Clint Capela Is Out For Tonight's Game vs Cleveland

Capela will not play vs the Cavs tonight

After being listed as questionable earlier today, Hawks center Clint Capela has been ruled out tonight vs the Cavs due to left knee soreness. Onyeka Okongwu will likely start in his place. 

While that is bad news, the good news for the Hawks is that De'Andre Hunter is available to play, but Bogdan Bogdanovic is still questionable. Bogdanovic has been arguably the Hawks's second-best player and it would be a big blow to lose him tonight. 

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

De’Andre Hunter (right knee soreness): Available

Bogdan Bogdanovic (right ankle sprain): Questionable

Kobe Bufkin (left thumb fracture): Out
Clint Capela (left knee soreness): Out
AJ Griffin (personal reasons):… pic.twitter.com/woho5GbNNb

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 16, 2023

The Hawks have had a significantly better offense than Cleveland. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is fourth in points per 100 possessions, 16th in effective field goal percentage, third in offensive rebounding percentage, and 8th in turnover rate. Atlanta has gotten a lot better at not turning the ball over the past couple of weeks after being one of the NBA's worst teams in that category.

Cleveland had the top defense in the NBA last season and while it is not the best this year, it is still pretty good, but it is going to take a hit without Mobley on the floor. Per Cleaning the Glass, Cleveland is 8th in points per 100 possessions allowed, 7th in effective field goal percentage allowed, and 8th in turnover percentage caused. Like I said though, Mobley is the best defender on the team and he is going to be out and Dean Wade is likely to start in his place.

Clint Capela is out tonight vs the Cavs / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Much like when they played the Raptors, Atlanta's bottom-of-the-NBA defense is going to be against one of the NBA's worst offenses. Cleveland is 25th in points per 100 possessions, 19th in effective field goal percentage, 21st in turnover rate, and 21st in offensive rebounding percentage per Cleaning the Glass.

Atlanta has a hard time stopping anyone though. They rank 25th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 29th in effective field goal rate allowed per Cleaning the Glass.

Limiting Mitchell is going to be key tonight. Without Garland and Mobley, it would lie on him and Caris LeVert to carry the offense.

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