Gameday: Raptors @ Hawks, January 25th

For the second time in three days, the Toronto Raptors and the Atlanta Hawks are facing off. Toronto is looking to extend its win streak to four games, something that many did not see occurring this season. Seeing the same team again in such a short amount of time could prove to work in Toronto’s favor and to their detriment as well when it comes to having Atlanta more keyed in on their scheme. Injury issues are piling up for Atlanta as Jalen Johnson is out for the game and Trae Young is questionable, which could make extending this win streak an easy task for Toronto.

Raptors Outlook: 12-32 | 13th in Eastern Conference | Off rating: 110.4 (22nd) | Def rating: 117 (27th) | Net rating: -6.6 (25th)

Raptors Previous Results

@ Atlanta W 122-119

Vs Orlando W 109- 93

@ Milwaukee L 130-112

vs Boston W 110-97

vs Golden State W 104-101

In their last game against the Atlanta Hawks, it was a well-earned slugfest type of victory that went down to the wire and required clutch performances from many Raptors including Scottie Barnes and Chris Boucher. With a great defensive performance on Trae Young by Davion Mitchell, that saw Mitchel be body to body with Young on many drives downhill, along with getting rearview contests in as well, Atlanta had to go to other sources for their offense and many tertiary players stepped up. Dyson Daniels showed some self-creation ability en route to scoring 22 points, and so did Bogdan Bogdanovic. In this rematch those players likely won’t replicate their scoring output from the last game, and with Young questionable it could make defending Atlanta extremely easy. Without Young’s playmaking the looks these Hawks get are more difficult.

Toronto’s offense gelled in their last matchup, the synergy on the cutting for the entire team was potent, Barnes seemed very comfortable leading the offense from the middle of the floor like he usually does, and they got a boat load of  help from their bench again, namely Boucher, Kelly Olynyk, and Bruce Brown. The movement seems to help Toronto flow into easy shots, such as backdoor cuts for lobs for Gradey Dick, or Poeltl screening and rolling to get to the rim, this winning streak has shown the potential of what Darko Rajakovic’s system can produce.

Hawks Outlook: 22-22 | 8th in Eastern Conference | Off rating: 111.3 (20th) | Def rating: 113.5 (19th) | Net rating: -2.2 (21st)

Hawks Previous Results

Vs Raptors L 122-119

vs Detroit L 114- 104

@ New York L 119-110

@ Boston W 119-115

@ Chicago W 110-94

With the status of Young being up in the air for tonight’s game it presents two very different pathways for the Hawks tonight. Without Young they lose the engine of their offense, the source of offense for their big men, and face a very challenging road on that end. With Young active, things will be easier, but they still won’t have Johnson who is one of the top scorers for their team. Toronto’s defense had many great stretches against Atlanta in their last matchup, the defensive pressure on Young specifically was done well until the end of the game.

Toronto came close to giving up their lead and the game in their last matchup but with some strong late game defense, and some clutch scoring they were able to pull it out. The lulls that Toronto sometimes has on offense can be a killer and Atlanta took big advantage of that last game to climb back into it, so tonight they will be looking to never get behind to begin with.

This should be a fun matchup again as these teams are both trying to find their identity in recent stretches.

Game Info

Tip-Off: 7:30 p.m. ET

Television: TSN

Radio: TSN Radio 1050

Starting Lineups (Projected)

Atlanta Hawks

PG: Trae Young

SG: Dyson Daniels

SF: Deandre Hunter

PF: Jalen Johnson

C: Onyeka Okongwu

Toronto Raptors

PG: Davion Mitchell

SG: Gradey Dick

SF: RJ Barrett

PF: Scottie Barnes

C: Jakob Poeltl

Injury Report

Hawks

Zacharie Risacher (Abductor) – Out

Larry Nance Jr. (Hand) – Out

Kobe Bufkin (Shoulder) – Out

Trae Young (Hamstring) – Questionable

Jalen Johnson (Shoulder) – Out

Raptors

Ochai Agbaji (Hand) – Out

Immanuel Quickley (Hip) – Out

Kelly Olynyk (Calf) – Out

Lines

Team	Spread	Money	Total
Atlanta Hawks	-4 (-108)	-185	O 235 (-110)
Toronto Raptors	+4 (-112)	+154	U 235 (-110)

*Odds as of Jan. 25, 12:00 am ET*

All Toronto Raptors odds are provided by NBA Betting Site Betway!

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