Utah Jazz (16-35, 13th in the Western Conference) vs. Atlanta Hawks (25-27, ninth in the Eastern Conference)Atlanta; Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ESTBOTTOM LINE: Jalen Johnson and the Atlanta Hawks host Lauri Markkanen and the Utah Jazz in non-conference action.The Hawks have gone 9-14 in home games. Atlanta is the league leader with 30.7 assists per game led by Johnson averaging 8.0.The Jazz are 6-18 in road games. Utah ranks eighth in the Western Conference with 43.7 rebounds per game led by Jusuf Nurkic averaging 10.2.The Hawks are shooting 47.3% from the field this season, 1.9 percentage points lower than the 49.2% the Jazz allow to opponents. The Jazz are shooting 46.8% from the field, 0.8% lower than the 47.6% the Hawks’ opponents have shot this season.The teams meet for the second time this season. In the last meeting on Nov. 14 the Hawks won 132-122 led by 32 points from Onyeka Okongwu, while Markkanen scored 40 points for the Jazz.TOP PERFORMERS: Johnson is scoring 23.2 points per game with 10.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists for the Hawks. CJ McCollum is averaging 18.7 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 48.0% over the past 10 games.Jaren Jackson Jr. is averaging 19.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks for the Jazz. Keyonte George is averagin …
