Starting Lineups Announced For Hawks vs Spurs

It was a tough night for the Hawks on Thursday. In what was supposed to be the triumphant return of Trae Young to the lineup, the Hawks instead gave up 18 first half three pointers to the Hornets (who came into the game 22nd in three-point percentage) and lost.

Things are not going to get any easier for the Hawks at home on Friday. Atlanta is going to host the San Antonio Spurs, who have been one of the top teams in the NBA this season. San Antonio has a lot of young talent, and they appear to be breaking through at this point in the season.

The game is getting close to tipoff and both teams have announced their starting lineups:

Hawks

G- Nickeil Alexander- Walker

G- Dyson Daniels

F- Zaccharie Risacher

F- Jalen Johnson

C- Onyeka Okongwu

Spurs

G- De'Aaron Fox

G- Stephon Castle

F- Devin Vassell

F- Harrison Barnes

C- Luke Kornet

Deeper look at the numbers

How do the Hawks' advanced numbers look through the first 28 games of the season? Our own Rohan Raman took a look in our game preview this morning:

"Now that the Hawks have Young back in the lineup, the offense should improve their standing league-wide over the next few weeks. Although they didn't shoot the ball well from deep, it was still overall a good game from Atlanta's offense that tracks with their metrics. The Hawks are 13th in points, 8th in FG%, 7th in 3P%, 15th in FT%, 25th in rebounds (24th in OREB, 22nd in DREB), 1st in assists, and 19th in turnovers per game. They're 12th in offensive rating this year.

On a per-game basis, the Hawks' defense rank 22nd in points allowed, 16th in FG% allowed, 13th in 3P% allowed, 21st in rebounds allowed, 5th in steals, and 12th 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.

The NBA Cup bracket showed how terrifying San Antonio can be with Wembanyama, but they're still a great team without him. They're 6th in points, 7th in FG%, 8th in 3P%, 10th in FT%, 9th in rebounds (14th in OREB, 7th in DREB), 17th in assists, and 12th in turnovers per game. They're 7th in offensive rating this season.

Their defense thrives off the combination of Wemby and Kornet, as well as Stephon Castle hounding people on the perimeter. They are 9th in points allowed, 15th in FG% allowed, 23rd in 3P% allowed, 7th in rebounds allowed, 13th in steals, and 16th in blocks. They're 10th in defensive rating, and that number should climb as they get more games with Wembanyama in the lineup."