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Two of the top three teams in the east meet at the Air Canada Center as the Toronto Raptors match up against the Atlanta Hawks. Both teams have perimeter-oriented attacks that can bleed you dry with two distinct playing styles: the Hawks movement on the offensive end, and the Raptors’ penetration. The two previous games were thrilling, high scoring affairs; tonight’s should be no different.
Cage’s Keys to the Game
Neutralize Horford
Al Horford is the most valuable player for the Hawks, and their torrid stretch has come as Horford’s gotten his health back. He’s a do-it-all player: solid defensively, an adept ball mover, and he posses a wide variety of ways to score, including a career high six three pointers this season. It’ll be up to Jonas Valanciunas to neutralize his effectiveness: he needs to attack Horford offensively and keep him from having a huge impact on this game.
Protect the arc
The Hawks are tied with the Golden State Warriors for the second best three point shooting team in the league. Kyle Korver in particular is lethal, shooting almost 53% from beyond. The Raptors need to force the Hawks off the three point line and contain penetration in order to avoid an onslaught of drive-and-kicks. This is will be the big key to the Raptors success tonight.
Get to the charity stripe
This is where the Raptors really felt the loss of DeMar DeRozan. Their appearances at the line fell off by over seven a game during his absence. Getting to the line allows the Raptors to set up their half-court defence and play the game at a pace that better suits them. They’ll need to do that tonight if they’re going to beat the Hawks.
X-Factor: Terrence Ross
Terrence Ross will be extremely important tonight for the Raptors. His defensive assignment will be Korver, and he’ll need to be very attentive if he’s going to disrupt his off-ball cutting and rhythm shooting. DeRozan will continue to be on a minutes limit and they’ll need some key production outside of Kyle Lowry. Also, Ross has been in a bit of a slump lately. He’s either been mediocre or he’s simply disappeared from the game. I believe that patience should be exercised and that DeRozan’s return will help him as the season progresses. However, there are still two points of concern regarding Ross: his inability to develop consistency, and his slippage on the defensive end at points this season. This will be a key game for Ross to step up in. Again, there’s no need to pull the panic alarm; this starting line up has the third most wins in the league dating back to last season, and Ross has been the key to some great wins, including a hard fought victory against the Memphis Grizzlies. But Ross still needs to be better than how he’s been playing if the Raptors are going to be successful. Hopefully he’ll be able to step up against one of the best teams in the league.
