Starring Lineups: Hawks vs Bulls

The Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls are getting ready to wrap up their matchup tonight and they have both announced their starting lineups.

G-Trae Young

G-Dyson Daniels

F-Zaccharie Risacher

F-Jalen Johnson

C-Clint Capela

G-Coby White

G-Josh Giddey

F-Zach LaVine

F-Patrick Williams

C- Nikola Vucevic

This will be a matchup between two of the NBA’s worst defenses and the score could be very high. This is the first meeting of the year between the two teams.

Going into tonight’s game, Atlanta is 8th in PPG, 16th in field goal percentage, 16th in three-point attempts, 17th in three-point percentage, 5th in free throw attempts, 19th in rebounds and 22nd in turnovers. Per Cleaning the glassAtlanta ranks 10th in points per 100 possessions, 9th in effective field goal percentage, 21st in turnover percentage, 13th in offensive rebound percentage and 7th in free throw percentage.

Defensively, things aren’t great for the Hawks. They are 28th in PPG allowed, 19th in FG% allowed, 30th in three-point attempts allowed and 30th in three-point percentage allowed. According to Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta ranks 24th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 28th in effective field goal percentage allowed. Atlanta’s defense will be challenged by Chicago tonight. The Bulls are shooting three at a high rate and have guys who can put up big numbers, especially when LaVine plays.

However, the Bulls offense as a whole is only mediocre. They are 14th in PPG, 21st in field goal percentage, 3rd in 3PA, 9th in 3P%, 19th in free throw percentage, 5th in rebounding and 24th in turnovers. According to Cleaning the Glass, Chicago ranks 25th in points per 100 possessions, 19th in effective field goal percentage, 20th in turnover percentage, 27th in offensive rebound percentage and 26th in free throw percentage.

The Bulls’ defensive numbers aren’t much better than Atlanta’s. Chicago is 27th in PPG percentage allowed, 26th in field goal percentage allowed, 24th in three-point attempts allowed and 4th in three-point percentage allowed. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Bulls rank 18th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 20th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

Trae Young had one of his best games of the season last night and could have another big game tonight. Young scored 35 points on 11-25 shooting and 13 assists. He was 6-12 from three. The Pistons have a much better defense than Chicago and Young could throw at them.

Dyson Daniels had one of the most impressive games any player has had in the NBA this year. He totaled seven steals and also scored 18 points. He was a threat defensively and will be tasked with guarding LaVine if he plays. If he doesn’t, look for Daniels to guard Coby White.

After a career night on Wednesday, it was a tougher game for Zaccharie Risacher on Friday. He scored seven points on 2-7 shooting and had a tough night on both ends of the floor. There will be ups and downs with him this year and last night was a down.

Jalen Johnson struggled a bit to get going last night, but finished with 20 points and nine rebounds. He only had one assist last night, which is unusual for him.

The center position should be better for the Hawks in this game. Clint Capela had twelve rebounds against Detroit last night, but went 3-10 from the field. Onyeka Okongwu also had a tough evening, causing Quin Snyder to give minutes to Larry Nance. Nance had a nice night on offense, but the defense when he was there was rough. Okongwu has rested back-to-backs this year and it could very well be Capela and Nance in the middle tonight.

The bench for the Hawks was outplayed last night in Detroit. Garrison Matthews, David Roddy and Keaton Wallace couldn’t find a way to get going, even though Wallace only played seven minutes. They should be able to have more impact tonight.