Atlanta Hawks Announce Starting Lineup for Tonight's Game vs Raptors

Atlanta will try to snap its five-game losing streak tonight in Toronto

The Hawks have just announced their starting lineup for tonight's game vs the Raptors and they have made a big change. 

I have written about the possibility of Quin Snyder going to a big lineup and putting Onyeka Okongwu at power forward with De'Andre Hunter out and that is what they are doing tonight. 

Trae Young, Dejounte Murry, Saddiq Bey, Okongwu and Clint Capela are the starters for the Hawks tonight. 

Onyeka Okongwu is making his first career start at power forward tonight.

Full starters for Hawks in Toronto:

Trae Young
Dejounte Murray
Saddiq Bey
Onyeka Okongwu
Clint Capela

(Reminder that Jalen Johnson, De’Andre Hunter, and AJ Griffin are out.)

— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) December 16, 2023

I wrote in Wednesday's preview about how the Raptors were one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA, including the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA. But as I said, the Hawks's defense is the cure to any shooting ailments any opposing team may have. That was the case on Wednesday and if Hunter can't play tonight, I am worried that will be the case again due to the size advantage that Toronto possesses.

Toronto came into the game as the worst team in the NBA in three-point percentage, but they had the benefit of going against one of the NBA's worst defenses tonight and they took full advantage.

Toronto shot 57.5% from the field and 52.9% from three in this game. Pascal Siakam had a good night with 33 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. Scottie Barnes had 27 points on 11-14 shooting and OG Anunoby had 22 points on 10-13 shooting.

Pascal Siakam vs the Hawks / Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Young had a great performance with 35 points and 17 assists and Bogdanovic had another 20-point game, but that was it.

But the Hawks could not get much from any of the other starters. Murray hit two late shots to get himself up to 20 points, but it was not a great night for him. Murray was a -17 when on the floor tonight, tied for the worst on the team with Clint Capela. Wesley Matthews was -11 in 14 minutes.

Can Atlanta make the adjustments necessary to win tonight? Snyder is going to have his hands full due to the size advantage that Toronto possesses over the Hawks. Still, Toronto is far from an elite team and the Hawks can win this game if they defend better and the Raptors don't make an absurd amount of three-pointers. 

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