Trae Young’s status has been revealed for tonight’s game against the Lakers

After being deemed questionable for tonight’s game, the Atlanta Hawks have officially revealed Trae Young’s status for tonight’s game against the Lakers. Young will be available tonight, as will Jalen Johnson and Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Our own Rohan Raman previewed the game earlier today:

“Entering today’s game, the Hawks are 5th in the NBA in PPG, 13th in FG%, 18th in 3PA, 18th in 3P%, 3rd in FTA, 25th in turnovers and 5th in relative to rebounds. Glass cleaningAtlanta ranks 14th in points per 100 possessions, 16th in effective field goal percentage, 19th in turnover percentage, 7th in offensive rebound percentage and 7th in free throw rate.

The Hawks currently rank 27th in PPG allowed, 22nd in field goal percentage allowed, 30th in three-point shooting percentage allowed and 30th in three-point shooting percentage allowed. According to Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta ranks 17th in points per 100 possessions and 26th in effective field goal percentage.

On offense, the Lakers play solid thanks to their stars, taking many free throws and not turning the ball over. Los Angeles currently ranks 17th in PPG, 9th in FG%, 28th in 3PA, 19th in 3P%, 5th in FTA, 28th in rebounds and 5th in turnovers. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Lakers rank 15th in points per 100 possessions, 11th in effective field goal percentage, 8th in turnover percentage, 27th in offensive rebound percentage and 1st in field goal percentage free.

Defensively, Los Angeles also looks solid, but unspectacular. They rank 19th in PPG allowed, 25th in FG%, 8th in 3PA, and 20th in 3P%. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Lakers rank 18th in points per 100 possessions and 21st in effective field goal percentage.

Trae Young appears to have found his scoring rhythm again. He has scored 27 or more points in four of his last five games and has scored 30 points in his last two games. He then scored 34 points and 10 assists against the Raptors, in which he also hit seven three-pointers, and dropped 30 points and nine assists against Denver. If Johnson sits again, he will have to shoulder a heavy offensive load against an exploitation-prone Los Angeles defense.

Dyson Daniels and Austin Reaves should be an interesting matchup to watch. Daniels is a brutal matchup for any player handling the ball, and Reaves has been excellent as a facilitator recently. He has recorded double-digit assists in four of his last five games. Moreover, he was able to keep his turnovers at a reasonable level in these matches. However, he hasn’t faced a defender as good as Daniels, who leads the NBA in steals with an impressive 0.9 steals per game.

One of the battles that will be interesting to watch is the one on the boards. The Hawks have been a good rebounding team all year, and the Lakers are one of the worst. Clint Capela should be able to match up well with Jaxson Hayes, but the potential loss of Johnson will certainly hurt Atlanta in that area. If Davis returns to Los Angeles, it will make a huge difference in their ability to win the rebounding battle. That being said, Johnson is also crucial to solving the biggest defensive problem the Hawks have to deal with today – LeBron James. Johnson is a great defender for James due to his similar body type. Without him, the Hawks would have to use DeAndre Hunter as a defenseman frequently because Risacher isn’t physically ready to take on the job.

If Young is limited in minutes, Vito Krejci’s hot streak against the Nuggets (14 points off the bench and five assists) will have to continue. Despite a slow start to the season, he has looked better of late and if he can get going from deep it will make a huge difference to the Hawks’ chances this season.

While Risacher doesn’t anticipate being ready to fill the full-time role for James, it will be interesting to see what he can do defensively against him. Risacher’s defense was much more consistent than his attack. It is worth noting that he is making some progress in this area. He has scored double-digit points in three of the last five games, and his effectiveness in the game is starting to improve. He also grew as a shooter, hitting 70% of his free throws on the year and making 28.4% of his three-pointers on 4.4 attempts per game. These numbers are still below average, but there is some progress.”