Updated Atlanta Hawks Starting Lineup vs. Indiana: Who is Replacing Jalen Johnson?

Jalen Johnson is out of the starting lineup tonight due to injury and the Hawks have had to make changes

Oct 29, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks head coach Quin Snyder on the sideline against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Atlanta Hawks announced earlier this evening that star forward Jalen Johnson was not going to be able to play in tonight's game against the Pacers, and he joined center Jock Landale, forward Mouhamed Gueye, and center Henri Veesaar as players who would not be available for the team tonight.

That does leave Atlanta very shorthanded in the frontcourt, but they are not even the most shorthanded team in this game. The Pacers were already going to be missing Tyrese Haliburton and Ivica Zubac, but on the second night of a back-to-back, Indiana is also going to be sitting Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard, Pascal Siakam, Obi Toppin, T.J. McConnell, and Ben Sheppard. Indiana is not going to have many available bodies tonight against a Hawks team that is looking to get a win.

Both teams have announced their starting lineups for tonight:

Hawks

G- CJ McCollum
G- Nickeil Alexander-Walker
G/F- Dyson Daniels
F- Lu Dort
C- Onyeka Okongwu

Pacers

G- Braden Smith
G- Quenton Jackson
F- Jarace Walker
F- Jalen Slawson
C- Jay Huff

What to expect from tonight's rotation

Dort is going to get the start tonight in place of Johnson and that is not entirely a surprise. For the first seven games of the regular season, Dort has been the backup power forward for Atlanta this season and has been the first player off the bench each night. Against a team with a normal rotation of players, I would be worried about the rebounding due to Dort's overall lack of size, but that should not prevent Atlanta from being able to beat this shorthanded Pacers team.

With Dort starting tonight and backup center Jock Landale also being out, I think that the Hawks will lean on a combination of Asa Newell, Zuby Ejiofor, and Dorian Finney-Smith to pick up minutes. Newell filled in for Landale on Saturday against the Pelicans, while Ejiofor and Finney-Smith have not played meaningful rotation minutes this season.

Another situation to monitor is what Quin Snyder decides to do with the backup guard minutes. Kingston Flemings is serving a suspension for this game and the Hawks don't really have another backup point guard. Will they just rely on CJ McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels and Aaron Wiggins as ball handlers tonight or will Snyder let two-way contract RayJ Dennis see his first real action of the season.

The NBA has seen a large amount of injuries during this young season and there might not be a better example of that than tonight's Hawks-Pacers game.