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.

Toronto Raptors (3-1) at Atlanta Hawks (3-0)

Look out, folks, the Hawks are undefeated! Seriously, this team has played some solid basketball so far. They beat the hornets on Wednesday! Held one of the West favourites to 79 points! For the Raptors, coming off a tough home loss, this will not be an easy win.

Now, the Raps have had a lot of success against the Hawks in the past. Well, when the Hawks scorekeepers don’t actually, you know, steal the game from them and give it to the Hawks…

However, this is a different team now; sure, Josh Childress is backpacking around Europe, but I was never that impressed with him. And clearly they’re not missing him.

What concerns me is Mike Bibby. Yeah, maybe he’s lost a step. But if you’re not aware, Mike Bibby is an absolute Raptor killer. I don’t have stats on him, but I know that there’ve been any number of games where he’s just either destroyed the Raptors with great all-around production, or simply hit a clutch shot that drives the dagger in. He managed to do both last April in Toronto; he hit a game-tying three at the buzzer, sending the game into OT, where he hit another three with a minute left to give the Hawks the final lead. He finished with a 26-12-6. Yep. Raptor killer, through and through.

Then you’ve got Joe Johnson, who’s also had success against Toronto, and, given the Raptors, ahem, less than stellar wing play, will probably continue to do so.

Throw in Josh Smith, the improving Marvin Williams and the impressive Al Horford, and they’ve got a decent team. To be honest, I’m actually really looking forward to seeing them, and how they all mesh, now that Bibby’s had time to settle in.

It’s an athletic team, no doubt. Jose Calderon, Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon are gonna have their hands full. I’m sure Parker will harass Johnson as much as he can, but if Moon lets Smith get off the way he let Tayshaun Prince get off, it’s going to be a long night.

Still, I have to believe the Raptors have the advantage up front; Williams and Horford can’t match up with Bosh and O’Neal. If Bosh continues to play at a high level, no one on the Hawks can stop him. And if Bargnani can get it going, he’s a matchup nightmare for them as well.

Much has been made in the press the past couple days about O’Neal’s poor offensive production. Personally, I’m OK with him not scoring - it’s his defense that really matters, and he’s been huge in that regard. Foul trouble limited him on Wednesday and led to that Detroit layup line in the second, and he didn’t get as many boards as I’d like. But you know he’s altering shots, making guys think twice about penetrating, and occupying rebounders so Bosh can hit the glass.

On offense, yeah, he’s missed a lot of shots, and he’s forced a couple. I would like to see the Raptors change up how they get him the ball a little bit. Right now, they give it to Bosh in a variety of ways; off screen-roll, iso’d at the elbow, in the post. With O’Neal, they’re only dumping it to him when he’s on the block. Sure, his turnaround used to be solid from there, if not great; but clearly, it’s not there at all right now, due to some combination of rust, age, declining skill, whatever. He doesn’t have the lift or the touch to hit it consistently.

So why not get him the ball elsewhere? Why not on screen and roll? Get him some open fifteen-footers. He can shoot from there, and it’ll likely do him some good to be able to put up a shot or two without a defender all over his back. And if he hits one or two, well, that’ll open things up a little more down low for him.

That’s my suggestion, anyway.

As for tonight, as long as the Raptors don’t let the Hawks get out in transition (where Smith is a killer) and they hold at least one of Bibby or Johnson in check, they should come away with a victory; I hope they’re sufficiently disappointed in themselves from Wednesday that it gives them extra motivation and it’s a 16-point final.

Final not, the next two games are very important for the Raptors; they’ve got Hawks, then the Bobcats, before the big matchup with the Celtics on Monday (a back-to-back with the Bobcats on Sunday). That’s a tough one - going into Boston at the end of a three-game trip - so it’s important to go in there on a winning note. You definitely don’t want to go in there at 3-3, because let’s be honest… you won’t be coming out 4-3. Winning tonight is going to ease the pressure on that game in a big way.