Jalen Johnson was ejected just minutes before the start of the game

The Hawks were scheduled to have most of their roster back tonight, but forward Jalen Johnson has just been ruled out of tonight’s game due to left lower leg inflammation.

This is big news as Johnson is one of the best young players in the NBA. Garrison Matthews slides into the starting lineup with Johnson out and will line up alongside Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher and Clint Capela.

Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kobe Bufkin and De’Andre Hunter are no longer on the injury report for tonight’s game against the Kings. Bogdanovic hasn’t played since opening night against Brooklyn and Bufkin hasn’t played this season. Hunter played in three games this season, but missed last night’s game against Portland.

Going into tonight’s game, the Hawks are 6th in the NBA in PPG, 11th in FG%, 18th in 3PA, 20th in 3P%, 3rd in FTA, 28th in turnovers, and 16th in rebounding. According to Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta ranks 14th in points per 100 possessions, 15th in effective field goal percentage, 21st in turnover percentage, 7th offensive rebound percentage and 6th in free throw percentage.

The Hawks have improved defensively in some respects, but they are allowing the most threes per game in the NBA and also the highest three-point percentage in the NBA. There is no consistency from night to night in that department from this team and the Hawks usually tend to have at least one terrible quarter per game (see third quarter last night).

Atlanta currently ranks 28th in PPG percentage allowed, 16th in field goal percentage allowed, 30th in three-point attempts allowed and 30th in three-point percentage allowed. According to Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta ranks 22nd in points allowed per 100 possessions and 27th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

Trae Young leads this offense and he is coming off a solid game against Portland. Young scored 29 points and had eight assists against Portland last night, but was bothered by the length and athleticism of some of Portland’s defense. In the last game against the Kings, Young scored 25 points and had 12 assists. If the Hawks want to upset the Kings, Young will have to beat Fox, who has been the most popular player in the NBA this past week.

Dyson Daniels is one of the stories of the NBA, but he had one of his worst games of the season last night against Portland. Daniels scored 12 points on 5-17 shooting and had a problem with turnovers. Daniels will guard Fox tonight in what should be a great match.

Zaccharie Risacher played just 21 minutes last night and just six minutes in the second half. He had a solid game, scoring 11 points and grabbing four rebounds, and also played solid defense.

Additional links:

Injury report: Hawks vs Kings

Atlanta Hawks News: Analyst calls Dyson Daniels one of last week’s biggest winners in the NBA

Hawks vs Kings match preview, injury report, betting odds, expected starting lineups for tonight’s match