What: Charlotte Hornets (6-13) (5-6 home) vs Atlanta Hawks (9-11) (4-6 away)
When: 6:00pm Eastern
Where: Spectrum Center; Charlotte, NC
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets–City (mint with the mint court), Hawks–Statement (black)
Game Lines: Hornets +5.5, Hornets money line +180, O/U 222.5
Injuries:
Hornets: Vasilije Micic-probable (knee), Nick Richards-questionable (ribs), LaMelo Ball-out (calf), Tre Mann-out (back), Mark Williams-out (foot), Miles Bridges-out (knee), DaQuan Jeffries-out (hand)
Hawks: Trae Young-probable (achilles), Bogdan Bogdanovic-questionable (hamstring), Cody Zeller-out (away from team Tweeting about Indiana basketball)
The Hornets are very injured again. LaMelo Ball is out for the next couple weeks, leaving Brandon Miller and Josh Green as the only projected starters left healthy. Thankfully, Nick Richards may make his return tonight, which would give the Hornets some much needed beef and even more needed interior offensive presence.
Richards would be especially welcome against a Hawks team that has a couple of bigs that can be a menace for an undersized team. Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu are both menaces on the boards, and energy guys Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels track down their fair share of boards as well.
Trae Young continues to be the face of the Hawks after the team elected to trade away his back court mate Dejounte Murray to the Pelicans. They got back Dyson Daniels, a less ball dominant defensive guard that they perceive to be a better fit, as well as a couple of other pieces. Even without Murray’s scoring, Young has taken on a more pure point play style this season. He’s averaging 21.7 points and 16.7 field goal attempts per game, both the lowest rates of his career after his rookie season. However, he’s averaging a career high and league best (by a significant margin) 12.4 assists per game.
The usual scouting report for Young holds true. Guard him carefully around screens as he tries to stop short to draw fouls like he’s committing insurance fraud. He likes to get opposing big men in no man’s land guarding the pick and roll where if they commit to guarding him, he lobs it over their heads to the roll man. If they drop too far, he’ll hit a floater. His efficiency hasn’t been great this season, but I don’t think that provides any solace.
Jalen Johnson has been the breakout Robin to Young’s Batman. He’s averaging 20 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists per game this season after taking another leap from season three to season four. Daniels leads the defensive charge, averaging a league best 3.1 steals per game. He’s going to be a headache for a Hornets team missing a couple of their best ball handlers. I expect him to contribute to a lot of Hornets turnovers.
