Indiana Pacers-Atlanta Hawks Preview: Injuries, Odds & Starters

With the loss of Flemings due to his suspension, that creates an even bigger opportunity for Dyson Daniels to conduct the offense. I'm especially intrigued by Daniels' ability to be a creator in this game because he'll likely draw a decent amount of defensive attention from centers. That's a significantly less dangerous proposition if he's guarded by Jay Huff as opposed to Ivica Zubac.

One of the best parts of Daniels' play thus far has been his ability to avoid turnovers. He's averaging 0.9 turnovers per game, which is in the 95th percentile, and a respectable 55.6% on two pointers this season. If he's guarded by a center, there are going to be opportunities to get a good look at the rim, and it'll be critical for the Hawks to run some offense through Daniels as a facilitator to complement Johnson.

The Pacers are 20th in opponent turnovers per game, so it theoretically presents a good opportunity for him to take a more active role in the offense than he had against New Orleans.

The Dort Dillema

So far, the numbers are alarmingly bad for Lu Dort's impact on the Hawks. The Hawks are 20.3 points worse by net rating when he's on the court. He's shooting an abysmal 25% from deep, and the physicality is being marked by a higher incidence of foul calls. Simply put, Atlanta needs him to play better.

Unfortunately, Andrew Nembhard has been a matchup problem for Dort., He's shot an effective field goal percentage of 78.1% on the 50 possessions Dort has guarded him for during the past three seasons. However, the numbers are much more encouraging against Aaron Nesmith. In fact, Nesmith has made just two shots in the 20 possessions Dort has gotten to defend him for. It's a very small sample size, but putting Dort on Nesmith and having that matchup be successful might be critical for Atlanta's chances.

Second Chance Success

One of the biggest weaknesses of this Pacers team is that they aren't great at pressing their advantages after rebounds. Zubac helps with this issue, but it doesn't change the fact that Indiana is averaging the fewest second-chance points in the NBA thus far and allows second-chance points at the sixth-highest clip in the NBA.

Allowing the Pelicans to get to 17 more defensive rebounds shows that Atlanta needs to play more aggressive on the boards. They cannot let possessions end through their rebounding effort and they have the athleticism to be better in this area. That effort needs to improve against Indiana since there's an opportunity to exploit the Pacers' deficiency in this area. Conversley, New Orleans was 6th in second chance points per game.

Betting Lines (via FanDuel Sportsbook)

Spread: Pacers +4.5 (-106), Hawks -4.5 (-114)

Moneyline: Pacers +160, Hawks -190

Total points scored: 231.5 (over -114, under -106)

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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Injury Report

Mo Gueye, Kingston Flemings (suspended), Jock Landale, and Henri Veesaar are all out for Atlanta. Indiana is on a back-to-back, and they have not released their updated injury report.

Update (1:30 p.m. ET)- Pacers are going to be without Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, Ivica Zubac, T.J. McConnell, and Ben Sheppard tonight vs Atlanta. 

Projected Starters

Hawks

G - CJ McCollum

G - Nickeil Alexander-Walker

G/F - Dyson Daniels

F - Jalen Johnson

C - Onyeka Okongwu

Pacers

G - Andrew Nembhard

G - Aaron Nesmith

F - Kelly Oubre

F - Pascal Siakam

C - Jay Huff