After going 2-0 despite being severely shorthanded, the injury report is finally starting to swing in the Hawks’ favor.
After being ruled out for each of the past two games, Nickeil Alexander-Walker is questionable for tomorrow’s game against Sacramento. Trae Young and Nikola Durisic remain out, but the possibility of Alexander-Walker sliding back into the starting lineup should improve Atlanta’s chances against a listless Kings team.
Even without NAW, the Hawks looked excellent in their most recent game against the Clippers. They got a massive performance off the bench from Vit Krejci, who scored 28 points on a torrid 8-10 from deep. Atlanta’s starters complemented him with 20 point, 4 assists and 3 blocks courtesy of Kristaps Porzingis and Jalen Johnson’s near triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
The Hawks out-scored Los Angeles 20-4 on the fast break, which made a massive difference in such a narrow win. Jalen Johnson, Zaccharie Risacher and Dyson Daniels are athletic enough to get up and down the court much quicker than their older counterparts on the Clippers and it’s turned into a good advantage for them to press as of late.
Krejci turned in the heroic effort against the Clippers, but it’s worth noting that two of Atlanta’s best wins of the year have come from less heralded members of their team stepping up. Against the Lakers, that was Mo Gueye. Gueye had 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in his biggest opportunity of the year. He shouldn’t be expected to do that every night, but his performance should at least raise some eyebrows considering that he’s been playing well in limited minutes. As long as Trae Young’s out, Atlanta will need more of its depth to step up and that’ll continue to be true against Sacramento.
One puzzling aspect of the season thus far has been Mo Gueye’s minutes. He’s done helpful things for the Hawks in most of the games that he’s been a part of the rotation for. However, it doesn’t seem like getting Gueye more minutes is a big priority. While he’s listed as the third center in name, head coach Quin Snyder can easily plug him in as the backup power forward and give him more minutes in relief of Jalen Johnson. Johnson has been an injury concern for a long time and it’s worth considering whether the Hawks should reduce his playing time in order to keep him healthy when it matters most. It’s hard to find minutes for everyone, but Keaton Wallace seems like a candidate to have his role reduced. Dyson Daniels and NAW (when healthy) can both run the point guard spot in Young’s absence and he hasn’t done enough as a backup point guard to earn 24 minutes to Gueye’s eight.
Does that change against Sacramento? Domantas Sabonis isn’t a very good defender and the Kings don’t have a very good defense as a whole. It’s possible that they could take advantage of Sabonis in the paint by playing three different bigs who can all exploit his lack of defensive mobility. Conversley, Porzingis’ defense has been solid for the Hawks. He’s a great presence at the rim due to his size as a rim deterrent. His BLK% of 2.8% is in the 85th percentile among all centers and he had 3 blocks against the Clippers. One of them was a massive play in the fourth quarter with three minutes remaining, He stonewalled Derrick Jones Jr as the Clippers forward drove in for a layup that would have made it a one-point game.
Three Thoughts After Short-Handed Hawks Get Narrow Win Over Clippers
Final Score Predictions For Hawks vs Clippers: Which Team Gets A Needed Win?
Hawks vs Clippers: Game Preview, Injury Report, Projected Starting Lineup for Tonight’s Matchup
Hawks Forward Jacob Toppin Highlighted On G League Standouts List
