The hot Toronto Raptors will take a three-game winning streak into Atlanta on Friday when they begin a five-game road trip against the Hawks.
The Raptors beat the Hawks 138-118 in the season opener and immediately dropped their next four. Since then, they’ve won three in a row, including Tuesday’s 128-100 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Hawks are coming off an impressive 127-112 victory against the Orlando Magic. Atlanta has won three of its last four games, with two coming since the loss of All-Star guard Trae Young for at least four weeks with a sprained right MCL.
The game is part of the NBA Cup. Both teams are 1-0 in the in-season tournament. The Hawks reached the competition’s semifinal round a year ago.
“We’ve got a couple of days of practice to get ready for this weekend,” said Atlanta’s Onyeka Okongwu, whose team has a back-to-back home set against Toronto and the Los Angeles Lakers. “We’ve got a Cup game against Toronto and we definitely want to get back to Vegas.”
Atlanta will need to do a better job defensively on Toronto’s Scottie Barnes this time. He had 22 points, nine assists and six rebounds in the first meeting. It was a sign of good things to come for Barnes, who has scored in double figures in seven of eight games and has three double-doubles.
Barnes is averaging 20.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists this season. In 15 career games against Atlanta, he is averaging 20.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists.
Brandon Ingram leads Toronto in scoring at 21.1 points and RJ Barrett averages 20.8 points.
The Raptors also got a lift from the return of Jakob Poeltl, who missed three games with a sore lower back. He had eight points and nine rebounds in his return against the Bucks.
“I think I’m still a little bit away from 100%,” said Poeltl, who had 14 points and six rebounds against Atlanta in the opener. “There were a couple of phases where it stiffened up a little bit. I’m definitely going to have to put in a bunch of work behind the scenes. Hopefully I’ll get to the point where it won’t affect me during games.”
Atlanta is trying to find the proper formula at point guard to deal with Young’s absence. Nickeil Alexander-Walker started against Orlando and scored 20 points but had seven turnovers. Defensive whiz Dyson Daniels and Keaton Wallace have also played minutes at point guard.
“I think in transition you’ll see Keaton and you’ll see Nickeil, and then there are set plays where we have Dyson handling it,” Atlanta coach Quin Snyder said. “It’s good to have guys that can all take care of the ball and can all pass the ball and play for each other.”
Atlanta has been pleased with the continued progress of Zaccharie Risacher, the NBA’s No. 1 pick last season. Risacher is playing through a sprained ankle and scored a season-high 21 with three 3-pointers against Orlando.
–Field Level Media
