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Gameday: Atlanta vs Toronto



So, the Atlanta Hawks. They have a ridiculously good offense — second in the league — and miserable defense. Remind you of anyone? Yeah, the Hornets just beat the pants off of the Raptors as an all-offense, no-defense team only last night. Toronto’s gonna have to find a way to slow the Hawks with more backbone than they showed against the Hornets. Really, any amount of backbone.

Trae Young is outrageous at creating advantages in the halfcourt. One of the best in the league. He’s only played one game against the Raptors this year, and Toronto defended him well. He scored well below his season average, at 22 points, and he didn’t hit a three. Toronto won. If they can cut off the head of Atlanta’s snake again, the Raptors should be able to bounce back.

The Raptors are going to be starting from behind with OG Anunoby injured. He is one of three great shooters in the rotation, and he’s the only reliable non-guard shooter. Missing him doesn’t explain Toronto’s performance against Charlotte, and nor does it excuse it. But it can serve as a warning, a cautionary tale, if the Raptors don’t clean up their act. They can get absolutely rocked if they play like this without Anunoby. They were at a season-low in three-point attempts before the bench unloaded some triples in garbage time, which means the Raptors just didn’t create enough advantages on the offensive end to open shots.

They’re gonna have to create more open looks against Atlanta, and they’re gonna have toss them in, too. Mostly, they’re gonna have to play some team defense. We know this team can do all those things. Let’s see it.