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

Can the Hawks rebound from a poor, injury-depleted showing against the Nuggets with a strong performance against the Lakers?

Jan 30, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) dribbles against Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Unsurprisingly, the Nuggets found it very difficult to beat the Nuggets on the road without Jalen Johnson and Bogdan Bogdanovic. While the 139-120 loss looks ugly on paper, the game was actually progressing reasonably well for Atlanta in the first half. Denver was only up, 74-71, going into halftime after the Hawks shot 47% from the field and 38% from three. Considering their struggles from the three-point line this season, that's a reasonable performance from their offense. The real problem was that they had no defensive answers for the Nuggets. Denver took the game by running the Hawks off the floor in the third quarter, outscoring them 41-21 and finished by shooting 56% from the floor and 40% from three.

They'll be going up against a Lakers squad that has remained above .500 despite going through fluctuations in both their play and roster. From a roster standpoint, LA made one of the first trades of the trade deadline season by acquring Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for D'Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks. Finney-Smith made his Lakers debut against the Cavs and scored two points in 20 minutes. His second game with the team went similarly as he dropped three points and four rebounds in 24 minutes in a 114-106 win against the Portland Trail Blazers yesterday. Still, the main focus of the Lakers is always LeBron James. Despite recently celebrating his 40th birthday, he just scored 38 points and hit 7 threes. Anthony Davis did not play against Portland, but his defense remains excellent and he's averaging 26.1 points and 11.6 rebounds.

Outside of James and star center Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves has really come along as a playmaker and scorer for the Lakers this year while Dalton Knecht has taken hold of his role as a bench shooter. Beyond that, it is a fairly shallow team that Atlanta should be able to take advantage of. However, this assumes that the Hawks have their star duo of Trae Young and Jalen Johnson. Young dropped 30 points and nine assists while Johnson's absence was especially felt on the defensive end against Denver. Both remain questionable for tonight's game against LA while veteran sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanovic is also questionable.

Game Preview

Coming into tonight's game, the Hawks are 5th in the NBA in PPG, 13th in FG%, 18th in 3PA, 18th in 3P%, 3rd in FTA, 25th in turnovers, and 5th in rebounding. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 14th in points per 100 possessions, 16th in effective field goal percentage, 19th in turnover percentage, 7th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 7th in free throw rate.

Currently, the Hawks rank 27th in PPG allowed, 22nd in field goal percentage allowed, 30th in three-point attempts allowed, and 30th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 17th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 26th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

Offensively, the Lakers are solid through their stars forcing a lot of free throws and not turning the ball over. Los Angeles is currently 17th in PPG, 9th in FG%, 28th in 3PA, 19th in 3P%, 5th in FTA, 28th in rebounding, and 5th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Lakers are 15th in points per 100 possessions, 11th in effective field goal percentage, 8th in turnover percentage, 27th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 1st in free throw rate.

Defensively, Los Angeles is also solid but unspectacular. They are 19th in PPG allowed, 25th in FG% allowed, 8th in 3PA allowed, and 20th in 3P% allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Lakers are 18th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 21st in effective field goal percentage.

Trae Young looks to have found his scoring groove again. In four of his last five games, he's gone for 27 points or more and he's scored 30 in his last two. He followed a 34 point and 10 assist game vs the Raptors, a game in which he also hit seven threes, up by dropping 30 points and nine assists against Denver. If Johnson sits again, he's going to have to carry a heavy offensive load against an expoitable LA defense.

Dyson Daniels on Austin Reaves should be a fun matchup to watch. Daniels is a brutal matchup for any ball-handler and Reaves has been excellent as a facilitator recently. He's hit double-digit assists in four of his last five games. Furthermore, he's been able to keep his turnovers down to a reasonable number in those games. However, he has not faced a defender as good as Daniels, who leads the NBA in steals by a whopping 0.9 steals per game.

One battle that will be interesting to watch is on the boards. The Hawks have been a strong rebounding team all year and the Lakers are one of the worst. Clint Capela should be able to match up well with Jaxson Hayes, but the possible loss of Johnson will certainly hurt Atlanta in this area. If Davis comes back for LA, that would be massive for their ability to win the rebounding battle. That being said, Johnson is also critical to solving the biggest defensive issue for the Hawks to handle tonight - LeBron James. Johnson is a great defender for James because of their similar body types. Without him, the Hawks might have to use DeAndre Hunter a lot as the defender on him because Risacher is not physically ready to take on that assignment.

If Young's minutes are limited, Vit Krejci's strong performance against the Nuggets (14 points off the bench with five assists) will need to continue. Despite a slow start to the season, he's looked better as of late and if he can get going from deep, that would be massive for the Hawks' chances in this one.

Although Risacher does not project to be ready to handle the full-time James assignment, it will be interesting to see what he can do on defense against him. Risacher's defense has been much more consistent than his offense. It should be noted that he is making some strides in that area. He's hit double-digit points in three of his last five games and his finishing is starting to get better. He's also grown as a shooter, hitting 70% of his free throws on the year and getting his three-point percentage to 28.4% on 4.4 attempts a game. Those numbers are still below average, but there is some progress there.

Injury Report

Trae Young (right hand contusion), Jalen Johnson (right shoulder soreness) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (left lower leg contusion) are all questionable. Bufkin, Nance and Zeller are still out for the same reasons as in the Denver game.

Odds

According to Fanduel Sportsbook, the Lakers are 3.5 point favorites tonight vs Hawks and the total is set at 233.

Hawks:

G- Trae Young

G - Dyson Daniels

F - Garrison Mathews

F - Zaccharie Risacher

C - Clint Capela

Lakers:

G - Austin Reaves

G - Max Christie

F - LeBron James

F - Rui Hachimura

C - Jaxson Hayes