After a forgettable opening night against Toronto, the Hawks will hit the road to take on the Orlando Magic tomorrow night. Both Orlando and Atlanta were projected to be among the contenders in the Eastern Conference this season and both teams could use a win tomorrow night in the early portion of the season. Orlando was able to get against the Miami Heat last night.
Ahead of tomorrow’s game, the Hawks have revealed their injury report for the game tomorrow.
For tomorrow, Zaccharie Risacher is going to be questionable due to a right ankle sprain. If he is not able to go, I would expect Nickeil Alexander-Walker to start in his place.
The Hawks listed Zaccharie Risacher (right ankle sprain) as questionable for tomorrow’s game in Orlando.
— Lauren L. Williams (@WilliamsLaurenL) October 23, 2025
Oct 22, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Kristaps Porzingis (8) shoots against the Toronto Raptors in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images
In the most anticipated season opener in years for the Atlanta Hawks, they had about as poor of a performance as you could, losing 138-118 to the Raptors. The transition defense was brutal, the Hawks’ offense looked clunky all night, and the big offseason additions did not make much of an impact on the game at all.
For a team that was supposed to compete for the Eastern Conference crown, this was not the way they wanted to open the season. It is just one game of course, but is it time to sound some alarm bells for Atlanta?
The Hawks were expected to be among the better teams in the NBA, but they were dealt a tough first week of the season. After playing the Raptors, the Hawks travel to Orlando tomorrow night and then face the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder at home the very next night. While an opening night game is never a must-win, the Hawks now have to face two of the best teams in the NBA and two of the best defenses in the league as well.
While there are 82 games, the vibes would be very bad in Atlanta if they were to get off to a 0-3 start. Can they get a win over the weekend to prevent that from happening?
All offseason, myself and others in the media gave the Hawks a lot of credit for being able to bring in Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Luke Kennard, and Asa Newell to add to a core of Trae Young, Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, and Onyeka Okongwu.
After one game, is it fair to say that those projections are going to be wrong and the Hawks are still going to be floundering around near the play-in? Only time will tell, but the opening night was not very good.
Tip off for tomorrow’s game is set for 7:00 p.m. ET.