After a whistle-filled mess in Phoenix, the Atlanta Hawks traveled to Los Angeles to embark on a difficult back-to-back set over the weekend. The first match-up takes place on Saturday night, with the Hawks squaring off against the high-powered Clippers in late-night action.

Atlanta will, once again, enter this contest with a short-handed roster, as Kevin Huerter remains out with a left shoulder ailment and John Collins remains sidelined with his league-mandated suspension. On top of that, Vince Carter (personal reasons) will miss a fourth straight game, though Evan Turner (Achilles) has been upgraded to questionable.

On the Clippers side, there is some national intrigue, as the stars could be aligning for Los Angeles to deploy Kawhi Leonard and Paul George together at the same time. However, the injury report announced on Friday evening indicated that Leonard is questionable with “injury management” for his left knee.

The Clippers enter this game having lost back-to-back games and, with that in mind, there might be a certain level of urgency from the home team. The Hawks are currently 12.5-point underdogs in Los Angeles, though it should be noted that Atlanta actually pulled off the mild upset last season at Staples Center on Jan. 28.

While expectations should be modest for Atlanta in this game given the team’s short-handed roster, the Hawks have enjoyed moments of brilliance in the early going and that provides optimism on Saturday evening.

Stay tuned throughout the day and be encouraged to utilize the comments below as a “game thread” for the action.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Saturday, Nov. 16, 10:30 pm ET

Location: Staples Center

TV: Fox Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass

Radio: 92.9 The Game (Atlanta); Hawks Radio Network

Streaming: Fox Sports Go, NBA League Pass