Atlanta Hawks Game Preview: Second Game vs. East-Leading Raptors
By Chris Guest
A game preview of the Atlanta Hawks matchup tonight against the Toronto Raptors.
The Atlanta Hawks face off against the Toronto Raptors tonight, who are having a tremendous season. After trading franchise cornerstone DeMar Derozan for Kawhi Leonard this offseason, it was clear the Raptors were likely going to be a force in the Eastern Conference.
Though the Raptors have been missing Kyle Lowry for multiple games this season, the team has rolled through the East and currently sits with the best record in the NBA at 30-12. They recently defeated the upstart Milwaukee Bucks in a clash of the top two teams in the East, but the Raptors bested Milwaukee on the road.
The Raptors depth has been a storyline all season, and when you look at the fact that the Raps got NBA Champion Danny Green as a throw-in in this deal, you can understand why the Raps are crushing the league the way they are.
This will be the second meeting between these two teams, and the first one was memorable for a singular reason. Though the Hawks lost the game, getting waxed by a final score of 124 to 108, the winner of the night was none other than NBA legend Vince Carter, who logged his 25,000th point on the evening.
Fittingly, his final bucket came on a two-handed putback dunk as time expired, just allowing him to hit that lofty round number.
Sure, the game might’ve been a loss, but with Carter taking all the headlines away from a dominant Raptors victory, Atlanta Hawks fans could enjoy watching Vinsanity amass 25,000 points against the team in which his most memorable career achievements occurred – though he did provide plenty of highlights with the Nets during his tenure in New Jersey.
The last time these two teams met, Jeremy Lin also logged perhaps his best game of the season with 26 points in 25 minutes on only 11 of 14 shooting from the field. Let’s see if Lin can recreate that success this time around.
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Tip-off for this game is slated for 7:30 p.m. EST from Toronto’s home floor of Scotiabank Arena.