Gameday: Hawks @ Raptors, December 13th

The Atlanta Hawks are flying into town to face off against the Toronto Raptors as Toronto looks to get back on track during their current losing skid. Toronto and Atlanta have similar records and similar playoff aspirations so this will be a battle between two teams who are trying to figure it all out.

Trae Young is at the top of every scouting report and rightfully so. He is a flat out offensive engine who can beat you himself with his wizard-like passing and lethal scoring ability. Young has given Toronto some trouble in the past and with the way Toronto’s defense has been playing as of late, he may just do it again. Young is averaging a whopping 26 points and 10 assists per game this season so it will take a cohesive defensive unit to be able to hold the young star guard in check. Young is masterful in the pick and roll so the communication from the Raptors must be sharp because any player out of place and Young is firing a pass to their man for a look. Either OG Anunoby or Dennis Schroeder should be getting the matchup on Young defensively but I would lean Anunoby getting the matchup because he not only has the lateral quickness to stay with Young, he also has the size and length to bother Young’s in between game such as his patented floater. Also, Atlanta does not have any wings that will consistently take advantage of a mismatch with Schreoder on them so there is also some comfort there. Young is not the only ball handler who can cause trouble for Toronto though. Dejounte Murray is Atlanta’s other ball handler and while he is not as prolific offensively as Young is, Murray can also light it up on his own. Another troublesome thing about Atlanta is that they have many floor spacers that may make it difficult to send adequate help on Trae Young actions. Toronto can not afford to let Atlanta light them up.

Offensively, Toronto has struggled this season but against the Hawks there are many assumed favorable matchups all over the floor for them. With De’Andre Hunter questionable, Pascal Siakam will likely have a weak defender on him such as Saddiq Bey, which is a matchup that Pascal can surely take advantage of. Anunoby will likely have a smaller player on him as well so tonight may be a game where you see Anunoby be very aggressive looking for his own shot. With Trae Young on the floor there should be many actions where his man is setting either an on ball or an off ball screen, Young usually gets hidden in the corners on defense so Darko Rajakovic needs to involve him in as many actions as possible.

Tonight’s game is a must win for Toronto, if this losing streak continues it would be extremely demoralizing and unfortunate. The Hawks are not a pushover by any means but Toronto not only has the tools to bother them defensively, they have the creators in place to run wild on them offensively as well.