Toronto Raptors vs. Atlanta Hawks: Preview
The Toronto Raptors got off to a hot start in their first game back from the All-Star break, rattling off a near 30-point win over the Brooklyn Nets last night.
Travelling to Atlanta for the second of back-to-back games, Toronto looks great heading into the rematch after losing to the Hawks by one point last month.
The story of last night’s game — and likely the story of tonight’s should the Raptors win — was the team three pointing and play of Immanuel Quickley. Collectively, the team shot 45% from deep on 31 attempts, led by Quickey and Gary Trent Jr. with five threes each.
Quickley also seemed to find his floater again, which he had only been shooting at a 31% clip before the All-Star break. His touch in the midrange will be much needed against a team that boasts one of the more athletic bigs in the league in Clint Capela.
Scoring in the paint is already hard enough to come by when facing Atlanta, but doing so on the second half of a back-to-back with travel means the Raptors may be a little more fatigued than usual. Limiting turnovers and staying hot shooting wise will help with some of the fatigue the team may be feeling, and give them a solid chance at getting back at Atlanta after a close loss in their last matchup.
How To Watch:
Sportsnet at 7:30pm ET
Likely Lineups:
Toronto: Immanuel Quickley, Gary Trent Jr., RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl
Atlanta: Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, Saddiq Bey, Jalen Johnson, Clint Capela
Injuries:
Toronto: Not yet submitted
Atlanta: Kobe Bufkin (questionable - G-League Assignment), Trent Forrest (out - ineligible to play), Mouhamed Gueye (out - back), Onyeka Okongwu (out - toe)
Board Battle
In these teams’ last matchup, a few Hawks completely dominated on the boards. Atlanta’s entire starting frontcourt grabbed 12+ rebounds, whereas no single Raptor had double digits.
Despite this, Toronto only finished the game with 5 less rebounds as the rest of Atlanta’s roster combined for only six. With backup big Onyeka Okongwu out, the Hawks are a little smaller tonight and the Raptors main focus should be boxing out Bey, Johnson and Capela. Containing those three players should limit the amount of rebounds the Hawks grab with the size mismatch throughout the rest of the roster compared to the Raptors.
RJ Ginobli?
RJ Barrett tied his season-high in assists against the Nets with seven, leading coach Rajakovic to compare him to Hall of Famer Manu Ginobli.
To what does Rajakovic owe Barrett’s recent improvement as a playmaker?
“Manu Ginobili”
A couple weeks ago Darko told RJ that he sees some Manu in his game. “He sees the floor really well.” Turns out Manu is RJ’s favourite player. Plan is to continue studying Manu tape together
The wing has improved his assist output since becoming a Raptor while also leading the team in scoring since the trade. Barrett has flourished in Rajakovic’s 0.5-basketball system and should continue his impressive streak against a team with weaker wing defence in Atlanta.
Trae Show
Fresh off another All-Star appearance, Trae Young is the motor of the Atlanta Hawks. Going back to that last matchup between them and the Raptors, Young completely dominated. Despite being know for his three-point range and ability, the guard shot only 1⁄4 from three but still managed to put up 30 points and 12 assists.
Young is one of the most gifted playmakers and scorers in the NBA. Obviously, you always want to limit the opposition’s top player, but with Young on the floor, the entire roster is a threat with his vision and ability to find the open man.
Toronto will need to fight through the fatigue of playing last night and travelling into Atlanta today to keep up with the speedy guard and sticking with their man on defence. If Trae gets hot both scoring the ball and passing it, the Raptors will be in for a tough game.
