Hawks vs Nets: Dejounte Murray's Status Revealed

Atlanta is 6-7 going into their game tonight with the Brooklyn Nets

When Atlanta first revealed their injury this afternoon, there was nothing new about it. Then a short time after, star guard Dejounte Murray was listed as questionable with a right quad contusion. With the Hawks on a back-to-back and a long road trip upcoming, it seemed like Murray was going to sit this game out. 

However, Murray is available to play tonight. 

Dejounte Murray is AVAILABLE to play tonight with a right quad contusion.

He was a game-time decision for the Hawks against the Nets.

— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) November 22, 2023

Murray is off to a great start this season and with him available, the Hawks should have their usual starting lineup tonight of Trae Young, Murray, De'Andre Hunter, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela. 

For the Nets, Cam Thomas, Ben Simmons, and Dennis Smith are out. 

Dejounte Murray is available to play tonight for the Hawks / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

This will be an interesting matchup tonight. 

As you saw last night if you watched the Hawks vs the Pacers, Atlanta has one of the best offenses in the NBA and it is not just because they played Indiana. The Hawks have played some of the best defenses in the NBA this season and still have one of the top offenses.

 Atlanta is 3rd in the NBA in PPG (122.4), 7th in field goal percentage (48.7%), 12th in three-point percentage, 18th in rebounding, and 24th in turnovers. It is hard to gripe about a lot of their offense, but they do turn the ball over at an alarming rate, and their rebounding has gotten considerably worse over the course of the season.

Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 4th in points per 100 possessions, 6th in effective field goal percentage, 3rd in offensive rebounding percentage, 21st in turnover percentage, and 2nd in free throw rate.

Dejounte Murray is having a great start to his season and Jalen Johnson has been a great addition to the lineup this year. Bogdan Bogdanovic has been one of the best bench players in the NBA, averaging 15.5 PPG on 45.3% shooting.

One player that needs to start playing better is De'Andre Hunter. In a game where the total finished at 309 points, Hunter was basically invisible for most of the game. Atlanta needs Hunter to start playing better if they want to get where they want to, which is one of the top six teams in the East.

The Brooklyn defense is solid, but not great. The Nets are 17th in PPG allowed 8th in field goal percentage allowed, and 7th in three-point field goal percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Brooklyn is 20th in points per 100 possessions allowed and 14th in effective field goal percentage allowed. Mikal Bridges is one of the best defensive players in the league and will be a tough matchup problem for the Hawks's playmakers.

Atlanta is hoping to snap its three-game losing streak and with Murray back in the lineup, that seems doable, but they will have to play better than they have. 

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

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