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The Atlanta Hawks travel north of the border to take on the Toronto Raptors in a match-up with serious implications for playoff seeding in the rast. Join The Roar from 11:30am (AEDT) for live scores.
After years as the laughing stock of the NBA, the Eastern Conference is starting to regain some prestige.
LeBron James’ return to Cleveland helped, but the improved Hawks and Raptors have been crucial, and these two teams may smell blood in the water as tales of dysfunction continue to leak out of Cavs territory.
The Raptors are only 2.5 games behind Cleveland and the first seed is certainly not out of the question. For Atlanta, that task may prove a bridge too far, but they would back themselves to give Boston and Miami serious competition for the top three.
The Hawks have recovered from a slow start to be hitting their stride in the back end of the regular season. They come into this one on a three-game winning streak, including a ten-point victory over the Clippers.
Meanwhile, Toronto has posted the third-best record in the whole NBA in 2016, going 18-5 since the calendars switched over. It’s no coincidence that in that same period they posted the league’s third-best offence, with an offensive rating of 111.3.
Despite the offensive brilliance, however, Toronto’s defence has slipped, with teams easily scoring over 100 points against them. They clearly miss their off-season signing DeMarre Carroll, known for his defensive prowess.
Atlanta, whom Carroll left to join Toronto, clearly haven’t missed him too much; they’ve produced the NBA’s best defence in the new year, at 97 points allowed per 100 possessions.
They’ll need to make sure they bring this defence with them to Canada if they want to keep Toronto’s dynamic backcourt in check. All Star guards DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry each average over 20 points per game and have been the driving force behind Toronto’s excellent offence.
The Hawks boast their own All Star duo however, with big men Al Horford and Paul Millsap manning the paint. It’s because of these two that Atlanta match up so well with Toronto.
The Raptors’ big man rotation of Jonas Valanciunas and Luis Scola has struggled defensively, so expect Atlanta to take advantage of this by attacking the paint with Horford and Millsap.
This looks to be another instalment in the age-old offence versus defence battle. Toronto need big nights from Lowry and DeRozan if they want to pick apart Atlanta’s stifling defence, while the Hawks must take advantage of their mismatches in the post if they hope to outscore Toronto.
Both teams will have high hopes entering the post-season, and a win over a serious conference rival will be a major boost as the season winds down.
Prediction
Hawks by 7.
I see Atlanta’s bigs making the difference. It should be tight most of the game, but Atlanta might push ahead with some made shots down the stretch.
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