A mid-afternoon tip (as our American cousins celebrate Martin Luther King day) sees the Raps taking on the Hawks in Atlanta. As I indicated earlier, most of the intrigue today surrounds Jermaine O’Neal and the trade rumours, but there is still a game to be played!
The Raps and Hawks have split their two matchups, each winning at home in November; the Raptors 93-88 victory on November 28 was Sam Mitchell’s last win as Raptor head coach.
The Hawks rode their backcourt of Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson in their win, and the Raps rode the back of Chris Bosh in theirs. Bosh’s 30-10-7 capped off his magnificent November.
So who will show up to play today? Once again, the Raps get schedule-screwed, having to play on the road on the second day of a back-to-back while the Hawks had both Saturday and Sunday off.
The Hawks were missing defensive ace and high-flyer Josh Smith in the Raptors’ win, and he’s back in the lineup now. However, Al Horford is out with a knee injury, as the status of Marvin Williams - who hit his head on the floor against the Warriors Friday - is also questionable. Without those two, the Hawks will be on the small side tonight.
As for the Raptors, well, they’re also shorthanded. Even if O’Neal plays, he’ll likely be limited, and there’s no word yet on Jason Kapono, who sat out yesterday’s game with the flu (unfortunately for Raps fans, this looks to actually be the flu, and not trade speculation flu). And of course, starting point guard Jose Calderon is still on the shelf with the Hamstring That Won’t Heal.
So, that means Parker will likely get the start at PG, and although it’s a plus to have him guarding Bibby, I suspect the Hawks will pick him up full court and try and pressure him into a couple turnovers, and will likely have some success.
Of course, given the absence of Horford and perhaps Williams, Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani should have no trouble scoring against Zaza Pachulia, Solomon Jones and Maurice Evans, should they? Bargnani has struggled a little the past two games (11-30, 4-10 from downtown, 8 turnovers) so let’s hope the Raps can get him back on track.
Meanwhile, on the defensive end, I suspect the Hawks will get out and run and expose the Raptors’ sloppy transition D. Look for some Josh Smith highlight-reel alley-oops on the 6:00 Sportscenter.
Joey Graham will likely get his second straight start at SG, matching up with Joe Johnson. Johnson has killed the Raps in the past but Joey has the size to guard him. Will he play smart and stay out of foul trouble? Remains to be seen, but if the same Joey shows up today that showed up yesterday, he’ll help the Raptors stay in this one.
All in all, I have to give the advantage to Atlanta. Their frontcourt is small, but Bibby, Johnson and Smith are Raptor killers. Even if Bosh and Bargnani have big games, the Raptors have proven they don’t know how to ride a hot hand and you’ll likely see some forced bricks down the stretch. And without Jose, you’re going to see too many turnovers, leading to too many Hawks fast breaks.
Add to all that, the Hawks are 15-4 on their homecourt. Whoever would have thought Atlanta would have a significant homecourt advantage? But you know what, good for them. They’ve been bad for so long, it’s good to see a team like that finally have some success. And I like the way they built this team through the draft, and added a veteran leader (Bibby) to guide their young guys. That’s the way to do it.
Hawks by six.
Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Anthony Parker, Atlanta Hawks, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby, Toronto Raptors
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