Gameday: Raptors @ Hawks, Nov. 23

The 2019-20 Toronto Raptors are so fun and also really good at basketball.

After Kawhi Leonard’s departure, this was expected to be a transition season where the key concern was going to be player development. Instead, the Raptors sit at 10-4 despite a tough early schedule.

The Raptors are legitimate contenders to come out of the Eastern Conference. They’re not favourites, but as the only NBA team outside of the United States, they’re never going to be.

Let’s look into the most interesting storylines ahead of Raptors vs. Hawks

On the road again

The Raptors are a perfect 6-0 at home and a mediocre 4-4 on the road. The Hawks are not a very good team, and we know what the Raptors do to bad teams, but the Raptors need to find a way to be more consistent on the road if they want to stay at the top of the Eastern Conference standings.

Speaking of standings, the Raptors upcoming schedule is relatively light, with their next road trip of three or more games not coming until March. This is their chance to pile up some wins and catch up to Boston and Milwaukee. It starts on the road against the Hawks, who have a 2-5 record at home this season.

Piling up the points

The Raptors have the fourth-best offense of the East, averaging 113.5 points per game. The Hawks, meanwhile, have the second-worst defense in the East, allowing an average of 116.9 points per game.

We have seen in the last few games that the Raptors are capable of piling up points, even with some of their best players sitting on the bench. The Hawks have a bottom-tier defense without many elite defenders and represent an opportunity to score a lot of points. It will be up to the leaders like Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam to run the offense and target weak defenders like Trae Young and Cam Reddish.

Wing play

The Raptors are getting a lot out of their wings this season — much more than most people expected considering both Siakam and Anunoby are taking leaps — and the Hawks are short on good wing defenders. Sure, they traded up to draft De’Andre Hunter for his defensive acumen, but he’s a rookie with 15 games of NBA experience and is still adjusting to the NBA speed and strength. Siakam and Anunoby (and to a lesser extent Powell) have an opportunity to dominate offensively, and they should be aggressive against this Hawks defense.

Getting to the line

The Raptors are struggling to get to the line this season, ranking 24th in the league with 21.1 free-throw attempts per game. There are a slew of reasons contributing to this including Kawhi Leonard’s departure, the referees not respecting the Raptors young players, and the Raptors not being aggressive enough near the rim.

Nick Nurse certainly hasn’t been happy with the officiating this season, and that’s fair considering the Raptors youngsters have barely gotten any favorable calls. It’s also to be expected. In the NBA, players don’t get calls until they prove themselves. However, the Raptors might want to try being more aggressive initiating contact: Despite being in a good position, they often shy away from contact at the rim in favour of resetting the offense or swinging the ball out. The calls will come, but the Raptors need to be more aggressive if they want to get to the line more.