Preview: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Atlanta Hawks: Player props, injury report and prediction | NBA

The Western Conference leaders Los Angeles Lakers travel to State Farm Arena to face Atlanta Hawks on Monday, with Luka Doncic's availability on the second night of a back-to-back the biggest question hanging over a meeting between two sides in strong early-season form.

The Lakers are 9-2 and unbeaten in five, while fourth-placed Atlanta are 7-4 and have won four in a row, with tip-off at 12am GMT on Tuesday for UK readers, who can check the full NBA schedule for the rest of the week.

What is the form like for the Lakers and Hawks?

Form Guide (Last 5)

Los Angeles Lakers 9-2 · 1st in the West

W W W W W

126.0 PPG

115.8 Opp PPG

+10.2 Diff

B2B Rest

Atlanta Hawks 7-4 · 4th in the East

L W W W W

118.0 PPG

116.6 Opp PPG

+1.4 Diff

1 day Rest

The Lakers have scored 126.0 points per game and conceded 115.8 across their last five outings, a differential of 10.2 that explains how they have won all five, even with their star missing the latest of them.

That run includes a 121-116 victory at Detroit on Sunday without Doncic, in which Austin Reaves scored 43 points and the supporting cast held firm on the first night of a back-to-back.

Atlanta bounced back from a 99-121 loss at New Orleans on 31 October by winning four straight, and the Hawks sit fourth in the Eastern Conference standings after back-to-back home wins.

Three of those four wins came by seven points or fewer, and a last-five differential of only plus 1.4 suggests the Hawks have been edging games rather than controlling them, particularly in the 124-121 win over Brooklyn.

Over the full season the Lakers rate better on offence, scoring 121.7 points per 100 possessions to Atlanta's 114.7, but the Hawks hold the defensive edge at 111.6 points allowed per 100 compared with 114.1.

Atlanta also tend to win the possession battle, averaging 44.1 rebounds to 40.3 while turning the ball over 14.6 times a game to the Lakers' 16.9, which gives them extra shots in a game where the Lakers have the more efficient attack.

The assists gap is wider still at 31.5 to 23.5, which fits a Hawks offence that moves the ball around Alexander-Walker, Jalen Johnson and CJ McCollum against a Lakers attack that leans on Doncic creating for himself.

Home form adds to that picture, as the Hawks have scored 121.6 and conceded 122.8 across five games in Atlanta, with every one of them passing 220 combined points, so the Lakers should expect a faster tempo than their road games have usually produced.

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Atlanta Hawks team news and rotations

Doncic missed the win at Detroit with lower-back tightness and has no confirmed status for Monday, having also sat out one earlier game this season with the same complaint, so his designation is the biggest swing factor for both teams.

Quentin Grimes started in his place at Detroit before leaving in the fourth quarter with a finger problem, and although X-rays were negative he is listed as questionable, which would leave Collin Sexton and Reaves as the natural ball handlers if Doncic is also out.

Atlanta are without Asa Newell, Keshon Gilbert and Mouhamed Gueye, while Henri Veesaar is out for the season with a torn ACL and Jock Landale is questionable with a hip strain after missing the last four games.

Onyeka Okongwu is the starting centre on the depth chart, so Landale's return would mainly add depth behind him, while rookie Kingston Flemings leads the point guards and Johnson, who has featured in only two of the last five, carries no designation.

The matchups that could decide Lakers vs. Hawks

Key Matchups

Scoring against disruption

Luka Doncic LAL

VS

Dyson Daniels ATL

40.1 Doncic PPG

7.7 Doncic APG

2.9 Daniels SPG

7.2 Daniels RPG

Luguentz Dort is the other Hawks wing who can take turns on Doncic. Doncic's availability decides whether this duel happens, and if it does the Hawks' most active ball thief meets the player who creates most of the Lakers' offence, so turnovers in this matchup shape the tempo.

Backcourt scoring

Austin Reaves LAL

VS

Nickeil Alexander-Walker ATL

25.3 Reaves PPG

41.3% Reaves 3P%

22.1 Alexander-Walker PPG

38.4% Alexander-Walker 3P%

Reaves scored 43 points in the Lakers' last outing. Reaves has taken on extra creation with Doncic out, while Alexander-Walker is the Hawks' top scorer, so the guard who finds the cleaner looks is likely to swing the scoring balance.

The interior

Walker Kessler LAL

VS

Onyeka Okongwu ATL

10.9 Kessler RPG

69.4% Kessler FG%

8.0 Okongwu RPG

48.7% Okongwu FG%

Kessler is the more efficient finisher, while Okongwu carries the load on the glass for a Hawks side that wins the rebounding battle with the Lakers on season numbers, and Landale's status decides how much help he gets.

If Doncic plays, his duel with Dyson Daniels is the headline, since the league's leading scorer meets a defender who leads the Hawks in steals, with Luguentz Dort also available to take turns on him.

Reaves and Nickeil Alexander-Walker are the form scorers on either side, while Walker Kessler and Onyeka Okongwu meet underneath, where Atlanta's rebounding edge is most likely to show.

Lakers vs. Hawks player props

Player Props to Watch

Nickeil Alexander-Walker ATL

Points Over 21.5

22.1 Season avg

24.0 Last 5 avg

11 Games

Atlanta's leading scorer has been above this line over the last five games as well as across the season, and with injuries thinning the frontcourt the offence should keep running through the perimeter.

Austin Reaves LAL

Points Over 24.5

25.3 Season avg

27.0 Last 5 avg

11 Games

Reaves has cleared this line across the season and the last five games, and any Doncic absence or restriction would push more shot creation his way.

Walker Kessler LAL

Rebounds Over 10.5

10.9 Season avg

13.2 Last 5 avg

11 Games

Kessler has been comfortably clear of this line over the last five games, and a Hawks frontcourt missing several rotation players gives him room to keep collecting on the glass.

Lakers and Hawks head-to-head history

The Hawks won the most recent meeting in Atlanta by 20 points last November, while the Lakers answered with a 25-point home win when the teams met again in January.

Only that January game falls inside the last year, and it came days after Atlanta traded Trae Young to Washington, so the older results add colour rather than evidence.

The fixture also carries a longer thread, since the Hawks drafted Doncic third overall in 2018 and immediately traded him to Dallas for Young and a future first-round pick.

Our Lakers vs. Hawks prediction and tips

Atlanta's recent wins have been narrow and the Lakers have already beaten Detroit on the road without their star, which points to a side with enough depth to cope even if Doncic is restricted.

The back-to-back and a rested home side should keep the margin close, but the Lakers have more ways to win, and the free-flowing scoring in Atlanta points towards a total that clears the line.