league-wide over the next few weeks. Although they didn't shoot the ball well from deep, it was still overall a good game from Atlanta's offense that tracks with their metrics. The Hawks are 13th in points, 8th in FG%, 7th in 3P%, 15th in FT%, 25th in rebounds (24th in OREB, 22nd in DREB), 1st in assists, and 19th in turnovers per game. They're 12th in offensive rating this year.

On a per-game basis, the Hawks' defense rank 22nd in points allowed, 16th in FG% allowed, 13th in 3P% allowed, 21st in rebounds allowed, 5th in steals, and 12th in blocks. They're 16th in defensive rating on the year, which is an indictment of how poorly they've recently played on that end in comparison to where their ceiling is.

The NBA Cup bracket showed how terrifying San Antonio can be with Wembanyama, but they're still a great team without him. They're 6th in points, 7th in FG%, 8th in 3P%, 10th in FT%, 9th in rebounds (14th in OREB, 7th in DREB), 17th in assists, and 12th in turnovers per game. They're 7th in offensive rating this season.

Their defense thrives off the combination of Wemby and Kornet, as well as Stephon Castle hounding people on the perimeter. They are 9th in points allowed, 15th in FG% allowed, 23rd in 3P% allowed, 7th in rebounds allowed, 13th in steals, and 16th in blocks. They're 10th in defensive rating and that number should climb as they get more games with Wembanyama in the lineup.

Three Reasons Atlanta Can Win This Game

Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, NBA, Dyson Daniels, Daniels, Spurs, San Antonio Spur — Nov 20, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Atlanta Hawks Dyson Daniels (5) drives to the basket between San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) and forward Keldon Johnson (3) during the first half at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Although it's unlikely that Trae Young is going to be cleared of his minutes restriction after only one game, Jalen Johnson is the type of player who gives Atlanta a chance to win on any given night. Despite a lackluster night on defense, his ability to get the whole team involved and rally them back is invaluable and utterly unique among forwards. Per Cleaning the Glass, his AST% of 34.1% and AST/TO ratio are both in the 98th percentile. He'll likely see a decent bit of Wembanyama, which will be a very exciting matchup to see.

Tonight wasn't a banner game for the Hawks' bench. NAW outscored the rest of the bench by himself as no other Hawks reserve scored over five points and they got worked on defense. It was an uncharacteristic off night for a bench that is 2nd in the NBA in 3P%. They'll need bigger games from players like Krejci in order to beat the Spurs.

Speaking of Krejci, it would be very fitting if the Hawks were able to light the Spurs up from deep in the way that the Hornets did tonight. Atlanta has been a top-10 team from deep for most of the season while the Spurs haven't been amazing at slowing teams down on the perimeter. If they can get bigger games from Krejci and possibly Luke Kennard, that could give the Hawks the extra spark they need to take care of the Spurs.

Three Reasons Atlanta Might Lose This Game

Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, Victor Wembanyama, NBA, — Feb 5, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) shoots against the Atlanta Hawks in the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

It's hard to watch the Hornets game and not be concerned with what it means for their chances of slowing down Victor Wembanyama. Onyeka Okongwu really struggled to guard on the perimeter and he'll need to do that quite a bit against Wembanyama due to how well the Spurs center can shoot the ball. Luke Kornet is hardly a slouch either - he's averaging 1.4 blocks a game and his BLK% of 2.7% is in the 80th percentile among all centers. This is going to be a hard game for the Hawks to win in the paint and they need to be physical in the paint if they want to win this one.

San Antonio is also quite good at limiting teams in transition. One of the best parts of this Hawks team is how athletic and quick they are in transition - they average the fourth most fast-break points in the NBA. However, the Spurs concede the second-fewest fast break points in the NBA. It'll be interesting to see if the Hawks can still push the pace.

The Spurs' rotation of guards is also incredibly tough to slow down. Even though Stephon Castle and De'Aaron Fox didn't have great games against the Knicks, New York has a really good defense and hte Hawks shouldn't be taking those two players lightly. Castle's ability to draw contact and score inside the paint is tough to stop while Fox is consistently one of the best clutch scorers in the NBA. That's all before mentioning Devin Vassell, who was nails in the NBA Cup semifinal vs OKC, and Dylan Harper's presence off the bench. They are going to be hard to slow down and the Hawks are going to need big games from Dyson and NAW on defense to make it happen.

Injury Report

Atlanta Hawks: The Hawks are on a B2B and have not released their injury report yet.

San Antonio Spurs: The Spurs have a clean injury report.

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 - Trae Young

G - Dyson Daniels

F - Zaccharie Risacher

F - Jalen Johnson

C - Onyeka Okongwu

Spurs

G - De'Aaron Fox

G - Devin Vassell

F - Stephon Castle

F - Harrison Barnes

C - Luke Kornet