When Trae Young and Clint Capela were both ruled in, the starting lineup for the Atlanta Hawks was pretty clear.
Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, Saddiq Bey, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela are the first five on the floor for the Hawks tonight.
Tyrese Haliburton is out for the Pacers tonight.
The Pacers are starting Andrew Nembhard, Bruce Brown, Aaron Nesmith, Jalen Smith, and Myles Turner.
Indiana has only played one game without Haliburton, a win over the Wizards earlier this week.
Coming into the game, the Pacers have the best offense in the NBA. They are first in PPG, 2nd in field goal percentage, 7th in three-point attempts, 4th in three-point percentage, 21st in free throw attempts, 29th in rebounding, and 12th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, Indiana is 1st in points per 100 possessions, 1st in effective field goal percentage, 9th in turnover percentage, 18th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 19th in free throw rate. The Pacers play at the fastest pace (no pun intended) in the league and try to get as many possessions as possible. Look for Benedict Mathurin and Buddy Hield to have larger offensive responsibilities tonight against the Hawks.
The last game against the Pacers was embarrassing for the Hawks' defense. The way Indiana plays stylistically is a tough matchup for the Hawks, but giving up 150 points and 50 assists to a team is unacceptable.
Atlanta and Indiana have arguably the two worst defenses in the NBA. Atlanta is 29th in PPG allowed, 29th in field goal percentage allowed, 20th in three-point attempts 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.
The Hawks's offense is led by Trae Young, who is having one of the best seasons of his career and could be an All-Star starter this year. Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Jalen Johnson are the other guys that make this offense work and they all had off games the last time these two teams played.
The key tonight might be rebounding. Johnson and Clint Capela are a pair of really good rebounders (Johnson had 16 rebounds on Wednesday) and the Pacers are one of the worst rebounding teams in the NBA. Capela is probable (right Achilles soreness) for tonight's game and he missed Wednesday's game vs the 76ers. Johnson is starting to emerge as a star on the Hawks and should be in the running for Most Improved Player.
Atlanta is 4th in PPG, 17th in field goal percentage, 6th in three-point attempts, 17th in three-point percentage, 5th in free throw attempts, 6th in rebounding, and 17th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Hawks are 7th in points per 100 possessions, 17th in effective field goal percentage, 10th in turnover percentage, 4th in offensive rebounding, and 7th in free throw rate.
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