Kristaps Porzingis, Trae Young Among Hawks On Injury Report Ahead of Tonight's Matchup With Toronto

Jan 2, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Kristaps Porzingis (8) shoots past New York Knicks forward Guerschon Yabusele (28) in the third quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Don't look now but the Atlanta Hawks are on a winning streak.

Atlanta has won two in a row, both by double digits, heading into tonight's matchup with Toronto on the road. The Hawks are 0-2 against the Raptors this season and if they lose tonight, they will lose the season series to the Raptors, which could be meaningful if the teams are close to each other in the playoff standings.

Ahead of this game, the Hawks have released their injury report and they are going to be missing some key players for tonight's game. Trae Young (right quad contusion), Kristaps Porzingis (return to competition reconditioning), and Luke Kennard (back soreness) are all going to miss today's game vs the Raptors.

An @emoryhealthcare injury report for tonight’s game at Toronto:

N’Faly Dante (right knee, torn ACL): Out
Luke Kennard (back soreness): Out
Kristaps Porzingis (return to competition reconditioning): Out
Trae Young (right quad contusion): Out pic.twitter.com/6cGsiFdbn7

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 3, 2026

Nickeil Alexander-Walker is going to continue starting for the Hawks while Young is out. While Porzingis was able to return from his absence and play the last two games, he is not going to play on many, if any, back-to-backs this season. With Kennard out, the Hawks are going to have a thin bench unit tonight vs Toronto.

The Raptors are going to have center issues of their own tonight. They are going to be missing starter Jakob Poeltl, meaning they will be thin in the middle tonight.

Big win last night

Jan 2, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) drives past New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) in the third quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

On Wednesday, the Hawks had a terrific defensive performance against Minnesota, but this was going to be a more daunting challenge, even with the Knicks missing some of their key guys. New York came into this game third in offensive rating and still had one of the top playmakers in the NBA leading the way.

Atlanta was down early, but then their defense locked the Knicks down, especially in the middle of the game. The Hawks held the Knicks to only 17 points in the second quarter and 23 points in the third quarter. Atlanta got up by as many as 26 points and though they did not play well in the 4th quarter, it was an overall strong performance.

To end the game, the Knicks shot 36% from the field and 21% (9-44) from three. If the Hawks defense continues to play like this, they are going to continue to win games.

Johnson has looked awesome over the last two games since missing Monday's contest with an illness and he continues to look like an All Star.

Last night, Jalen Johnson added to his triple-double count for the season, ending with 18 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds. He shook off a tough start and did not shoot well from three tonight, but it shows how much of an impact that Johnson has on the game when he plays like this.