The Atlanta Hawks will be taking on the Charlotte Hornets in tonight’s NBA action at the Spectrum Center. This is a Southwest Division showdown where the Hawks boast a superior record in head-to-head battle with 70-65. But, the Hornets in recent clashes have also shown dominance by winning seven of the last ten games against the Hawks.

Furthermore, Atlanta comes into this one with back-to-back wins against the Cavaliers side which boasts the best record in the league. De’Andre Hunter was the leader in scoring in both games firing in 26 and 23 points respectively. At the same time, Trae Young was the facilitator as he finished the first game by dishing out 22 assists and followed that up with eleven.

On the other hand, Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball was in insane form scoring 50 points against the Bucks then followed that with 44 against Magic and 32 against the Heat. However, all of these performances were not enough to ensure his side’s victory as they are now winless in four. On top of that, he did not play in the last matchup against the Knicks due to an injury piling up on the team’s misery.

Although the Hornets star was not on the court his father, LaVar Ball was up in the stands supporting the team, and interestingly later on in a video posted on X he hinted towards a trade rumor as he said in the video, “Don’t worry about that help is coming, help is coming.” This was after Cody Martin his son’s teammate missed a show. Even though he did not name any player the fans were quick to react and speculated that the ‘help’ LaVar referred to could be Lonzo Ball who could switch cities to play alongside his brother LaMelo.

However, for now, let’s focus on tonight’s matchup and take a look at the player availability before the clash.

Hornets vs Hawks Injury Reports

Charlotte Hornets Injury Report

The biggest concern of the Hornets will be the fitness of their point guard LaMelo Ball who did not feature in the loss against the Knicks and is questionable for tonight’s game due to a left calf soreness. So far, he’s been averaging 31.1 points, which is the second highest in the league while he also leads the team in playmaking with 6.9 assists, and without him, the Hornets look incomplete.

They also have two more players on the injury report including Jared Rhoden who is out because he has been transferred to the Greensboro Swarm, Hornets G league affiliate. And the other player is Grant Williams who is out for the season after suffering torn ACL in his right knee in the clash against the Bucks.

Atlanta Hawks Injury Report

Amid Trae Young’s return, the Hawks faithful will take a sigh of relief, as they now only have a couple of players on their injury report including Cody Zeller. He won’t be featuring the game as he’s out due to personal reasons. The other player is Seth Lundywho is out for four weeks after suffering a sprain in his left ankle.

Depth Charts

Charlotte Hornets Depth Chart

Atlanta Hawks Injury Report

To sum it up, the Hawks look like the favorites for the game as they are in good form and two wins against Cleveland should definitely have boosted their confidence. Also, they have Trae Young in their arsenal and for Charlotte having LaMelo Ball available will be pivotal to compete tonight. Otherwise, Brandon Miller will have to step up if the Hornets want to snap a four-game losing streak tonight.