The Atlanta Hawks are currently not playing their best brand of basketball. They followed up a 139-120 loss to the Nuggets with a 119-102 loss to the Lakers. In both games, they held pace at the half and never went away before having one disastrous quarter and ultimately losing. It’s a disappointing trend for a team that acquitted itself nicely in the NBA Cup tournament and looked to be a force in the Eastern Conference earlier this season.

While the Nuggets loss can be somewhat attributed to health, there are two factors that have been especially obvious in both losses – a lack of secondary offensive production and bad defensive communication. In the Lakers game, Young had 33 points and nine assists, but the rest of Atlanta’s offense fell flat. Johnson scored 19 points on 8-13 shooting and Onyeka Okongwu had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Their defensive struggles were especially present in their perimeter and help defense. Both LA and Denver shot over 40% from three and the help defense allowed for cutters to score at the rim with ease.

Fortunately, they have an opportunity to get back on track against a Clippers team that cannot be underestimated. James Harden is not the same as his Houston days, but he’s still an excellent offensive floor raiser and playmaker. Strong seasons from the duo of center Ivica Zubac and shooting guard Norman Powell have fueled LA’s secondary offensive creation and helped them remain above .500 with a 19-15 record. On defense, the Clippers’ duo of Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr. gets into passing lanes and forces turnovers. That’s all before considering the impact of a seemingly healthy Kawhi Leonard making his season debut for the Clippers against Atlanta tonight. In short, this is an excellent opportunity for the Hawks to prove themselves against a quality opponent.

Coming into tonight’s game, the Hawks are 6th in the NBA in PPG, 14th in FG%, 19th in 3PA, 18th in 3P%, 3rd in FTA, 24th in turnovers, and 5th in rebounding. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 15th in points per 100 possessions, 20th in effective field goal percentage, 19th in turnover percentage, 7th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 7th in free throw rate.

Currently, the Hawks rank 27th in PPG allowed, 22nd in field goal percentage allowed, 30th in three-point attempts allowed, and 30th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 17th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 26th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

The Clippers offense is not overwhelmingly explosive and they rely on doing enough to win. Los Angeles is 24th in the NBA in PPG, 15th in FG%, 25th in 3PA, 14th in 3P%, 18th in FTA, 28th in turnovers, and 15th in rebounding. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Clippers are 24th in points per 100 possessions, 17th in effective field goal percentage, 29th in turnover percentage, 14th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 15th in free throw rate.

Their real strength lies in their defense. They rank 5th in PPG allowed, 11th in field goal percentage allowed, 14th in three-point attempts allowed, and 3rd in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Clippers are 5th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 10th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

The most interesting wrinkle to this game is how the presence of Leonard affects the rest of LA’s lineup. I’d expect that he will see a lot of Jalen Johnson on defense and it will be a difficult matchup for Johnson. In his two games against the Hawks last year, Leonard scored 36 and 28 points respectively on good effiency. Johnson saw a lot of him in both games. Now, Atlanta’s surrounding defensive personnel was weaker at the time, but it’s worth noting that Leonard cannot be allowed to score at will in his first game of the year.

The lead ball-handlers for both teams have difficult matchups tonight. For the Clippers, Harden shoudl see a heavy dose of Dyson Daniels. Daniels just racked up four steals against the Lakers and Harden leads the NBA in turnovers with 4.8 per game. Atlanta needs to take advantage of Harden’s propensity for turnovers by translating steals into points. However, the Clippers will probably use a combination of Kris Dunn and Harden on Young. Harden is a passable defender when engaged and Dunn is averaging 1.7 steals per game this season as one of the NBA’s best guard defenders. Young has also been fairly turnover-prone this year as he’s second in turnovers per game across the NBA. Therefore, it will be important for him to make quick, smart decisions.

It’s also important to consider how Atlanta will slow down Norman Powell. Powell has been excellent for the Clippers in a breakthrough campaign that’s seen him average 23.6 points, 2.4 assists and 3.3 rebounds on efficient 48/44.1/84.7 shooting splits. However, that 44.1 mark from deep is on a staggering 8.1 attempts from deep. The Hawks give up the highest 3P% mark in the league, so slowing down Powell will take an excellent effort from the combination of Hunter, Daniels and Garrison Mathews.

The matchup between Clint Capela and Ivica Zubac is between two players with similar skillsets. However, the advantage has to go to Zubac. He is averaging 14.9 points and 12.4 rebounds to go with a career-high 2.5 assists and 11.1 shots per game. Capela has struggled as of late, so it will be interesting to see if Okongwu can provide a different look given that his numbers have been better recently.

The Clippers game is also a good opportunity for DeAndre Hunter to get back on track. He scored 3 points on 1-12 shooting from the field and 0-6 shooting from deep against the Lakers. However, the Clippers matchup is one that Hunter has historically done well in. Last season, he had 27 and 20 points on a TS% of 95.1 and 72.0 respectively. Although the Clippers have a better defense than they did last year, it’s still an important factor to consider.

Trae Young (right hand contusion), Jalen Johnson (right shoulder soreness) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (left lower leg contusion) are all questionable while Bufkin, Nance and Zeller have been ruled out.

For LA, Kawhi Leonard (knee) and Terence Mann (finger) questionable while P.J Tucker remains out (personal). Harden was taken off the injury report, so he should be ready to go against Atlanta.

According to Fanduel Sportsbook, the Lakers are 5.5 point favorites tonight vs Hawks and the total is set at 226.5.

Hawks:

G- Trae Young

G – Dyson Daniels

F – Zaccharie Risacher

F – Jalen Johnson

C – Clint Capela

Clippers:

G – James Harden

G – Norman Powell

F – Kawhi Leonard

F – Derrick Jones Jr

C – Ivica Zubac

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