Atlanta Hawks (49-29) Toronto Raptors (38-40)

Source: YardBarker.com

Friday April 9, 2010

Venue: Phillips Arena

Time: 7:30pm ET

TV: Fox Sports South

Radio: 790TheZone, NBA Audio League Pass

Previous Match Ups

12/02/2009 – Hawks 146 Raptor 115 – Recap

12/11/2010 – Hawks 111 Raptors 89 – Recap

03/17/2010 – Raptors 106 Hawks 105 – Recap

Hawks – Probable Starters

PG – Mike Bibby

SG – Joe Johnson

SF – Marvin Williams

PF – Josh Smith

C – Al Horford

Raptors – Probable Starters

PG – Jose Calderon

SG – Sonny Weems

SF – ??

PF – Reggie Evans

C – Andrea Bargnani

Injury Report

Hawks – Joe Johnson – Thumb (Day to Day)

Mike Bibby – Toe (Day to Day)

ZaZa Pachulia – Hip (Day to Day)

Jason Collins – Foot (Day to Day)

Raptors – Chris Bosh – Face (Out)

Antoine Wright – Ankle (Day to Day)

Amir Johnson – Knee (Day to Day)

Hedo Turkoglu – Broken Nose (Day to Day)

Jarrett Jack – Ankle (Day to Day)

Hawks Blog Roll

Raptors Blog Roll

Raptors Republic

Raptors HQ

Raptors Rapture

Game Thoughts

The theme of this game is injuries. For the Hawks it is the expected return of Joe Johnson to the lineup. For the Raptors it is the absence of Chris Bosh who is recovering from surgery to repair facial fractures he suffered after being hit with an elbow in the face. Ironically Hedo Turkoglu was also hit with an elbow in the face and will probably be a game time decision for the Raptors. Those are huge losses to a Raptors team that is trying to hold off the Chicago Bulls for the last remaining playoff spot.

The Hawks come in struggling themselves having dropped back to back road games to the Bobcats and the Pistons. The Hawks struggles on the road are in sharp contrast to their success at home. They will look to finally capture that elusive 50th win and stay in the running for the third seed in the Eastern Conference.

With or without Bosh in the lineup, if the Hawks are going to be successful they are going to have to really pick up their play defensively. The Raptors still boast some excellent shooters and come in no worse a team than the undermanned Pistons team that stole a victory from the Hawks on Wednesday night. If anything the Raptors defense should prove to be a shot in the arm for the Hawks offense but if the defensive issues are still there then this game too could be in doubt.

Every game from here on out is about positioning. While that may not be as important as making sure that all of the Hawks rotation guys are healthy going into the playoffs it would still be beneficial to build some resemblance of momentum heading into the post season.