Atlanta Hawks rookie guard Kobe Bufkin was a surprise addition to the Hawks injury report yesterday and was listed as questionable with left big toe soreness. The Hawks just revealed his status for tonight's game.
Bufkin is going to be out for the Hawks tonight, meaning Trent Forrest is likely to get the backup point guard minutes without Bufkin. During Young's absence, Bufkin has been the backup point guard and has been playing well defensively for the Hawks, but he is going to be out tonight vs the Knicks.
The game could boil down to which team can manufacture enough offense.
Atlanta's offense without Trae Young has not been the same. Their three-point shooting has dipped because they are not getting as many open looks without his playmaking and as good as Dejounte Murray is, he is not the same level of offensive creator that Young is. Still, Murray is going to have to guide this offense in his continued absence and he has individually been playing well in this four-game stretch.
The two guys that need to step up more are Bogdan Bogdanovic and Jalen Johnson. In Saturday's game vs Brooklyn, Bogdanovic was 4-13 from the field and scored only 13 points while Johnson had arguably his worst game of the season, scoring seven points on 3-12 shooting and 0-4 from three. These are two of the Hawks most critical players with Young out and Atlanta needs them to be able to find a way to make an impact on the offensive end.
De'Andre Hunter continues to score well coming off the bench, hitting four of his six three-point attempts against the Nets, and ever since he made the move to come off the bench following his injury, Hunter has seemed comfortable in doing so. Kobe Bufkin, Garrison Matthews, and Bruno Fernando will likely be the rest of the rotation (if Bufkin is able to play) and those three must find a way to make more of an impact collectively.
Coming into this game, Atlanta ranks 5th in PPG, 22nd in field goal percentage, 7th in three-point attempts, 22nd in three-point percentage, 1st in offensive rebounding, and 12th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Hawks are 10th in points allowed per 100 possessions, 20th in effective field goal percentage, 8th in turnover percentage, 5th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 8th in free throw rate.
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