The Atlanta Hawks and the Boston Celtics are about to face each other for the second time this season, but this time it is a game that counts towards the 2024 NBA Cup. One of the big question marks coming into this game was the status of Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum, who was questionable. The Celtics just revealed Tatum’s status and he is available to play, as is Al Horford.

Our own Rohan Raman gave a preview for the game tonight:

“Coming into tonight’s game, the Hawks are 9th in the NBA in PPG, 16th in FG%, 17th in 3PA, 17th in 3P%, 5th in FTA, 21st in rebounding, and 20th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 14th in points per 100 possessions, 14th in effective field goal percentage, 19th in turnover percentage, 19th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 6th in free throw rate.

Atlanta is 28th in PPG allowed, 21st in field goal percentage allowed, 30th in 3PA allowed, and 30th in 3P% allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Hawks are 27th in points allowed per 100 possessions, and 27th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

Although their games have been decided by a much narrower margin as of late, the Celtics have the second-best record in the NBA for a reason. They are 5th in points per game, 6th in field goal percentage, 1st in three point attempts, 11th in three point percentage, 13th in free throw attempts, 21st in rebounds, and 20th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Celtics are 1st in points per 100 possessions, 4th in effective field goal percentage, 1st in turnover percentage, 19th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 9th in free throw rate.

Defensively, Boston is 8th in PPG allowed, 12th in field goal percentage allowed, 13th in three point attempts allowed, and 7th in three point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Celtics are 9th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 10th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

Given that Atlanta is down both Young and backup point guard Kobe Bufkin, Keaton Wallace now becomes a prime candidate to start at point guard for the Hawks. Atlanta simply cannot expect much from him as a scorer given that he will be matching up with the combo of Derrick White and Jrue Holiday. It will be critical for Wallace to make good decisions as a passer and find Johnson/Risacher when open so that they can hit the three-pointers necessary to keep the Hawks in the game.

Speaking of Risacher, this is arguably the biggest role he has had to-date in his young NBA career. He will be relied on as a secondary offensive creator and will need to be aggressive going to the rim. Assuming that the Celtics sit Horford, it should be easier for Risacher to get to the rim and make his impact felt inside. He is currently shooting 54.5% at the rim, so the numbers have room to improve in that area. For tonight, Risacher needs to make quick decisions and limit turnovers so that the Hawks do not decrease their own margin for error. It will be a good challenge for the young wing.

One possible bright spot for the Hawks is their center play against Boston. Onyeka Okongwu was excellent in the last meeting of these two teams, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 boards. He has looked better this season as a scorer. This season, he is shooting a career-best 84% from the charity strip on a career-high number of attempts per night (5.7) and he’s converting on 74.4% of his shots at the rim (up from 74% last season). He is also drawing fouls at a higher rate when he is on offense, which indicates a heightened level of aggression as a scorer. His defense hasn’t stood out quite as much, but the potential for him to be the athletic defensive piece that he was in 2022-23 is still there.

Dyson Daniels will also need to make an impact on offense in this matchup. He is averaging a career-high four attempts from deep and has more than doubled his overall amount of attempts from 5.1 to 12.1. That’s a function of his role as a starter and he seems to have taken to the role. However, his overall shot has not been as consistent. Despite some games where the shot falls for him, he is shooting a paltry 27.8% from deep on the year. This has to be a good scoring game for Daniels if the Hawks have any chance of remaining in this one. On defense, there is little to be concerned about. He is averaging a career-high 3.3 steals per game and serves as the best perimeter defender for the Hawks. I think sticking Daniels on White as the primary defender might be a smart call, especially if Tatum is out.

Ultimately, I wouldn’t be surprised if the the Celtics give Tatum and Horford the night off, but they have not been ruled out yet. This article will be updated should that happen.”

METRO ATLANTA — Eight nursing homes in or near metro Atlanta are among the nation’s best, according to a new ranking released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report that sheds light on a nationwide nursing home staffing shortage.

• Ansley Park Health and Rehabilitation, Newnan, high-performing short-term rehab, long-term care rating not available
• Lenbrook, Atlanta, high-performing short-term rehab and long-term care
• Pebblebrook Health Center at Park Springs, Stone Mountain, high-performing short-term rehab and long-term care
• Pruitthealth – Laurel Park, Stockbridge, high-performing short-term rehab, long-term care rating not available
• Salude – The Art of Recovery, Suwanee, high-performing short-term rehab, long-term care rating not available
• The Oaks – Carrollton Skilled Nursing, Carrollton, high-performing short-term rehab, long-term care rating not available
• The William Breman Jewish Home, Atlanta, high-performing short-term rehab and long-term care
• Wellstar Paulding Nursing Center, Dallas, high-performing short-term rehab and long-term care

U.S. News ranked 105 of the nursing homes in metro Atlanta. Of those selected for the 2025 “best” list by U.S. News, 89 were ranked for long-term care, 104 for short-term care and 88 for both.

