Toronto Raptors vs Atlanta Hawks: Raptors Hosts Hawks in Search of a Much-Needed Win

Will the Raptors snap their losing skid or bounce back into ethical tanking? Coach Darko Rajakovic and the Raptors must show that the wheels haven’t completely fallen off.

As the calendar year nears its end, coach Darko Rajakovic and the Toronto Raptors are desperate to halt their nine-game losing streak. They started the month of December with a rare two-game winning streak, but they’re currently in the midst of a rough losing streak punctuated by a franchise record 155 points surrendered to the Memphis Grizzlies the other night.

Injuries have played a big factor in the Raptors’ losing streak, or scratch that, make it what’s turning out to be a forgettable season. The Raptors’ current losing streak coincided with the health of Jakob Poeltl, who hasn’t seen any minutes since their last win, and Scottie Barnes, who missed a few games, before coming back earlier than expected, but hasn’t been the same Barnes pre-injury.

The Raptors will play their final home game of 2024 tonight against the Atlanta Hawks, but they might be catching Trae Young and his team at the wrong time. The Hawks are on a three-game winning streak, catapulting them into the playoff range after spending the most part in the play-in range. To defeat the Hawks, coach Rajakovic and his coaching staff must devise a much, much, muuuuuuch better defensive game plan than what they’ve shown over the past few games to slow down Young and Jalen Johnson.

The Raptors fanbase knows how hard it is to contain Young, but hopefully, Davion Mitchell can help slow him down — if he can play, as he’s currently listed as questionable due to an illness. However, Johnson has been on a tear recently, averaging 25 points, 13 boards, and 5.3 dimes during their winning streak. Another Hawk to watch is De’Andre Hunter, who’s been feasting against the opposing team’s bench players. Hunter is averaging 22.6 points on 48.9% 3P% over the last 14 games.

Coach Rajakovic will likely roll with the same healthy roster he’s got from the previous game, but Jamal Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter, Jakob Poeltl, and Bruce Brown are now listed as “questionable” for tonight’s game. For the Hawks, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kobe Bufkin, Dyson Daniels, and Onyeka Okongwu will miss tonight’s game.

The Raptors are averaging almost 111 points per game during this losing streak, including 125.5 points over the last two, so scoring is not an issue and not a big factor for tonight’s game. Let’s jump straight to the keys to the game.

Keys To The Game

Sense of Urgency - The Raptors have opened up the last few games feeling like they have a 20-point lead, lackadaisically “letting the game come to them” to a fault. They must execute better, win 50/50 balls, and defend harder and smarter.

Effective Defensive Game Plan - This part is not just for the players but also for the coaches. The coaches need to pull their weight and develop a solid executable game plan based on their opponent’s data, with the current active roster’s defensive strengths and weaknesses in mind. Do they have a plan B or C defensive scheme up their sleeve? Because on most nights, it felt like they didn’t.

Attention to Detail - Are the players armed with film study data of the opposing team’s schemes, player tendencies, and recent trends heading into the game? Are the players well-versed in the defensive scheme that the team is trying to do? Can the Raptors hunt for the opposing team’s weaknesses offensively and exploit them, or are they just going through the motion of their offense for the most part?

Effort - Are we going to see this team outwork their opponents - delivering hustle plays, fighting through screens, boxing out, winning 50/50 balls, forcing turnovers, and most important of all — finishing defensive possessions? This team should be a much better defensive team than what they have shown — they have demonstrated that they can string 16, sometimes 22 seconds straight, of solid defense, only to let go of the rope and not finish the task.

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The Hawks are on their second game of a back-to-back on the road, making tonight’s game a winnable one — much more winnable than their last game of the calendar year against the Boston Celtics on New Year’s Eve.

Where to Watch

Sportsnet, 6:00 PM EST

Lineups

Toronto: RJ Barrett, Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji, Jonathan Mogbo, Scottie Barnes

Atlanta: Trae Young, Vit Krejci, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalent Johnson, Clint Capela

Injuries

Toronto: Immanuel Quickley — elbow (OUT), Jakob Poeltl — groin (questionable), Bruce Brown — knee/conditioning (questionable), Jamal Shead — knee (questionable), Ja’Kobe Walter — illness (questionable), Davion Mitchell — illness (questionable), Bruno Fernando — Toe (questionable)

Atlanta: Bogdan Bogdanovic — Leg (questionable), Kobe Bufkin — Shoulder (OUT), Dyson Daniels — Illness (OUT), Larry Nance Jr. — hand (OUT), Onyeka Okongwu — Knee (questionable), Trae Young — illness (questionable), Cody Zeller — NWT (OUT)