Hawks vs Bulls: Game Preview, Injury Report, Betting Odds, Projected Starting Lineups For Today's Game

Coming off a bounce-back win versus the Suns, can the Hawks handle an opponent that has historically given them problems?
Dec 26, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) defends Chicago Bulls guard Jevon Carter (5) in the first quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Dec 26, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) defends Chicago Bulls guard Jevon Carter (5) in the first quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images
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In their first home game of the year, the shorthanded Atlanta Hawks looked excellent as they managed to get a 122-117 win over the Suns despite being down Jalen Johnson and DeAndre Hunter. After losing to the same team by a score of 123-115 where they let Phoenix's bench run amok, Atlanta proved it was the better rebounding team and clamped down on the Suns' bench. Bradley Beal and Grayson Allen's 20+ point efforts in the previous matchup turned into a combined 20 points from both.

This game's stars showed out. Trae Young had 43 points while Kevin Durant had 31 and Devin Booker had 35 points for the Suns. However, Atlanta's bench made the difference. They lacked Jalen Johnson and De'Andre Hunter tonight, but they got huge games from their supporting cast around Young. Onyeka Okongwu, Vit Krejci and Garrison Matthews all stepped up with excellent games. Okongwu became the first ever Hawk to record a 20 point, 20-rebound game off the bench (22 points and 21 rebounds), Matthews had 19 points on 5-8 shooting from three, and Krejci had his best game of the season with 15 points, six assists, and five rebounds.

They now head into a matchup against a Chicago Bulls squad that has given them some problems this year. They've really struggled to slow down the Bulls' offense - Chicago's eclipsed 130+ points in each of their last two games against Atlanta. That task is only going to get tougher if they are absent Jalen Johnson and DeAndre Hunter. However, if the Hawks can put up another complete effort, they should be able to get the win.

Game Preview

Coming into tonight's game, the Hawks are 6th in the NBA in PPG, 16th in FG%, 17th in 3PA, 18th in 3P%, 4th in FTA, 23rd in turnovers, and 9th in rebounding. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 14th in points per 100 possessions, 17th in effective field goal percentage, 19th in turnover percentage, 7th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 7th in free throw rate.

Currently, the Hawks rank 28th in PPG allowed, 25th in field goal percentage allowed, 29th in three-point attempts allowed, and 30th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 21st in points allowed per 100 possessions and 28th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

Chicago has a potent offense that lives and dies by the three-ball. The Bulls are 4th in PPG, 12th in FG%, 2nd in three point attempts, 5th in 3P%, 30th in free throw attempts, 7th in rebounding, and 18th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, Chicago is 15th in points per 100 possessions, 7th in effective field goal percentage, 14th in turnover percentage, 29th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 29th in free throw rate.

Defensively, Chicago struggles to defend almost everything except three-pointers. The Bulls rank 29th in PPG allowed, 21st in FG%, 27th in three point attempts allowed, and 2nd in three point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Chicago is 23rd in points allowed per 100 possessions and 16th in effective field goal percentage.

Trae Young had one of his best scoring outputs of the season with a 43-point thriller against the Suns. It will be interesting to see if he can duplicate those efforts against a Bulls team that has usually played him well in the past. A lot of that is due to the matchup with Ayo Dosonmu. Dosonmu is one of the better Young defenders in the NBA, so Atlanta may not be able to rely on another high-scoring effort from Young to carry them.

On the other side, stopping Zach LaVine is going to be critical for the Hawks to figure out an answer for. LaVine has posted a TS% north of 70% in his last two games against the Hawks and handled the matchup with Atlanta's wings well. If DeAndre Hunter doesn't play, they are going to have to dig deep for ways on slowing down Hunter. Risacher played good defense at times on Kevin Durant, but he was clearly overmatched and got into foul trouble. LaVine isn't Durant, but that could be a potential issue that the Hawks need to find a solution for. Vit Krejci has been solid in his larger role and him holding his own on defense would go a long ways towards slowing down LaVine.

Although these two teams are both good rebounding teams, the difference between them when it comes to offensive rebounds is stark. Atlanta is 7th in OREB% while Chicago is 29th in the same metric. This could be a weakness for Atlanta to punish - they were able to do it against the Suns and practically won the game because of it.

A critical part of winning that rebounding battle is Onyeka Okongwu. The young center had the best game of his career against Phoenix with a 22 point, 21 rebound double-double. While it's true that the Suns arguably have the worst center rotation in basketball, it cannot be discounted and Okongwu could parlay that into success against Nikola Vucevic.

Injury Report

Both teams are on a back-to-back, so the injury report will be updated when the teams post it this afternoon.

Update (2:00 p.m. ET)- Trae Young (right rib contusion), Jalen Johnson (right shoulder inflammation), De’Andre Hunter (left foot soreness), and Zaccharie Risacher (left adductor irritation) are all out tonight. Larry Nance, Kobe Bufkin, and Cody Zeller remain out as well. For Chicago, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmo, and Lonzo Ball are all questionable.

Odds

According to Fanduel Sportsbook, Atlanta is a 2-point favorite tonight against the Bulls, and the total is set at 245.5.

Projected Starting Lineups

Hawks

G- Keaton Wallace

G - Dyson Daniels

F - Garrison Matthews

F - Vit Krejci

C - Clint Capela

Bulls

G- Josh Giddey

G- Coby White

F- Zach LaVine

F- Patrick Williams

C- Nikola Vucevic

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Trae Young and Onyeka Okongwu's Big Performances Lift the Hawks Past Phoenix 122-117 at Home


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