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

After three straight disappointing losses, tonight's game against the Wizards is a must-win for a struggling Hawks team.

Nov 25, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards guard CJ McCollum (3) drives to the basket as Atlanta Hawks forward Asa Newell (14) defends in the second half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Hawks are undoubtedly going through a slump right now.

The NBA season is long and there are going to be stretches where teams don't play up to their potential. Whether it's exhaustion or injuries, it's almost unavoidable that both will take a toll on teams at some point over the course of the year. Unfortunately, the Hawks are experiencing both right now and it hasn't helped that the coaching hasn't been up to standard either.

Yesterday's loss against the Nuggets were a perfect encapsulation of what the Hawks have been struggling with. They got a sensational performance from their star player in Jalen Johnson - 21 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists on only three turnovers. He had a triple-double by the end of the first half and Denver had no answer for him. Ditto Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Kristaps Porzingis. NAW had 30 points while Porzingis poured in 25 points in his first career game off the bench. However, the rest of the team fell flat. They blew a 23-point lead, got down by 11 to the Nuggets and ended up losing the game by one. Denver got an MVP-esque performance from Nikola Jokic - he had 40 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Their bench also came up big with 30 points combined from Tim Hardaway Jr and Bruce Brown while Jamal Murray put up an efficient 23 points. The Nuggets also did a good job of getting stops late. However, this loss comes down to many of the unforced errors that the Hawks made.

Simply put, they cannot afford to make those same mistakes against the Wizards. They already under-estimated this Washington team once earlier this season and got blown out largely due to a 40-point performance by CJ McCollum. The Wizards are extremely banged-up and even when healthy, they've played like one of the worst teams in basketball. Anything less than a dominating win should be viewed as a let-down.

By the Numbers

Nov 25, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) drives to the basket as Washington Wizards center Alex Sarr (20) defends in the first half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Despite the loss, the Hawks offense did a good job of getting back on track after two straight games playing like one of the worst units in the NBA. At the moment, they're 15th in points, 9th in FG%, 7th in 3P%, 19th in FT%, 25th in rebounds (25th in OREB, 19th in DREB), 1st in assists and 17th in turnovers per game. They're 18th in offensive rating on the year - there's no reason that number should decline after playing this Wizards lineup.

Denver has one of the best offenses in the NBA, so it isn't very surprising that the Hawks didn't have a great night on defense. Still, on a per-game basis, the Hawks rank 16th in points allowed, 14th in FG% allowed, 8th in 3P% allowed, 24th in rebounds allowed, 5th in steals and 13th in blocks. They're 9th in defensive rating on the year, which is still a very good mark. The defense couldn't get it done against an elite offense, but they also muted Denver for the first half and there shouldn't be much concern over the defense going forward.

The Wizards' offense is severely lacking and they're entirely susceptible to shooting variance in order to run a coherent offense right now. Injuries have taken a toll on what was already a bad offense and the numbers aren't pretty. They're 25th in points, 21st in FG%, 12th in 3P%, 29th in FT%, 20th in rebounds (20th in OREB), 21st in assists and 28th in turnovers per game. This is a team that regularly makes mistakes on offense that can be exploited.

Despite having a defensive anchor in Alex Sarr, Washington's defense is still struggling to find its way. They're 30th in points allowed, 24th in FG% allowed, 27th in 3P% allowed, 30th in rebounds allowed, 28th in steals and 4th in blocks. Once again, Atlanta will be going up against a fairly weak defense and they'll be even worse on that end without Alex Sarr, who's been playing like one of the 15 best defenders in the NBA this year.

Three Reasons Atlanta Can Win This Game

Nov 15, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu (17) dunks against Washington Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas (17), forward Corey Kispert (24), and forward Kyshawn George (18) during the first quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images | Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images

There were several frustrating decisions that head coach Quin Snyder made last night, but one of his best ones was to move Kristaps Porzingis to the bench. He looked fresh after getting some time on the bench and at one point, he went shot-for-shot with Jokic. Porzingis clearly can't hold up as a full-time center anymore, but he can offer something as a super-size power forward who can space the floor and make things easier on offense for Johnson. It was encouraging to see Snyder's decision lead to positive results and it should hopefully result in a healthier version of KP for the foreseable future.

Even by Wizards standards, the starting lineup they're likely running for tonight is a tough watch. The 5-man combination of CJ McCollum, Jamir Watkins, Kyshawn George, Khris Middleton and Marvin Badgley III that started in their most recent game against the Celtics only played 13 minutes outside of low-leverage situations. In those 13 minutes, they had a -38.2 net rating. George has quietly been a really intriguing player for the Wizards, but this isn't a team that should be in the same stratosphere as the Hawks if they want to be taken seriously as a playoff team.

While it'd be surprising if Porzingis plays in this back-to-back, this should be a bounce-back game for Onyeka Okongwu. Okongwu got demolished by Jokic, finishing with the worst +/- for any Hawk at a -18. To be fair, he did have the toughest matchup on the floor. However, it wasn't a good night for the young Hawks big man. He had 13 points and made three three-pointers, so his jump shot continued to be effective. Expect that to pop against the Wizards - it's a much softer matchup to go against Badgley and Tristan Vukevic, who may not even play due to a knee contusion.

Three Reasons Atlanta Might Lose This Game

Nov 25, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Luke Kennard (3) drives to the basket as Washington Wizards forward Khris Middleton (22) defends in the first half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Quite frankly, there aren't many ways that the Hawks can lose this game. The Wizards are extremely banged-up and weren't even a good team when they were largely healthy. Even so, the Hawks did lose to the Wizards earlier this season because CJ McCollum got hot from deep. The Wizards also got a hot night from Corey Kispert, who made four threes against Atlanta. Kispert won't be available for the Wizards tonight. They have to swarm McCollum and prevent him, as well as Middleton and George, from getting hot. They are the only players on Washington's roster who have to consistently be respected from deep.

While it may not lose the Hawks the game, the lineups of Vit Krejci, Keaton Wallace and Luke Kennard need to come to an end. In the 87 minutes they've played together, that three-man grouping has a -21.3 net rating. It doesn't make any sense because both Krejci and Kennard are streaky shooters and Wallace has not played like an NBA-level guard this season. This Washington game is a prime opportunity for experimentation and getting rid of this lineup in favor of new combinations should be in consideration.

As mentioned above, the Hawks need to keep a careful eye on Kyshawn George. He has been a great find for the Wizards and his sophomore season shows clear signs of growth. He's averaging 15.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists while shooting 46.6% from field goal range and a stellar 45.1% from deep. He's struggled with his aggressiveness in recent games, but he could give the Hawks some problems if he taps into it tonight.

Injury Report

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

Washington Wizards: Corey Kispert, Alex Sarr, Bilal Couliably and Tre Johnson are all out. Cam Whitmore and Khris Middleton are both questionable.

How to Watch

Here is how you can watch tonight's game:

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

Location: Capital One Arena, Washington DC

Where to Watch: FanDuel Sports Network

Projected Starting Lineups

Hawks

G - Dyson Daniels

G - Nickeil Alexander-Walker

F - Zaccharie Risacher

F - Jalen Johnson

C - Onyeka Okongwu

Wizards

G - CJ McCollum

G - Jamir Watkins

F - Kyshawn George

F - Khris Middleton

C - Marvin Badgley III