In Georgia, 357 nursing homes were evaluated and 335 made the 2025 “best” list. Of those, 285 were ranked for long-term care, 324 for short-term care and 274 for both.

U.S. News said 1,637 U.S. cities (out of 5,147) and 715 U.S. counties (out of 1,687) have at least one nursing home on the list.

“These facilities set the standard for quality care and should be commended for their commitment to improving the lives of their residents,” Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News, said in a news release.

Overall, the evaluation found that more than half of U.S. nursing homes don’t comply with federal regulations requiring at least eight registered nurse staffing hours every day. Among those that did not comply, the average nursing home had 15 days of inadequate staffing, according to the report.

“Staffing levels continue to be a major challenge for U.S. nursing homes,” Harder said.

The short-term rehabilitation facilities that were ranked have an average of 50 percent more nursing care per resident than facilities ranked below average in short-term rehab. The top long-term facilities have double the staff retention rate of nursing homes when compared to underperforming nursing homes, Harder said.

Among other findings:

• The best nursing homes for short-term rehabilitation discharge an average of 50 percent more patients to a residence (rather than a long-term care setting) compared to facilities rated as below average.
• The best nursing homes for long-term care preserve residents’ self-reliance longer: residents are on average 50 percent less likely to lose the ability to perform self-care activities, such as feeding and washing themselves, compared to residents at facilities rated as below average.
• The best nursing homes for long-term care give residents antipsychotic medications 46 percent less of the time compared to facilities rated as below average.
• Residents at the best long-term care facilities are more than 60 percent less likely to require emergency department care compared to residents at facilities rated as below average.

Metro areas with the most nursing homes on the “best” list (in alphabetical order) are Boston, Chicago, Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco-Oakland and Washington, D.C.

To calculate the Best Nursing Homes ratings, U.S. News evaluated each nursing home’s performance using a variety of quality measures obtained from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service. Among factors considered are resident care, safety, outcomes and other aspects of quality — including data on nurse staffing levels, consistency and retention, as well as use of antipsychotic drugs and success in preventing ER visits.

The Athletics have traded shortstop Nick Allen to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for right-hander Jared Johnson. This isn’t a terribly surprising move, given that Allen had seen his playing time in Oakland dwindle, along with being out of options heading into the 2025 campaign. That would mean that the A’s couldn’t just stash him in the minors like they did this past season without subjecting him to waivers.

Allen was the A’s Opening Day shortstop in 2024, and was playing regularly up until the end of April. He was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas in early May, and hit well with the Aviators, batting .345 with a .431 OBP in 81 games. Allen is a talented defender at short, but was even tried out a touch in center to see if it would stick, giving him a little more value to the club. That test did not pan out.

He was called back up to Oakland in August and started seven games over the final month of the season. Three of those starts came at third base. Cumulatively for the year, Allen hit .175 with a .216 OBP and a 33 wRC+ in 41 big league games.

Besides underperformance with the bat, the other reason Allen was seen as expendable is that the A’s have last year’s top draft pick, Jacob Wilson, already in the bigs and he is going to be the team’s starting shortstop for the foreseeable future. They also have Darell Hernaiz and Max Muncy in that shortstop mix, though they’re now presumed options long-term at third base with Wilson at short.

As for the A’s return, they get another pitcher from Atlanta, which has not worked out so well in recent trades with the Braves. Royber Salinas, part of the Sean Murphy trade, was recently claimed off waivers by Atlanta. Kyle Muller, also part of that deal, has elected free agency. Freddy Tarnok is also no longer with the A’s.

That all said, Joey Estes (Matt Olson deal) has shown flashes of being an effective starter, tossing a Maddux on July 3, and Ryan Cusick should be in the mix for his MLB debut at some point in 2025.

Johnson, 23, was ranked as Atlanta’s No. 20 prospect over at FanGraphs. He spent all of the 2024 season in High-A, holding a 2.60 ERA (3.50 FIP) across 52 innings out of the bullpen. As we see quite often with A’s pitcher acquisitions, Johnson’s walk rate is a little inflated at 11.7%, but his strikeout rate of 26.4% is solid.

He’ll presumably begin the year either in Lansing for the A’s in 2025, with the intention to just get a look at him for a few weeks before ultimately promoting him to Double-A, or he’ll just head to Midland right out of the gate.

Johnson is Rule 5 eligible, though he isn’t necessarily likely to end up on the A’s 40-man roster. There are ways to protect him in the Draft by placing him on a higher level’s roster that should keep him safe from other teams in the minor-league portion of the draft. Overall, it’s an interesting pickup for the Athletics, and to get something for Allen is likely a win, given that he had been squeezed from the A’s roster.