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

The Hawks haven't started the season out well, but they have a chance to climb back to a neutral record against a surprisingly intriguing Bulls squad.

At this stage, the fact that Chicago is 1st in the Eastern Conference doesn't mean a lot. They've won their first two games, first by a narrow margin over the Detroit Pistons and then convincingly against the Orlando Magic. However, it does seem that Chicago will be a more competitive team than they were last season. Their activity on defense has shown up and their depth has outplayed their opponents by a noticeable margin. The Bulls haven't made the playoffs since the 2021-22 season, but this season could mark the end of that streak if some of their early positives hold true over the course of the 82-game season.

Atlanta is going to have to fight through injuries in order to pull out a win tonight. All three of Kristaps Porzingis, Zaccharie Risacher and Jalen Johnson are questionable for tonight. That's three starters who could be sidelined for two straight games, and the team's already started 1-2. Saturday's game against the OKC Thunder showed that the Hawks just don't have the depth in order to mitigate those losses. Credit has to be given to Atlanta for keeping pace with the OKC Thunder in the first half, but the 117-100 final score shows that there is still a gap between the Hawks and true contender status.

Fortunately, the Bulls aren't as intimidating of a matchup as the Thunder are. They've started the season off well and Atlanta is getting hit with injuries, but this is still a game that should be hard-fought.

By the Numbers

Trae Young, Young, Atlanta Hawks, Hawk — Dec 26, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) shows emotion after a three-pointer against the Chicago Bulls in the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Hawks' offense is not off to a great start. They're 29th in points, 25th in FG%, 23rd in 3P%, 14th in FT%, 23rd in rebounds (17th in OREB), 15th in assists and 15th in turnovers per game. It's surprising to see an offense led by Trae Young linger near the bottom of the league in points, but the Hawks should get better on this end as their health improves. Still, it's a bit worrying to see that the early returns on the spacing upgrades Atlanta made haven't translated into better production.

Their defense is making incremental progress and they've continued to do a good job of closing out on shooters from deep. On a per-game basis, Atlanta ranks 20th in points allowed, 25th in FG% allowed, 5th in 3P% allowed, 27th in rebounds allowed, 20th in steals and 9th in blocks. They still need Porzingis to take their defense to the next level from a rim protection standpoint.

Chicago's offense has been a work-in-progress. They rank 24th in points per game, 16th in FG%, 11th in 3P%, 12th in FT%, 9th in rebounds (19th in OREB), 8th in assists and 26th in minimizing turnovers per game. The Bulls are young and athletic, but they're still working out some of the finer points of their offense.

Their defense has been great to start the year. Currently, they're 1st in points allowed, 3rd in FG% allowed, 1st in 3P% allowed, 26th in rebounds allowed, 13th in steals and 11th in blocks. Atlanta will have to play a much better brand of offense then they've displayed so far in order to crack a tough defensive unit.s back in the lineup to unlock their ceiling as a defense.

Three Reasons Atlanta Can Win This Game

Jalen Johnson, Johnson, Atlanta Hawks, Hawk — Dec 26, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) reacts after a dunk against the Chicago Bulls in the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

If they can get Jalen Johnson back in this game, this is a matchup he has dominated in the past. Before going down with an injury, Johnson scored 20+ points in all three games he played against the Bulls last year. He had one of his most impressive games last season against Chicago in a 30 point, 15 rebound outing that showed they had no real answer for him. To date, it's his best career performance and sparked a 21-point comeback win for the Hawks. In that game, he toyed with Patrick Williams all night and got whatever he wanted against Nikola Vucevic when he drove into the paint. Assuming he's ready to go, they need him to channel some of that energy into this game.

Chicago's been running their offense through Matas Buzelis, Tre Jones and Josh Giddey. Neither of them are especially tight with their handle - turnovers nearly cost them the game against the Pistons. Suffice to say, there's a reason why they're 26th in the NBA in turnovers. This is the perfect game for Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker to hound passing lanes and turn Chicago's ball-handlers over. Daniels hasn't started getting steals at the same rate he was last year, but it's very early in the season and he has a great opportunity to do so tonight. Alexander-Walker's defense has been as advertised - he is averaging 1.3 steals and nearly one block per game. If he can force Giddey and Jones into making mistakes, this could be a nice get-right game for the Hawks.

Through three games, the Hawks have been a reasonably solid team when turning defense into offense. They rank 8th in the NBA for points off turnovers while Chicago ranks 18th in the same metric. If they can force enough turnovers to ground Chicago's offense to a halt, it's reasonable to think Atlanta could build up a pretty sizable lead. Running athletic units with Asa Newell and Mo Gueye would also be helpful in this regard because both players have the quickness and range to make defenses pay for losing track of them.

Three Reasons Atlanta Might Lose This Game

While there are a lot of early-season numbers that won't hold, the Bulls leading the NBA in team defensive rating seems to suggest they won't be a dreadful defense like they were last year. They've been especially good at limiting threes and Atlanta has struggled to find regularity in their shots from deep. Luke Kennard has been especially brutal as a shooter - he's shooting 22.2% from deep after being brought here to space the floor. He needs to get his attempts up and re-calibrate his accuracy because his reputation demands respect from the defense. If he's unable to burn defenses from the perimeter, it severely limits how much space the Hawks' offense has to work with.

Trae Young hasn't been especially effective to start the season and things don't get easier tonight against Ayo Dosunmu. Dosunmu has been one of the tougher matchups for Trae since the Bulls guard entered the league. Chicago has forced Young to turn the ball over 10 times in his past two appearances against them, largely coming with Dosunmu as his primary defender. Young is capable of lighting up any defender in front of him, but he hasn't been at his best to start the year and it might be a long night if his performance tonight in Chicago is more of the same.

The Hawks will also need to be methodical in their approach to guarding Nikola Vucevic. He's made five of his first seven three pointers to start the year and consistently provides a tough rebounding presence on the glass. If Porzingis can't go, Okongwu and Gueye are going to have to respect his range on the perimeter. Even though Vucevic's not the most intimidating rim protector, it's worth recognizing that Buzelis makes up for some of that through being an incredible shot blocker for a wing. He recorded 3 blocks against the Pistons and might be a difficult force for Atlanta to contend with on both sides of the floor.

Injury Report

Atlanta Hawks: Jalen Johnson, Kristaps Porzingis and Zaccharie Risacher are all questionable.

Chicago Bulls: Zach Collins and Coby White are out while Josh Giddey is questionable.

How to Watch

Here is how you can watch tonight's game:

Tip-off time: 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Location: United Center, Chicago, IL

Where to Watch: FanDuel Sports Network

Projected Starting Lineups

Hawks

G - Trae Young

G - Dyson Daniels

F - Nickeil Alexander-Walker

F - Mo Gueye

C - Onyeka Okongwu

Bulls

G - Tre Jones

G - Josh Giddey

F - Isaac Okoro

F - Matas Buzelis

C - Nikola Vucevic