The Atlanta Hawks continued on their road trip Saturday night, where they fell to the Toronto Raptors 117-134.
For the Hawks, it was the second night of a back-to-back. Friday night’s matchup saw them dominating the New York Knicks in an all-around effort.
Not only was Atlanta at a rest disadvantage, but their Saturday morning injury report did them no favors. Ahead of the in-conference matchup, the Hawks ruled out Trae Young, Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kennard.
Kennard was a new addition, but Porzingis's absence shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Despite him only playing 17 minutes the night before, the organization is being extra careful inserting him back into the lineup.
The decision to sit him became easier when Toronto ruled out Jakob Poeltl, their starting center, who feasted on Atlanta’s defense during their first matchup of the season.
After beginning 2026 with an impressive victory, the Hawks knew they had a massive opportunity to flip the script on the season with another win over a team that deflated them right out of the gates.
They were unable to do that, as the night started off promising but unraveled quickly. It was a close game through three quarters. The Hawks were hanging in there despite the disadvantages.
In the first few minutes of the final frame, however, a 16-0 Raptors run sealed the deal. Atlanta was never able to recover.
Of all Raptors players who were able to score at will against the Hawks, it was Brandon Ingram whose performance stood out the most.
He dictated the game's pace early. While both teams were mostly relying on transition baskets to grow their respective leads, Ingram switching up the on-court flow made all the difference and propelled Toronto to a victory.
Atlanta should regret letting Toronto outbid them for Ingram.
Last season, it was clear that the Hawks were going to make some changes at the deadline. After Jalen Johnson went down for the year, they wanted to remain competitive in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Knowing that, they placed themselves among the active suitors for forward Brandon Ingram, who was a member of the New Orleans Pelicans at the time.
Making a move of that scale in the middle of the season is always going to come with risk, which is why Atlanta ultimately held back from throwing New Orleans a competitive offer.
They also didn't want to slow down the development of Zaccharie Risacher, and bringing in Ingram would've likely sent him to the bench.
Ironically enough, the Hawks have hindered Risacher's development on their own, leaving fans confused as to why they haven't been more aggressive in acquiring a proven forward.
In Saturday's matchup against the Hawks, Ingram scored 29 points on 11/15 form the field. He also added nine rebounds, dominating Atlanta inside the arc.
The Hawks are now 0-3 against the Raptors this season, and it's clear as day who made the right move at last year's trade deadline.