Game Thread: Hawks @ Raptors -- 1/8

[Jamaaliver]

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[jayu70]

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[hawkmanreturns]

These guys beat the team that just gave us an epic beat down. Fire up the heavily armored all-terrain vehicle. This is going to be a rough one.

[EazyRoc]

Career highs for Trae and KH. Monster game from JC. Raptors turn the ball over as much as we do and we outrebound and kill them from 3. 70+ points between TY, KH, and JC. Let’s get it!

[Spud2nique]

These guys beat the team that just gave us an epic beat down. Fire up the heavily armored all-terrain vehicle. This is going to be a rough one.

Agreed...I will be very surprised to win. If we win I’m guessing it’ll be the win of the year! The Raptors are very real.

GO HAWKS!

[ducler]

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[jayu70]

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[lethalweapon3]

Two rules of thumb for these Atlanta Hawks? They play good, when bad teams play bad. They play bad, when good teams play good. That still leaves an awful lot of leeway. For instance, when good teams like tonight’s opponent, the Toronto Raptors (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, TSN up nawf), play bad.

Sparked by a strong start from Kyle Lowry (career-high 9.7 APG) to complement star acquisition Kawhi Leonard, Coach Nick Nurse’s club blazed to a spiffy 20-4 opening to the season. The defending Eastern Conference regular-season champs surged up the standings on the strength of two six-game win streaks and, later, an eight-game run that included a 124-108 win in Atlanta, back on November 21, plus a thrilling overtime win against Golden State just over a week later.

Yet Toronto (30-12) comes into tonight’s game searching for their first three-game winning streak since December 1. Yes, the Raps have won four of their past five: Giannis’ teammates were too pooped from blitzing the Hawks last Friday to keep up for 48 minutes the next night, and Toronto returned home to outpace Indiana the night after that. But this remains a team that can get outclassed when their defensive intensity slips, particularly around the perimeter.

On December 28, Toronto struggled to contain Terrence Ross, and Magic starters D.J. Augustin and Jonathan Isaac, during a 116-87 washout loss at Orlando. They played that contest, and much of last month, without Lowry (15.2 points per-36, lowest since 2012-13; 32.5 3FG%, lowest since 2009-10), who has just returned after receiving injections to relieve lower back soreness.

Nurse can always rely on the defensive versatility of Leonard to compensate when the offense has a subpar day from the field, as was the case versus the otherwise-struggling Orlando club (29.5 Raptors team FG%). But when he gets out with his gangly arms to contest at the perimeter, interior talents like the Magic’s Nikola Vucevic (30 points, 19 boards, 8 assists vs. TOR on Dec. 28) can have themselves a field day, even with the vastly improved Pascal Siakam (15.0 PPG in his third year, more than double his 7.3 last season; 63.9 2FG%, 5th in NBA) and the resurgent Serge Ibaka (career-high 16.2 PPG) trying their best to counter.

Frontcourt options for Toronto took a hit when Jonas Valanciunas (team-high 24 points and 13 rebounds @ ATL on Nov. 21), a luxury as a periodic starter, went down in mid-December (thumb dislocation during a win @ GSW, out for 2-3 more weeks). The absences of JV, Lowry and, at times, Leonard (injury rehab management, game vs. IND was his first back-to-back of the season, DNP @ ATL) can thin out the Raptors defensively when opponents effectively move the ball across the halfcourt.

In last Thursday’s emotional return to San Antonio for Leonard and Danny Green, Toronto’s defenders went from chasing around former Raptor star DeMar DeRozan (21 points, 14 boards, 11 dimes), to Spurs guards Derrick White and Bryn Forbes (combined 8-for-10 3FGs), to center LaMarcus Aldridge (10-for-14 FGs, 5 assists). They fell behind 38-19 after one quarter and could never quite catch up to the Spurs in a 125-107 loss.

In their past ten games, Toronto’s defensive efficiency (111.3 D-Rating, 21st in NBA) has been insufficient to make up for lackluster team shooting (109.2 O-Rating; 50.4 eFG%, 23rd in NBA). Often a bellwether for Toronto’s offensive output, Green (team-best 40.8 3FG%) shot 10-for-16 from the field in the Raptors’ last two victories, but 1-for-13 in their past two defeats. Getting Danny some Green lights early will be a priority for Nurse, a former shooting specialist who isn’t satisfied until everyone on the floor (excepting Greg Monroe, maybe) has attempted at least one 3-pointer.

