The Hawks are on the road tonight in Utah to face the Jazz, marking their second game in a five-game West Coast road trip. Atlanta lost to Portland on Wednesday night and will look to bounce back tonight vs Utah. Jalen Johnson (right ankle sprain) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (illness) were both questionable coming into this game and Atlanta just revealed their status for tonight.
Johnson is available while Bogdanovic is out. While it is huge to get Johnson back, it will hurt not having Bogdanovic out there to space the floor.
Tonight will also mark the first time that Quin Snyder has coached in Utah since leaving the Jazz.
He was asked about his time with the Jazz when Utah played in Atlanta recently and Snyder had nothing but good things to say about his time there:
"It is true in so many ways how that time impacted me and my family. It was some great years and Ryan and that relationship, Danny, Justin, so many people in that organization to be impressed with, the players that I have had a chance to see throughout games this year. So obviously, fond probably understates it as far as the memories that are there and then you can't really do it without the fans and the people in the community that made that not just meaningful but impactful for me and so many families."
During his time with the Jazz, Snyder compiled a 372–264 and made the playoffs multiple seasons.
Coming into this game, Atlanta ranks 5th in PPG, 23rd in field goal percentage, 7th in three-point attempts, 19th in three-point percentage, 5th in free throw attempts, 1st in offensive rebounding, and 15th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Hawks are 9th in points per 100 possessions, 20th in effective field goal percentage, 11th in turnover percentage, 5th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 9th in free throw rate.
The Jazz are not only going to be without some of their top players, but they have one of the worst defenses in the NBA. Utah is 27th in PPG allowed, 21st in field goal percentage allowed, and 29th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Utah is 29th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 28th in effective field goal percentage allowed.
If they were healthy, Utah's offense could present challenges for the Hawks, but they are not healthy. The Jazz are going to be without Lauri Markkanen, Jordan Clarkson, and Kris Dunn and even with those guys, Utah could not score 100 points in the last game.
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