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

When the Hawks ruled out three of their five starters against the Lakers, they probably expected a hard-fought matchup that would take some late-game heroics if they wanted to pull off an upset. Instead, every member of Atlanta's starting lineup finished with double-digit points and the game turned into a blowout. The Hawks made a red-hot Luka Doncic look mortal, holding him to 22 points, 11 rebounds and five assists on 7-17 shooting from the field. They went blow-for-blow with the Lakers offense, hitting 41% of their threes to LA's 40%. Perhaps most important, they played excellent team basketball. Atlanta scored a whopping 22 transition points to LA's 8, dished out 37 assists to the Lakers' 24 and dominated the Lakers in the paint, scoring 62 points to their 46. They also only had 11 turnovers on the night despite missing two of their best ball-handlers.

Mo Gueye led the Hawks with 21 points while grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out seven assists while Zaccharie Risacher had 19 points. Vit Krejci and Asa Newell both had 17 points off the bench and hit multiple threes, stepping up into bigger roles than they usually occupy.

Atlanta came together as a team to get the win and they'll probably need to do that against the Clippers again tonight. Even though LA has lost four straight, they're going to be desperately searching for a win against what is likely to be another shorthanded lineup for the Hawks. The absence of Kawhi Leonard reduces one of LA's advantages, but Atlanta will still have to handle two All-Star caliber players in James Harden and Ivica Zubac. Fortunately, they'll be able to welcome Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kennard back to the lineup as avaliable options to throw against a Clippers team that was widely viewed as playoff-caliber heading into the year.

By the Numbers

Zaccharie Risacher, Risacher, Atlanta Hawks, Hawk — Mar 14, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; LA Clippers guard James Harden (1) drives the ball past Atlanta Hawks forwards Georges Niang (20) and Zaccharie Risacher (10) during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Lakers don't have a terrible defense, but the Hawks took advantage of a favorable matchup in order to boost their offensive numbers. Atlanta is 20th in points, 15th in FG%, 19th on 3P%, 15th in FT%, 19th in rebounds (19th in OREB), 5th in assists and 10th in turnovers per game. They're 22nd in offensive rating on the year. Still, when they play good team basketball, it's much easier to stomach the fact that Trae Young isn't at the wheel.

Atlanta's defense has been making strides and their performance against the Lakers was excellent. On a per-game basis, Atlanta ranks 9th in points allowed, 7th in FG% allowed, 4th in 3P% allowed, 26th in rebounds allowed, 9th in steals and 11th in blocks. They're 11th in defensive rating on the year.

The Clippers are usually a solid offensive team due to the trio of Harden, Leonard and Zubac. However, they've struggled to start the year. They're 28th in points per game, 10th in FG%, 15th on 3P%, 11th in FT%, 26th in rebounds (27th in OREB), 23rd in assists and 24th in turnovers per game. The advanced statistics don't paint a great picture - they're 21st in offensive rating.

LA's defense was great last year and while they haven't been as impressive this season, they still deserve respect on that end of the ball. They're 9th in points allowed, 15th in FG% allowed, 28th in 3P% allowed, 7th in rebounds allowed, 8th in steals and 15th in blocks. Despite being solid in most defensive metrics, LA's defense hasn't graded out that well in advanced metrics. They are 27th in defensive rating as a team.

Three Reasons Atlanta Can Win This Game

Mouhamed Gueye, Gueye, Clippers, Los Angeles Clippers, Hawks, Atlanta Hawk — Mar 14, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Mouhamed Gueye (18) goes in for a dunk against the LA Clippers during the first half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

While James Harden is undoubtedly a first-ballot Hall of Famer, he's always been towards the top of the turnover lists in the NBA because he has the ball so much. That has been a big problem for the Clippers to start this season. Because Harden is the only true playmaker on the roster, he's had to shoulder a massive workload despite being 36 years old. It's resulted in the second-highest TOV% of his career (18.8%) and him becoming significantly less effective down the stretch. If the Hawks can put a lot of pressure on Harden and force him into frequent turnovers, they might be able to get out to a commanding lead to seal this one away.

