The Hawks are heading into Friday night with a short injury list and a matchup that looks favorable on paper, even if Atlanta can’t afford to treat it that way.
Kingston Flemings is the name to watch. He’s questionable with a lumbar spasm, while Keshon Gilbert (left knee inflammation/non-surgical procedure), Mouhamed Gueye (left foot fracture), Asa Newell (left great toe hyperextension), and Henri Veesaar (torn right ACL) have already been ruled out. If Flemings can’t go, CJ McCollum is expected to slide back into the starting five, with Aaron Wiggins likely soaking up heavy minutes and RayJ Dennis also a possibility for some run.
Atlanta is coming off a Monday night loss to the Lakers and now gets back on the floor against a Bulls team that has stumbled out to a 1-9 start. Chicago has been getting crushed on defense, and while the roster has a few bright spots, the results have been ugly.
Still, the Hawks have seen enough around the league to know better than to assume anything. The Bulls had the Spurs down by 20 in the first half of yesterday’s game before San Antonio came back to win, a reminder that sloppy basketball can flip a night in a hurry.
Chicago will also be without rookie Caleb Wilson, who was announced earlier tonight as someone who will miss significant time.
With three days off, the Hawks have had a chance to reset and focus on the details Quin Snyder wants cleaned up. Snyder said the break gives his team a chance to sort through the issues that keep showing up from game to game:
"Yeah, I think, you know, having, you know, the feedback that you get from games. It's almost you find yourself compiling, you know, lists of things you need to do better.
So, getting the time to work on some things, I think the key has been to prioritize what those things are. And we've played some teams that are really different styles, but that also allows us to see how are we against teams that switch?
How are we against teams that are isolation oriented? How's our pick and roll defense?
And you can't get better at everything at once, but you could certainly. be mindful of the things you think you need to do."
Atlanta sits in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, and the path ahead is setting up well. But if the Hawks want to stay in the top six and keep the play-in tournament out of the picture, these are the kinds of games they have to cash in on.
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Hawks Get A Big Opening In Pace Battle With Short-Handed Bulls
The Bulls already difficult start just got a little more complicated heading into their matchup with the Hawks. Chicago is trying to dig out of a 1-9 hole, and the game brings together two teams that like to push the tempo, which usually makes for a faster, looser kind of night than the standings might suggest.
For Atlanta, the opening is obvious: a short-handed opponent in a game where pace can turn into extra possessions and easy offense. Chicago will have to lean harder on its other young pieces to keep up, but the bigger question is how well it can hold together against a Hawks team that should be eager to run and pressure the game from the opening tip. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Still Have One Defensive Problem Without Mo Gueye
The Hawks search for sturdier rim protection has been a recurring theme early on, and the absence of Mo Gueye has only made the frontcourt rotation thinner. With injuries already testing Atlantas interior defense, the team has been forced to lean on stopgap answers while trying to keep opponents out of the paint and limit easy looks around the basket.
Gueye is now moving in the right direction, but the timeline still leaves Atlanta waiting. The Hawks said he has progressed to on-court activities and will be re-evaluated in about four weeks, which means the team will be operating without him for at least another month as it keeps working to shore up that defensive issue in the meantime. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Get A Real Chance To Build Momentum In Chicago
After a four-day break, the Hawks head into Chicago with a chance to reset and keep their season moving in the right direction. The Bulls have been scuffling, and the matchup comes at a time when Atlanta can take advantage of a team that has had trouble finding consistency while dealing with injuries and uncertainty in the rotation.
For the Hawks, this is the kind of spot where the details matter, especially on the interior and in the backcourt. Recent trends point to Onyeka Okongwu and Dyson Daniels as the players most likely to shape the game for Atlanta, giving the Hawks a realistic path to build momentum if they handle business against an opponent that has left plenty of openings. [Read more 🡒]