NBA Matchups: October 31

It’s the start of the NBA Cup! It’s important to note that we don’t see too many boosts in minutes per game, but they do happen on occasion. We’ll have this all sorted out in the projections today, of course. Finally, a normal-sized slate for NBA Matchups. Let’s find a new slant.

Oh, and Happy Halloween!

ATL @ IND | BOS @ PHI | TOR @ CLE | NYK @ CHI | LAL @ MEM | UTA @ PHX | DEN @ POR | NOP @ LAC

Atlanta Hawks at Indiana Pacers (front end)

Team Totals:

Injury Report: Trae Young (O, knee), Taelon Peter (Q, groin), Andrew Nembard (O, shoulder)

Hawks projected starters: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson, Kristaps Porzingis

Pacers projected starters: Ben Sheppard, Aaron Nesmith, Jarace Walker, Pascal Siakam, Isaiah Jackson

Snyder quotes: Said he liked how Kennard was aggressive and they want him to shoot the ball, said they trust Kennard to make plays for other people, said Trae did not want to come out of the game and he will get an MRI on his knee sprain, said Trae ran up and down the court a couple of times and they knew they wanted to get him out of there, said OO is a willing passer and they’re comfortable playing through him.

Carlisle quotes: Said “fouling is a real problem for us right now,” said they just got unlucky at the end, said RayJ has really improved and it’s been on both ends, said Mac McClung is in good condition despite just joining the team, said he liked how they handled the 50/50 balls.

Stats and Notes: 

*Atlanta’s defense has been solid to start the year with the ninth-ranked halfcourt defense, but they have been a huge rim funnel to start the year. Their defense may be looking better because of their schedule, but to their credit, they did keep OKC’s offense in check in the halfcourt. Indiana’s halfcourt O has been a nightmare at 87.0 points per 100 possessions, and it’s unlikely to get much better with all of their injuries. They also can’t generate enough interior scoring because of what this roster looks like. I would expect the ATL offense to look different without Trae, and it’s worth noting that their pace was the worst it was all season against the Nets. 

*This is an absolute smash spot for Jalen Johnson against a really bad interior defense. The Pacers are fouling a ton, and we’ve seen some big passing stats from Johnson in the games Trae misses (didn’t happen last game). The only downside is that his minutes haven’t spiked since his ankle tweak, but maybe that’ll happen here in an NBA Cup game. I wouldn’t be too worried about the matchup with Jarace Walker, either.

*Dyson Daniels was a huge letdown in the BKN game, but the role was there as he led the team in drives and potential assists. Daniels should also be in a position to take advantage of so many inexperienced handlers, and his minutes spiked to 35. The Pacers haven’t been turning the ball over, but maybe that changes here against a quality duo. 

*Trae Young not playing really opened up a big role for Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who led the team in touch time. However, he wasn’t driving that much and only had five potential assists. His playing time should be excellent, and he won’t have a tough 1-on-1 matchup, but there may not be a high ceiling on him.