Hawks Announce Starting Lineup for Tonight's Game vs The Bulls

Atlanta is 12-17 coming into tonight's game vs Chicago

The good news for the Hawks came earlier tonight when point guard Trae Young and forward Jalen Johnson were announced as available for tonight's matchup with the Bulls. Both are in the starting lineup for the Hawks. 

Young and Johnson will be joined by Saddiq Bey, Clint Capela, and Dejounte Murray in the starting lineup. The Bulls will be without Nikola Vucevic tonight as well as Zach LaVine. They are starting Coby White, Alex Caruso, DeMar DeRozan, Patrick Williams, and Andre Drummond. 

Hawks starters tonight at the Bulls. Saddiq Bey will start at the 3, Jalen Johnson at the 4. pic.twitter.com/R0GDyNtVkP

— Lauren L. Williams (@WilliamsLaurenL) December 27, 2023

Atlanta comes into the game tonight 3rd in PPG, 15th in field goal percentage, 12th in three-point percentage, 3rd in offensive rebounding, and 14th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 5th in points per 100 possessions, 13th in effective field goal percentage, 12th in turnover percentage, 4th in offensive rebounding rate, and 12th in free throw rate. Atlanta has three high-level offensive players in Young, Dejounte Murray, and 6th man of the year candidate Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Chicago does not have an intimidating defense either and if Young does play, I think the Hawks will have a good day. The Bulls are 11th in PPG allowed 17th in field goal percentage allowed, and 15th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Bulls are 18th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 20th in effective field goal percentage allowed. The only defensive stalwart they have in their lineup is Alex Caruso, who will likely be guarding Young in this matchup.

Trae Young and Ja Morant / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

DeRozan is the leading scorer for Chicago and is averaging 22.3 PPG, 5.4 APG, and 3.8 RPG while shooting 45.5% from the field. DeRozan is not much of a three-point shooter but can score in other ways and can take over a game. There is a reason he is one of the most coveted names on the trade block.

The offense as a whole for the Bulls is not fantastic. Chicago is 27th in PPG, 27th in field goal percentage, 18th in three-point percentage, 9th in offensive rebounding, and 3rd in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, Chicago is 22nd in points per 100 possessions, 26th in effective field goal percentage, 3rd in turnover percentage, 16th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 23rd in free throw rate. 

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