Jalen Johnson's Status Revealed For Tonight's NBA Cup Quarterfinals Matchup vs the Knicks

Johnson was questionable coming into tonight's game vs the Knicks

Dec 6, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) shoots against the Los Angeles Lakers in the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Jalen Johnson (right shoulder soreness) was listed as questionable coming into tonight's NBA Cup Game with the Knicks and the Hawks just revealed his status for the game. He is available for tonight's game, as are Trae Young, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and De'Andre Hunter.

Hawks injury updates for tonight’s NBA Cup quarterfinal in New York….

Jalen Johnson (shoulder): Available

Bogdan Bogdanovic (quad): Available

Trae Young (Achilles): Available

De’Andre Hunter (knee): Available https://t.co/VtypGnZvsY

— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) December 11, 2024

Coming into tonight's game, the Hawks are 8th in the NBA in PPG, 6in FG%, 19th in 3PA, 24th in 3P%, 6th in FTA, 24th in turnovers, and 6th in rebounding. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 16th in points per 100 possessions, 21st in effective field goal percentage, 21st in turnover percentage, 6th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 11th in free throw rate.

Currently, the Hawks rank 28th in PPG allowed, 20th in field goal percentage allowed, 30th in three-point attempts allowed, and 30th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 16th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 26th in effective field goal percentage allowed. Before the games against the Lakers and the Nuggets, Atlanta's defense had been playing well, but they have had two really bad games in a row on that end of the floor. The Knicks have one of, if not the best offense in the NBA so the Hawks have to be better.

New York is currently 7th in PPG, 2nd in FG%, 18th in 3PA, 2nd 3P%, 27th in free throw attempts, 26th in rebounding, and 4th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Knicks are 1st in points per 100 possessions, 2nd in effective field goal percentage, 3rd in TOV%, 19th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 18th in free throw rate. It is safe to say that with Jalen Brunson and Karl Anthony-Towns, the Knicks offense can do some serious damage. Towns has also been a major matchup problem for the Hawks in the past and scored 34 points in the last matchup in November.

As good as Brunson and Towns are on the offensive end, they can be targeted on the defense end. The Knicks rank 10th in PPG allowed, 16th FG% allowed, 19th 3PA allowed, and 20th in 3P% allowed.

Trae Young really struggled in the loss to the Nuggets, scoring 15 points and adding in 10 assists. Most of his points in the game came when the game was already out of hand and the Hawks are going to need his best tonight. This is going to be a playoff like game and atmosphere and in those moments, you need your best player to step up. He has done it plenty of times, especially against the Knicks.

Dyson Daniels was really poor offensively against the Knicks in the last matchup, going 3-16 from the field and scoring six points, but he played excellent defense against Jalen Brunson and had four steals in the game.Daniels has been one of the premier defenders in the NBA this year and will have a tough assignment tonight against one of the league's best players.

Zaccharie Risacher had the best scoring night of his young career in the last game against New York. Risacher scored 33 points, shot 11-18 from the field (6-10 from three) and also had seven rebounds, three assists, and three blocks. He stuffed the stat sheet in the last game vs the Knicks and while I do not expect that type of game from him tonight, he will need to hit his shots if the Hawks hope to keep up in this game.

Clint Capela got the majority of the center minutes in the last matchup against the Knicks and had a tough time guarding Towns. Capela has to keep Towns from dominating the glass and giving their offense more opportunities, as well as guarding the three-point line. Towns has been very good this year for the Knicks and is a tough matchup for Atlanta.

The bench (if everyone is healthy) is one of the best in the NBA and the Hawks have a huge edge over the Knicks in that category. Bogdan Bogdanovic missed Sunday's game vs Denver and did not play in the last game vs New York back in November. De'Andre Hunter missed that game as well. Expect those two plus Onyeka Okongwu off the bench for Atlanta and Vit Krejci. Krejci has been playing over Kobe Bufkin as of late and that likely continues.

Additional Links

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