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

Atlanta is 6-7 heading into their game vs the Nets tonight

Atlanta just played in one of the craziest NBA games of the year last night against the Pacers and after losing 157-152 to the Pacers, the Hawks are back in action at State Farm Arena tonight. 

The Hawks need to get a win to snap a three-game losing streak and get this team back on track. If you look at Cleaning the Glass, the Hawks have an efficiency differential of +3.1, which is what you would expect from a 48 win team. That certainly makes it seem like the Hawks are better than their record suggests, but at the end of the day, you have to win games. 

So how do the Hawks and the Nets match up? Let's break it down. 

Game Preview

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. 

Trae Young is the guy that makes everything go and he had his best performance of the season last night. Young finished with 38 points and eight assists while shooting 13-17 from the field. It has not been the best shooting season for Young, but he showed last night that he is still one of the best offensive playmakers in the NBA. 

Trae Young had 38 points and eight assists against the Pacers / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

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. 

Mikal Bridges is the top player on the Brooklyn Nets / Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Like their defense, the Net's offense is not terrible, but there is not a lot that stands out about it. Brooklyn is 19th in PPG, 18th in field goal percentage, 5th in rebounding, 5th in three-point percentage, and 10th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Nets are 11th in points per 100 possessions, 12th in effective field goal percentage, 17th in turnover percentage, 13th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 28th in free throw rate. 

Brooklyn is a good three-point shooting team and a good rebounding team. They defend well, but not at an elite-level defense. There is a reason the Nets are also 6-7 and I think it is because they are just an average team with mostly above-average to average players. 

Injury report

The Hawks have not released their injury report for tonight's game, but I would not suspect there are any new additions to it. Kobe Bufkin and Mouhamed Gueye will be out, but AJ Griffin should get an update after missing yesterday's game with an illness. 

Brooklyn is going to be missing some key players tonight. Cam Thomas, the Nets leading scorer, is out tonight. Ben Simmons and Dennis Smith are also out tonight. 

Projected Starting Lineups

Projected Starting Lineups

Hawks:

G- Trae Young

G- Dejounte Murray

F- De'Andre Hunter

F- Jalen Johnson

C- Clint Capela

Nets

G- Spencer Dinwiddie

G- Mikal Bridges

F- Cam Johnson

F- Dorian Finney-Smith

C- Nic Claxton

Player to watch on the Hawks- De'Andre Hunter

Hunter is one of the most important players on the Hawks and he has to start playing with consistency. His shooting is up and down from game to game and he turns the ball over. His defense has just been average this season as well. The Hawks have to get more contributions from Hunter at a more consistent level. 

Player to watch on the Nets- Mikal Bridges

Bridges is an easy choice here, but he is the best offensive threat for the Nets with Thomas out. Bridges will need to carry the Nets offense tonight and given the way Atlanta has played defense, he could have a big night tonight. 

Prediction

Brooklyn has had a few days of rest now and the Hawks are playing on a back-to-back. Atlanta's sketchy defense makes it tough to trust them in any game, but I do think they are more talented than the Nets and have more firepower. It might not be the thriller that last night was, but the Hawks win against the Nets tonight in Atlanta. 

Final Score: Hawks 117, Nets 112

WATCH: Trae Young Post-Game Press Conference After 157-152 Loss to Pacers

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