On paper, Luke Kennard is one of the most effective shooters in the entire NBA. While Kennard started the season off cold, he has gotten his numbers back into familiar territory. He's shooting 41.7% from deep on three attempts a game. His AST% is the lowest it's been in three years and he's running the highest TOV% of his career right now, but the shooting is the real swing skill for Kennard. The Clippers haven't defended the three-ball super well this season, so this could be a big game for Kennard against his former team.

Dyson Daniels stepped into the point guard role with NAW sidelined and it looked fantastic. He dished out 13 assists against only two turnovers, which was a career-high. Daniels isn't the most creative passer, but he does an adequate job of setting others up and running the offense. Perhaps most importantly, he doesn't aggressively push to score like NAW does at times. He's much more content making the simple passes and then playing great defense. While the Hawks do need more offense, it's far more important to have a reliable playmaker running the offense and it appears that Dyson is capable of being that.

Three Reasons Atlanta Might Lose This Game

Kris Dunn, Daniels, Dyson Daniels, Hawks, Atlanta Hawj — Mar 14, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) tries to control the ball against LA Clippers guard Kris Dunn (8) and forward Kawhi Leonard (2) during the first half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Kristaps Porzingis should be back tonight for the Hawks, but it won't be an easy matchup. He's facing off against Ivica Zubac, who's been great on the boards for the Clippers and is currently averaging a double-double of 15.1 points and 10.4 rebounds. His three-point shooting was viewed as a swing skill heading into this season, but that hasn't really translated to start this year. Porzingis currently has a 57.2 TS% and is only connecting on 31.4% of his five attempts per game. However, his finishing at the rim has been abysmal. He's only shooting 52% at the rim, which ranks in the 7th percentile among all centers. The Hawks have been able to win games even when Porzingis hasn't been at his best, but they're not playing at full strength right now. They need him to step up tonight.

If the Hawks do get Dyson a lot of reps as the main ball-handler, he'll likely draw a fair bit of attention from Kris Dunn. That's a tough matchup to overcome partially because Daniels doesn't have the best handle. Even if he did, Dunn is a really good defender who's currently sporting a STL% of 3.4% and averaging 1.7 steals per game. His passing has also improved this year - he's not really a trustworthy starting point guard, but he can make simple reads. I'd be worried about Dunn wrecking too many possessions for the Hawks to run consistent offense.

The Clippers are the slowest team in the NBA when it comes to pace - they're 30th in the metric. They're also 28th in fast break points, so this isn't really a team that the Hawks should be worried about from an athletic standpoint. That's exactly why they need to force LA to play at a much more frantic pace than they usually do. Harden operates at his own pace and it's very hard to fluster him into mistakes by speeding him up, but the Clippers won't be able to hang if the Hawks push their advantage in transition. Still, they have to follow through on that and not let the Clippers dictate the speed of the game.

Injury Report

Atlanta Hawks: Trae Young and Nikola Durisic are out. Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson are questionable

Los Angeles Clippers: Kawhi Leonard is out while Jordan Miller and Bradley Beal are questionable.

How to Watch

Here is how you can watch tonight's game:

Tip-off time: 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time

Location: Intuit Dome, Los Angeles, CA

Where to Watch: FanDuel Sports Network

Spread and Over/Under: The Hawks will be underdogs on the road tonight, as they are currently 4.5-point underdogs according to the latest odds from the Fanduel Sportsbook, and the over/under is set at 222.5.

Projected Starting Lineups

Hawks:

G - Keaton Wallace

G - Dyson Daniels

F - Zaccharie Risacher

F - Mo Gueye

C - Kristaps Porzingis

Clippers

G -James Harden

G - Bogdan Bogdanovic

F - Derrick Jones Jr

F - Nicolas Batum

C - Ivica Zubac