After a day off for Thanksgiving (and celebration of Vince Carter’s majesty), the Atlanta Hawks return to action with a third consecutive home game on Friday night. The Boston Celtics arrive for the post-holiday festivities and, while the game is certainly treacherous on paper, the visitors enter with big-time struggles of their own.
Of course, the Hawks have dropped nine straight games and, by any measure, are one of the NBA’s worst teams to this point in the season. On the flip side, though, Boston has violently underachieved to the tune of a 9-9 record and the Celtics have an active three-game losing streak of their own.
That doesn’t stop the good folks in Las Vegas from installing the Celtics as substantial road favorites at State Farm Arena but, with a quality performance from the home team, this could be a competitive game for the Hawks. From a match-up perspective, the headline battle comes at the point guard spot, with Trae Young and Jeremy Lin taking on Kyrie Irving, but it will also be important for Atlanta’s wings to keep the trio of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward in check throughout the night.
Injury-wise, the Hawks could have Omari Spellman (right hip contusion) and Alex Len (sore back) in the lineup on Friday evening. Spellman is listed as probable to return against Boston, with Len listed as questionable, as Atlanta looks to add reinforcements behind the starting frontcourt of Dewayne Dedmon and John Collins.
Finally, it is always interesting when former Hawks All-Star Al Horford returns to Atlanta and the home team’s big men will have their hands full with him (and Aron Baynes) in this spot. It should be noted, though, that Horford is currently listed as questionable with a sore left knee, putting his status at least somewhat in doubt. If nothing else, Hawks fans really don’t like the Celtics and that always brings an extra layer of intrigue to the proceedings.
Stay tuned throughout the day and night for all the latest.
Game Date/Time: Friday, Nov. 23, 7:30 pm ET
Location: State Farm Arena
TV: Fox Sports Southeast
Radio: 92.9 The Game (Atlanta); Hawks Radio Network
Streaming: Fox Sports Go; NBA League Pass (out of market)