The Atlanta Hawks and the Orlando Magic are getting set to tip-off tonight’s NBA Play-In Tournament game and both teams have announced their starting lineups:
Hawks:
G- Trae Young
G – Dyson Daniels
F – Zaccharie Risacher
F – Mouhamed Gueye
C – Onyeka Okongwu
Magic
G – Cory Joseph
G – Kentavius Caldwell-Pope
F – Franz Wagner
F – Paolo Banchero
C – Wendell Carter Jr
Atlanta has to limit their turnovers in this game tonight. Orlando is one of the best teams in the NBA at forcing turnovers, ranking 2nd in the league with a 16.9% turnover percentage. Atlanta, on the other hand, is near the bottom of the league in turnovers, ranking 22nd on offense with a 15.0% turnover percentage per Cleaning the Glass. In the first three games against Orlando this season, the Hawks averaged 14.3 turnovers per game, including games where they had 18 and one where they had 16. Orlando loves to create chaos with turnovers, and the Hawks have to limit that if they want to advance to the playoffs.
Without Jalen Suggs (their best perimeter defender), the Magic don’t have a great guard option to defend Trae Young. He has scored 19 points, 38 points, and 28 points in his three games against the Magic this year, but the Hawks supporting cast has not always been there. For example, in the February 20th matchup against the Magic, Young scores 38 points, but no other player had more than 13. Zaccharie Risacher was 4-15 from the field, Onyeka Okongwu only had 11, and Dyson Daniels was 3-15 from the field. The bench unit of Caris LeVert, Terance Mann, and Georges Niang was ineffective as well. No matter what Young does, the supporting cast has to be better on Tuesday night.
This is a lot to put on a rookie, but given their injuries, the Hawks need a big game from Zaccharie Risacher on Tuesday. He has been ineffective in the first three matchups against Orlando, but his three-point shooting can change the game. Risacher is critical to Atlanta’s three-point shooting and spacing, and unless Orlando has a horrific game on offense (always possible), Atlanta needs scoring and shooting from Risacher in this game if they want to advance to the playoffs.
Atlanta Hawks vs Orlando Magic: Official Injury Report For Tomorrow’s NBA Play-In Tournament Game