Meanwhile, Atlanta (minus-1.4 Net Rating past ten games, versus Toronto’s minus-2.1) has been slowing the rolls of opponents that thought they were about to hit a groove, Thibs-less Minnesota and Miami most recently. If an injury-slowed Lowry, Green and Leonard find themselves chasing Trae Young (last four games: 10-for-15 3FGs) and Jeremy Lin (26 points on 11-for-13 FGs vs. TOR on Nov. 21) around screens and dribble hand-offs, and if Kevin Huerter continues to slash to the paint unencumbered, there can be times Toronto finds themselves literally playing from behind tonight.

Demonstrating improved shot selection and better ability to draw contact while earning trips to the free throw line, Young posted his best plus-minus (+21) of his rookie season in a 24-point win against listless Miami on Sunday evening in Atlanta. His Hawks (12-27) are 11-5 on the season when his plus-minus is at zero or better (as per bball-ref). The last win with his net-negative output came back on October 24 versus Dallas.

Huerter (questionable for today’s game, back pain) shot poorly against the heat, but he racked up his rookie season-high seven assists, often off forays into the paint that contracted the opposing defense. He was joined by momentary starter DeAndre’ Bembry (7-for-11 FGs), Lin (7-for-9 FGs) and Daniel Hamilton (3 O-Rebs, 6 assists) with the Hawks’ effective dashing-and-dishing, while his three steals and eight rebounds helped Atlanta’s frontline neutralize Miami (season-low 41.5 team TS%; just 21.1 O-Reb%).

With Atlanta’s host tomorrow, Brooklyn, swinging by Scotiabank Arena on Friday, and a trip to Washington on Sunday, the Raptors have the chance to stretch their winning streak to at least five games and keep pace with top-seeded Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference. But they can’t afford to start slowly and overlook Atlanta’s improvements since these teams last met. If a good team plays bad, and a bad team plays good, then who knows? With a half-hearted effort by Toronto, much like CN Tower, tonight’s outcome could be way up in the air.

Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3

[macd-gm]

I'm glad i'm busy tonight. Go Hawks!

[ATL Boy]

Raps have owned us in recent memory, even during the 60-win season we only beat them once. Not looking too promising tonight.

[lethalweapon3]

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The best player Nurse coached before Leonard? “Probably Tony Dorsey,” Nurse says with a laugh, referring to the 2000 British Basketball League MVP.

No relation to Tyler that I'm aware of! Tony was an Atlanta native who was All-State for Russell High school back in the 80s and later led North Alabama to national D-II title. The East Point school was one of four south Fulton schools merged to form the popular Tri-Cities High.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Dorsey

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Kevvy Kev's officially a scratch for tonight. Hope he'll be ready to go tomorrow!

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~lw3

[Spud2nique]

Nice game thread lw3! Got a chuckle about the part that Nurse wanted to get everyone a look for 3 except Monroe. Lol. I guess some bigs will never shoot 3’s and that’s ok.

Let’s see..what happens when a good team plays bad and a bad team plays good you ask? Well then all heck breaks loose and you got a helter skelter game featuring some nice plays on both sides and a close outcome. However if we are desperate for a future wing and all our current wings like Baze and Huerter are on the shelf and they have the best one in Kawhi who is business as usual most nights, then I wouldn’t put money on us but you never know.

Ps According to the win loss interval the Raptors have going, then tonight should be a loss for them based on the last 2 samples of this pattern.

L
W
W
L
W
W
L (tonight)?

Wow I’m really reaching here. Throw out the numbers and lets ball!

Go Hawks!!!

Ps I must say I’ve never minded watching the skills of Kawhi since SDSU. Shoutout to Norman Powell from UCLA as well. Just a couple of west coast ballers that’s all. Hope we have a good one tonight.

[jayu70]

Kevvy Kev's officially a scratch for tonight. Hope he'll be ready to go tomorrow!

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~lw3

Our wings are getting clipped. TP, Baze and now The Red Huert.
Long night tonight.
Starters?

The long awaited TraeLin backcourt.

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[DirtybirdGA]

Holding their own.

[EazyRoc]

Trae is a very very good offensive player already halfway through his rookie season. He’s starting to put it all together a little bit.

[EazyRoc]

Hamilton is playing really good too and may be staking his claim for minutes long term

[King Ken]

Good 1st half. Trae is really putting it all together on offense. His defense has slightly regressed these last two weeks compared to the previous 8 but miles better than it was in Nov.

[lethalweapon3]

If Daniel keeps hitting shots like this, he'll wind up having a Broadway play named after him.

~lw3

[Spud2nique]

2nd half line is Raps -8.5. If I wasn’t a Hawks fan I’d probably bet that. But I am a Hawks fan so LETS GO HAWKS!!!! Great 1st half.