Hawks vs Kings: Game Preview, Injury Report, Projected Starting Lineups

Atlanta will try to get a road win vs Sacramento tonight

The Hawks are heading out to the West Coast for a late-night game vs the Sacramento Kings and Atlanta will look to get back to winning after their winning streak was snapped on Saturday vs the Cavs. 

The first time these two teams met, Atlanta blew a massive lead and the Kings gave them one of the most heartbreaking losses in the NBA. De'Aaron Fox had a monster second half and Malik Monk and Trey Lyles were huge off the bench. 

Atlanta is going to come into this game shorthanded while the Kings are going to be relatively healthy. Trae Young has entered the NBA's concussion protocol and will not play tonight and starting small forward De'Andre Hunter remains out. Sacramento has lost four in a row and slipped to eighth place in the Western Conference, while Atlanta is clinging to 10th in the Eastern Conference. It has been a relatively disappointing season for both teams and they both could use a win tonight. 

So who comes out on top in Sacramento tonight? Let's break it down. 

Game Preview

Dejounte Murray will play a huge role tonight vs the Kings / Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta had one of its worst games of the year on Saturday vs the Cavs, especially on the offensive end. Now, the Hawks have to face the Kings without their best player, but they have been without Young before. On Friday night, the Hawks went to Miami and faced a full-strength Heat team and got a win thanks to a Dejounte Murray buzzer-beater. Murray will have a lot on him tonight in terms of carrying the offense, but he is more than capable. 

Atlanta is 2-1 without Young this season, but you can't replace his playmaking ability in the lineup. Murray has shown he can take the team and lead them without Young, but they are different kinds of players. Murray is averaging 21 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 5.0 APG this season and has been really efficient in shooting the ball. With Young out, Bogdan Bogdanovic is likely to get the start, as he has in all three games when Young has been out. 

One guy that has to play better tonight is forward Saddiq Bey. 

Saddiq Bey has been in a slump on offense for the better part of a month now. Coupled with being a bad defender, that can lead to some tough nights on the floor for Bey, but Saturday night might have been his worst this season.

Bey played 30 minutes last night, went 0-12 from the field, scoring zero points, and finished a -24 from the floor. The Hawks have to play him major minutes due to their injuries, but Bey is not playing well right now. 

Jalen Johnson will also have to have an increased role with Young out. Johnson has been one of the NBA's breakout players this season averaging 15.0 PPG and 8.3 RPG. 

The Hawks' offense is solid, but not spectacular this season. They are a good rebounding team, they get to the free-throw line, and they are one of the league leaders in three-point attempts. 

Atlanta is 5th in PPG, 22nd in field goal percentage, 6th in three-point attempts, 17th in three-point percentage, 6th in free throw attempts, 8th in rebounding, and 19th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Hawks are 11th in points per 100 possessions, 20th in effective field goal percentage, 16th in turnover percentage, 4th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 11th in free throw rate. Can the offense have similar numbers without Young? They could because they are not going to be facing one of the NBA's best defenses like they did on Saturday night. 

Jalen Johnson vs the Wizards / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

While Sacramento is not as bad as they were on defense last year, they are not good on that end of the floor. The Kings rank 21st in PPG allowed, 24th in field goal percentage allowed, 10th in three-point attempts allowed, and 29th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Kings are 20th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 26th in effective field goal percentage. The Kings were the worst defense in the NBA a year ago during their surprise run and while they are not nearly as bad this year, they have a tough time getting stops. 

The Kings have taken a step forward on defense, but a step back on offense. Sacramento had one of the best offenses in NBA history last year but has fallen back to the middle of the pack this year, while still having some of the NBA's best players. 

De'Aaron Fox is one of the NBA's best scorers this season, averaging nearly 28 PPG and Domantas Sabonis is nearly averaging a triple-double with 20.1 PPG, 12.6 RPG, and 8.0 APG. Second-year forward Keegan Murray has taken a nice leap this year and looks like he might be a future star, averaging 16.2 PPG and 5.5 RPG. 

Sacramento is 8th in PPG, 11th in field goal percentage, 3rd in three-point attempts, 12th in three-point percentage, 20th in free throw attempts, 15th in rebounding, and 14th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Kings are 14th in points per 100 possessions, 9th in effective field goal percentage, 14th in turnover percentage, 20th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 26th in free throw rate. The good news for the Kings is that most offenses take a huge step up when they play the Hawks' defense. 

The Hawks have had some good games on defense as of late, but that does not change the fact that they have arguably the worst defense in the NBA. They are 27th in PPG allowed, 29th in field goal percentage allowed, 18th in three-point attempts allowed, and 25th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Hawks are 26th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 29th in effective field goal percentage allowed. 

I think this game might come down to who has a better night shooting the three. Both teams are ranked near the top of the NBA in three-point attempts and just average in hitting their attempts. Both defenses allow a high number of three-point attempts as well and have capable shooters. 

Hawks Provide New Injury Update on Trae Young

Injury Report

Trae Young (NBA Concussion Policy) is out. Young took a hard charge from Cavs forward Isaac Okoro and left the game. After the game, Hawks head coach Quin Snyder said that Young was going to be evaluated for a potential concussion and yesterday, the Hawks updated Young's status and announced that he was being placed in concussion protocol.

Here is the official update from the Hawks:

"Guard Trae Young left last night’s game vs. Cleveland after drawing a charge with 8:43 remaining in the fourth quarter. After an evaluation by the team’s athletic training and medical staff, Young has been diagnosed with a concussion.

Per the league’s Concussion Policy, Young will begin the NBA-mandated Return-to-Participation process. This process includes a series of steps designed to ensure an athlete exhibits symptom-free behavior before resuming basketball activities. There is no predetermined timetable to complete the process. Each injury and player is different and recovery time can vary in each case."

Mouhamed Gueye (right low back stress fracture), De’Andre Hunter (right knee inflammation), Vit Krejci (left shoulder subluxation), and Wesley Matthews (right calf strain) are all out for Atlanta.

Viewing and Betting Information

Tip-off time: 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Location: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA

Where to Watch: NBA League Pass, Bally Sports Southeast, NBATV

Spread and Over/Under: The Hawks will be underdogs on the road tonight, as they are currently 7.5-point underdogs according to the latest odds from the SI Sportsbook and the over/under is set at 237.5

Projected Starting Lineups

Hawks:

G- Bogdan Bogdanovic

G- Dejounte Murray

F- Saddiq Bey

F- Jalen Johnson

C- Clint Capela

Kings:

G- De'Aaron Fox

G- Kevin Huerter

F- Harrison Barnes

F- Keegan Murray

C- Domantas Sabonis

Player to Watch on the Hawks- Dejounte Murray

Murray is going to have to play well for the Hawks to win without Young. There is no getting around that. That does not mean that he has to score 50 points for the Hawks to win, but he will need to be efficient and get open shots for his teammates with Young not there and the Kings don't have an elite defense. 

Player to Watch on the Kings- De'Aaron Fox

It was a tale of two halves for Fox when they last played the Hawks. He could not get anything going in the first half and then could not be stopped. Like Murray, Fox will be counted on to lead the offense alongside Sabonis. 

Prediction

The Kings are a good team despite their losing streak and the Hawks don't have Young. Atlanta can win this game because the Kings are not a juggernaut by any means, but their defense is going to have a hard time stopping the duo of Fox and Sabonis. Atlanta keeps it close, but Fox closes the game out with some clutch baskets. 

Final Score: Kings 118, Hawks 114

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