The Atlanta Hawks are back in action tonight and with five games left, they are running out of opportunities to catch up to the Chicago Bulls for the No. 9 spot in the Eastern Conference. After losing to the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, the Hawks' schedule does not let up, as they are in Denver tonight to take on the defending champions.
Atlanta is one game behind the Bulls entering tonight's game and this is going to be a tough spot for the Hawks. The Nuggets remain one of the top teams in the NBA and are fighting to be the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Keep an eye on their injury report today as well. Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray is questionable coming into tonight's game and Murray has missed some games leading up to tonight.
So how do these teams match up?
Game Preview
The Hawks are going to have to have a better result on the offensive end tonight if they want to have a chance at upsetting the Nuggets. The Hawks were able to only score 38 points in the second half of their loss and the defense for Atlanta played well in their loss to Dallas.
Dejounte Murray has been great for the Hawks with Trae Young out, but he was unable to find a groove vs the Mavs. He scored 16 points on 6-17 shooting Thursday and he will have to face a really strong Denver defense tonight.
It was a tale of two halves for Bogdan Bogdanovic on Thursday. He did not score in the first half, but he scored 17 in the second half and wound up leading the Hawks in scoring for the game. Bogdanovic has been playing great, but he has also had to play a lot of minutes as a starter.
De'Andre Hunter has been up and down in terms of scoring, but he has been playing really good defense as of late. Hunter did a great job of guarding Luka Doncic when he was on the floor tonight and he will likely face a matchup with Michael Porter Jr tonight. Hunter will need to shoot better from the floor tonight though. He can be one of the Hawks's best offensive weapons when he is playing well.
Jalen Johnson recorded his first triple-double on Wednesday vs the Pistons, but he had trouble scoring on Thursday night vs the Mavericks. He had six points on 3-12 shooting, but he did pull in 16 rebounds. I expect a big bounce-back game from him tonight.
Clint Capela and Bruno Fernando will get the minutes at center tonight. Capela had six points and 13 rebounds on Thursday vs the Mavericks and played well on defense. Capela will have his hands full tonight guarding Nikola Jokic.
Garrison Matthews, Vit Krejci, Fernando, and Kobe Bufkin will be the Hawks bench unit tonight. Matthews had a solid first half vs Dallas, scoring 14 points, but could not keep it up in the second half. Krejci has had a quiet two games since scoring 18 points on Monday vs Chicago, while Bufkin had one of his best games as a Hawks, scoring nine points and playing really good defense on Kyrie Irving.
The Hawks come into this game 5th in PPG, 20th in field goal percentage, 7th in three-point attempts, 14th in three-point percentage, 7th in free-throw attempts, 2nd in offensive rebounding, and 16th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 9th in points per 100 possessions, 16th in effective field goal percentage, 11th in turnover percentage, 5th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 11th in free throw rate.
Denver is known for having one of the best offenses in the NBA, but their defense has taken a huge step this year. The Nuggets are 6th in PPG allowed, 6th in field goal percentage allowed, and 7th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Denver is 9th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 3rd in effective field goal percentage.
The Nuggets offense is one of the best in the league and they are led by Jokic, who is aiming to win his third MVP trophy. The Nuggets are 14th in PPG, 5th in field goal percentage, 30th in three-point attempts, 12th in three-point percentage, 29th in free throw attempts, 11th in offensive rebounding, and 5th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, Denver is is 7th in points per 100 possessions, 9th in effective field goal percentage, 10th in turnover percentage, 6th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 24th in free throw rate.
The Hawks' defense played well last game vs Dallas, but they will still have their hands full tonight vs Denver. If Murray plays, that will make the Hawks's job even harder tonight. Atlanta comes into this game 27th in PPG allowed, 27th in field goal percentage allowed, and 28th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 26th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 28th in effective field goal percentage.
Injury Report
Trae Young, AJ Griffin, and Saddiq Bey are all out for the Hawks. Mouhamed Gueye is questionable.
Jamal Murray is questionable tonight, while Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon are probable for the Nuggets.
Viewing and Betting Information
Tip-off time: 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Location: Ball Arena, Denver, Co
Where to Watch: NBA League Pass, Bally Sports Southeast
Spread and Over/Under: The Hawks will be big underdogs on the road tonight, as they are currently 11.5 point underdogs according to the latest odds from the Ceasars Sportsbook and the over/under is set at 221.5.
Projected Starting Lineups
Hawks:
G- Bogdan Bogdanovic
G- Dejounte Murray
F- Jalen Johnson
F- De'Andre Hunter
C- Clint Capela
Nuggets:
G- Jamal Murray
G- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
F- Michael Porter Jr
F- Aaron Gordon
C-Nikola Jokic
If Murray were to miss tonight's game, Reggie Jackson will likely start.
Hawks vs Nuggets: Game Preview, Injury Report, Projected Starting Lineups - Sports Illustrated
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