The Phoenix Suns (40-29, 8th in Western Conference) host the Atlanta Hawks (30-38, 10th in Eastern Conference) tonight on the second night of a back-to-back in their final regular season meeting.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!This will be yet another game (the fourth straight) where the Suns face a team missing its best player. Trae Young has not played since Feb. 23 after undergoing finger surgery. Atlanta (30-38) has gone 6-6 in this stretch without Young.
For Phoenix, Royce O’Neale is listed as questionable for tonight’s game after suffering a right shoulder contusion last night.
The Suns defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 115-102 last night, rebounding strong after a disappointing 11-point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks Sunday. Phoenix dominated in the second quarter and rode the momentum to victory, as Grayson Allen tied his season high with 32 points and also tied the franchise record and his career high with nine 3-pointers for the third time this season. Devin Booker paced Phoenix in the win, finishing with 18 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.
The Hawks have dropped four of their last five and last lost big, 136-105, to the Los Angeles Lakers Monday. Jalen Johnson, who is out tonight, had a team-high 25 points and nine rebounds for Atlanta.
These two teams last played on Feb. 2, as Atlanta defeated Phoenix 129-120 behind 32 points from Young. Kevin Durant had 35 points, eight assists and eight rebound sin the defeat. The Suns had 16 turnovers in this game and allowed the Hawks to make 17 3-pointers on 44 attempts, two big problems that still persist with this Phoenix team, so we will see how the Suns can do in these categories tonight.
Local Game Information
Start Time: 7:30 p.m. MST
Location: Footprint Center
TV Channel: AZ Family/ 3TV, NBA TV
Radio:Â Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, La Mejor 106.5 FM
Stream:Â Suns Live (click for more info)
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) March 21, 2024
Betting Odds
Line: PHX -9.5
O/U:Â 226.5
Injury Report
Phoenix Suns: Royce O’Neale (right shoulder contusion) QUESTIONABLE | Josh Okogie (lower abdominal strain) OUT | Damion Lee (right meniscus surgery) OUT
Atlanta Hawks: Wesley Matthew (illness) QUESTIONABLE | Trae Young (left fifth finger torn ligament) OUT | Jalen Johnson (right ankle injury) OUT | Saddiq Bey (torn ACL in left knee) OUT | AJ Griffin (right ankle sprain) OUT | Kobe Bufkin (left big toe sprain) OUT | Mouhamed Gueye (right UCL sprain) OUT
Starters (Projected)
Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Grayson Allen, Kevin Durant, Jusuf Nurkić
Atlanta Hawks:Â Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Vit Krejci, De’Andre Hunter, Clint Capela
Five Keys to Game for Suns
- Guarding the 3-point line
- Limiting turnovers
- Not overlooking opponent
- Fourth quarter overall play
- Riding momentum
Prediction
Suns 123 – Hawks 106
This should be another easy win for the Suns, as we saw last night with Philadelphia, because of all the injuries the Hawks are facing. The Suns have not shown much drop-off on second nights of back-to-backs this season, so I don’t expect this to be a factor tonight. However, Atlanta might be more motivated coming off a 31-point loss. Despite its record, Atlanta is still a play-in team like Phoenix, so there is definitely reason for the Hawks to come out strong. With that being said, the injuries to Young and Johnson are going to prove too much for them, and the Suns will ride momentum from yesterday to the wiwn.
Last Meeting (Feb. 2, 2024)
Trae Young’s 32-Point Explosion Leads Hawks to 129-120 Victory over Suns
Team Matchup Notes
Each team’s stats (via Suns):
Preview: Injury report
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
