Starting Lineups: Hawks vs Celtics

The Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics are scheduled to play at State Farm Arena tonight and the starting lineups for the game have just been announced.

G-Trae Young

G-Dyson Daniels

F – Zaccharie Risacher

F – Jalen Johnson

C – Clint Capela

G- Jrue Holiday

G-Derrick White

F – Jayson Tatum

F – Al Horford

C – Neemias Queta

Our very own Rohan Raman delivered announcement from today’s match:

“The Hawks have been one of the better offenses in basketball so far while struggling on defense. Their defense looked better against the Pelicans, but it’s hard to take much away from them considering the Pelicans passed Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy III, CJ McCollum and Herb Jones also had a hard time stopping Brandon Ingram, who had 32 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists.

Heading into today’s game, the Hawks rank 7th in the NBA in PPG, 10th in FG%, 15th in 3PA, 12th in 3P%, 3rd in FTA, 23rd in rebounds and 20th in turnovers . For Glass cleaningAtlanta ranks 6th in points per 100 possessions, 5th in successful field goal percentage, 22nd in turnover percentage, 17th in offensive rebounding percentage and 3rd in free throw rate.

Atlanta ranks 28th in PPG allowed, 14th in field goal percentage allowed, 29th in 3PA allowed, and 30th in 3P% allowed. On a clearing the glass basis, the Hawks rank 25th in points per 100 possessions and 22nd in effective field goal percentage.

It’s no surprise, then, that Boston is near the top of the NBA in many statistical categories. They rank first in points per game, 16th in field goal percentage, 1st in three-point field goals, 8th in three-point percentage, 11th in free throws, 20th in rebounding and 13th in terms of losses. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Celtics rank first in points per 100 possessions, second in effective field goal percentage, third in turnover percentage, 15th in offensive rebounding percentage and eighth in free throw rate.

Defensively, Boston ranks 13th in PPG allowed, 22nd in field goal percentage allowed, 12th in three-point field goals allowed, and 9th in three-point shooting percentage allowed. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Celtics rank 12th in points per 100 possessions and 19th in effective field goal percentage.

The Celtics are a bit more suspect defensively, and there’s reason to believe Atlanta could take advantage of that. Trae Young continues to be Atlanta’s primary contributor and he did not disappoint, scoring 23 points and 12 assists to go along with four rebounds. He was helped by Jalen Johnson, who had his best game of the year against the Pelicans. Johnson was just shy of a triple-double with 29 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Especially if the Celtics are without Jaylen Brown, I think this is an important matchup for Johnson to excel. Despite getting a solid dose of Jayson Tatum on defense, Atlanta will likely need to have a big scoring game to stay on the court to accommodate Boston’s offense.

Dyson Daniels was able to return to the lineup against his old team, the New Orleans Pelicans, and he looked great. He scored 16 points, three assists and five rebounds (on 7-of-10 shooting), while consistently performing well on offense. Daniels is currently shooting 36.4% from three-point range (easily a career best) and looks to be making tangible progress as a shooter. This allowed him to be on the court more often for the Hawks and provide his trademark defensive style to opponents. It’s hard to name ten better perimeter defenders than Daniels in the game, and if he continues to perform against Boston, he could climb even higher on this list. Tatum, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday demand respect as scorers, and it will be interesting to see how Dyson performs against one of the tougher lineups Atlanta plays all year.

Another matchup that will likely play a big role in Atlanta’s chances in this game will be Zaccharie Risacher vs. Boston’s defense. After a great debut, the debutant suffered a slight breakdown. He finished with 11 points, making 4 of 13 shots from the field and connecting on just one of his five attempts from deep. Now there was a nice move on defense as he had three steals and two blocks. However, it is clear that Risacher is still finding his way in the league. If he can get a hot streak from three-point range and force a few turnovers, it could give the Hawks the edge they need to win this game.

According to Fanduel SportsbookBoston is a 10-point favorite today with a total of 234 points.

Game odds are refreshed periodically and are subject to change.

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