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Eastern Conference action tips off north of the border on Thursday night when the Atlanta Hawks (9-14, 5-18 ATS) travel to take on the Toronto Raptors (10-14, 11-12-1 ATS). The Hawks currently sit in the 11th spot in the East, just half a game back from the Raptors in 10th. These teams are playing two consecutive games in Toronto, as they played on Wednesday with the Raptors winning 135-128 as 2.5-point home favorites. Pascal Siakam led the Raptors to the win with 33 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. This will be the second of four matchups this season. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 EST from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
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The Atlanta Hawks come into this game with five straight losses, including the most recent game to this Toronto team. The front office should be concerned that they have seen the peak of this Atlanta team, and may need to rework the roster to avoid being stuck in the middle of the conference for the unforeseen future. The concern is real, as their top players have not missed time with injury; Trae Young, DeJounte Murray, Deandre Hunter and Clint Capela have all played in over 20 games this season, and the Hawks still sit in 11th. Trae Young led the team with 35 points and 17 assists in their loss to the Raptors.
Trae Young leads the team in scoring and assists with 27.4 PPG and 10.8 APG. Young is 2nd in the NBA in assists behind only Tyrese Haliburton. He has scored 30 or more in four of his last five games, including a 45-point game against the Spurs. DeJounte Murray is the next highest scorer at e xactly 20.0 PPG, he is the team's top perimeter defender with 1.6 steals per game. Bogdan Bogdanovic is the team's top shooter, he mades 3.4 three pointers per game, and averages 17.3 PPG. The Hawks are a very perimeter oriented team, their next two scorers also play on the wing with Deandre Hunter averaging 14.8 PPG, and Jalen Johnson averaging 14.1.
Clint Capela starts inside, he leads the team in rebounding with 10.3 per game and scores 11.2 PPG. The Hawks are guard heavy, it works for their offense which ranks 6th in the league in efficiency, but not for their defense which ranks 26th in the league in efficiency according to dunksandthrees.com. The Hawks play fast on offense, they have the 3rd fasted tempo in the league based upon their amount of possessions per game.
Injury Report:
Questionable: Deandre Hunter, AJ Griffin