The Atlanta Hawks invade the Scotiabank Arena to battle the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night. Here’s a Hawks vs Raptors Prediction.
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks have been in a terrible slump as they've lost six of their last seven games overall and they will be hoping to end a four-game slide after getting beaten by the Nuggets in a 129-122 loss on Monday. Bogdan Bogdanovic led the team with a season-high 40 points on 14 of 24 shooting off the bench, Dejounte Murray added 21 points, Trae Young scored 19 points with nine assists while Saddiq Bey chipped in with 16 points. As a team, the Hawks shot 45 percent from the field and 17 of 44 from the 3-point line as they set the tone with 36 points in the first quarter to take an early 11-point lead, but it didn't last long at all as the Nuggets poured in 75 points in the second and third quarters combined to have the Hawks trailing by 20 points at one stage. The Hawks are 9-13 and in 3rd place in the Southeast Division behind the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic.
Atlanta Hawks Player Facts
- Trae Young ranks 2nd amongst qualified players for assists per game (10.5) this season.
- Dejounte Murray ranks 7th amongst qualified players for steals per game (1.7) this season.
Toronto Raptors
Meanwhile, the Toronto Raptors have been in a slump of their own as they too have lost six of their last seven games and they will be hoping to avoid a fifth straight defeat after falling short to the Knicks in a 136-130 road loss on Monday. OG Anunoby led the team with 29 points on 11 of 20 shooting, while Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes and Dennis Schroder all scored 20 points each. As a team, the Raptors shot 49 percent from the field and 14 of 39 from the 3-point line which was actually good enough to hang in the contest, until the Knicks opened the fourth quarter on a pivotal 7-0 run to start to pull away.
Toronto Raptors Player Facts
- Jakob Poeltl ranks 2nd amongst qualified players for FG% (72.4%) this season.
- Dennis Schroder ranks 11th amongst qualified players for assists per game (7.0) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Raptors rank 30th in the league for three-point percentage this season (33.4%).
- The Raptors rank 29th in the league for free throw percentage this season (73.5%).
- The Hawks rank 1st in the league for steals per game this season (8.8).
- The Hawks rank 30th in the league for Q1 opponent points per game this season (32.6).
Hawks vs Raptors Prediction
The Hawks could be shorthanded here with De'Andre Hunter listed as questionable, while the Raptors are keeping eyes on Otto Porter Jr and Chris Boucher who are both questionable for this one. The Hawks haven't been able to get anything going this season despite having a relatively healthy squad and you could say the same about the underperforming Raptors. We're in for a close contest with both teams in similar form, but I'm going to lean towards the Raptors at the short line as they were more than competitive against the Knicks in their last outing.
AUTHOR: Peter Tran
