Hawks down several vets, need young players to step up versus Lakers

The Hawks will have to go deep into their bench on Saturday when they host the Lakers at State Farm Arena.

The team listed several veterans as questionable or out for the matchup against Luka Doncic and company on the second night of back-to-back games.

Both Nickeil Alexander-Walker (low back strain) and Jalen Johnson (right quad contusion) are listed as questionable. So their status for the Lakers matchup could change before tipoff at 7:30 on Saturday.

But the Hawks will not have Luke Kennard, who also missed Friday’s game against the Raptors because of illness.

The Hawks also ruled out Kristaps Porzingis because of illness management. Porzingis has not played back-to-back games this season. He missed both games against the Magic and Thunder in the Hawks’ first back-to-back series earlier this season.

Of course, the Hawks will be without guard Trae Young (right knee MCL sprain) for at least the next three weeks, when he can be expected to receive a re-evaluation.

Saturday’s test gives the Hawks’ young players a chance to gain some important developmental minutes. The Hawks have one of the youngest teams in the league this season. So, they’ll have the chance to learn how to execute the team’s principles while dealing with fatigue from playing on the second night of back-to-back games.