The Atlanta Hawks (34-35) need to crash the glass when they face off against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday. After having their winning streak snapped at three games against the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, the Hawks caught another blow with the announcement on Thursday that John Collins would be out indefinitely with a plantar fascia tear.
It is a devastating blow for Collins who is in the middle of a very solid season but is also dealing with a finger that “can’t be straightened or bent properly”.
Fortunately, it appears Danilo Gallinari and Trae Young avoided serious injuries as both are listed as questionable for Friday’s tilt. Young joins Memphis’ rising star point guard Ja Morant on the injury report as the Grizzlies guard missed their last outing with a back injury.
At any rate, the Hawks best chance at victory in this one remains on the boards.
The Atlanta Hawks face a strong Grizzlies team with few weaknesses
Memphis comes in on a four-game winning streak and has won seven of their last 10. They have also been one of the best teams on both ends all season ranking fourth in offensive rating, one spot behind the Hawks, Per Cleaning The Glass. But the Grizzlies also rank seventh in defensive rating.
They’re still formidable even if they are without Morant going 13-2 in games that he has missed.
The Grizzlies have posted better defensive numbers to offset the decline in offense leaving them with a plus-7.4 net rating without their floor general. The Hawks have a minus-3.5 net rating without Young highlighting the importance of the latter’s availability in this big game.
Atlanta also won the first meeting 132-100 but Morant left the contest early with a knee injury that cost him 12 games.
Regardless of whether or not Morant plays, the Hawks have to take advantage of the few cracks in the Grizzlies armor. First, they have to force Memphis into its halfcourt offense where it scores just 0.92 points per play. That’s far more manageable than the 1.27 they generate when they can get out and run where they rank first in transition points per possession as well as frequency this season.
The Hawks defense isn’t good.
However, it is better when they have a chance to get set, allowing 0.98 points per play in the halfcourt compared to 1.33 points per play in transition.
It would also benefit the Hawks to get out and run a bit more than usual. The Grizzlies weakness on defense has been in transition off of live rebounds. They’re allowing 1.17 points per play while the Hawks generate 1.21 points per play in those situations.
When set, Memphis is only allowing 0.93 points per play.
Atlanta generates 1.00 points per play in the halfcourt but live boards are the one time they really look to get into transition offense.
The connection between Young and Clint Capela is even more important without Collins as some of those numbers have dipped without him. But the Hawks also need the likes of Kevin Huerter and De’Andre Hunter to keep up their strong play of late. They will also need Bogdan Bogdanovic to snap out of the slump that has plagued him over the last handful of games.