Starting Lineups Announced For Hawks vs Bulls

After getting blown out at home on Friday night against the Spurs, the Atlanta Hawks are back on the floor at State Farm Arena and will be welcoming the Chicago Bulls to town. Chicago was one of the early storylines in the NBA, getting out to a 5-0 start and looking very good on offense, but they have fallen to 12-15 overall and are currently sitting at 10th in the Eastern Conference.

This game is going to mark the second game back for Trae Young. Young had not played since Oct. 29th, but made his return on Thursday in a loss to Charlotte. Young finished with eight points and 10 assists in 20 minutes, but there were some defensive struggles as well. Will Young play more minutes tonight and will he have more of an impact on the floor today? That will be one of the big questions facing the Hawks today as they face Chicago for the second time.

The game is getting closer to tipoff and both teams just announced their starters for today's game:

Hawks

G- Trae Young

G- Dyson Daniels

F- Zaccharie Risacher

F- Jalen Johnson

C- Onyeka Okongwu

Bulls

G- Coby White

G- Josh Giddey

F- Isaac Okoro

F- Matas Buzelis

C- Nikola Vucevic

Looking at the numbers

In the preview of the game, our own Rohan Raman took a deeper look at some of the Hawks advanced numbers this season through 29 games:

"After a poor showing on offense against the Spurs, the Hawks took a hit in their overall offensive metrics. They are 14th in points, 8th in FG%, 10th in 3P%, 13th in FT%, 25th in rebounds (24th in OREB, 21st in DREB), 1st in assists, and 19th in turnovers per game. They're 16th in offensive rating this year.

On a per-game basis, the Hawks' defense rank 22nd in points allowed, 17th in FG% allowed, 14th in 3P% allowed, 21st in rebounds allowed, 5th in steals, and 14th in blocks. They're 16th in defensive rating on the year, which is an indictment of how poorly they've recently played on that end in comparison to where their ceiling is.

Josh Giddey has been having an excellent season for the Bulls and they're not a bad offense, but they're by no means a juggernaut. They're 11th in points, 12th in FG%, 13th in 3P%, 11th in FT%, 8th in rebounds (21st in OREB, 3rd in DREB), 6th in assists, and 17th in turnovers per game. They're 22nd in offensive rating this season.

Their defense isn't much to write home about, and it's been one of the things holding them back from solidifying themselves as a playoff team. They are 27th in points allowed, 22nd in FG% allowed, 19th in 3P% allowed, 26th in rebounds allowed, 19th in steals, and 17th in blocks. They're 21st in defensive rating this year."