Atlanta ruled out De'Andre Hunter earlier today, but star point guard Trae Young is going to be able to play tonight.
So who will start in place of Hunter?
The Hawks will be starting Wesley Matthews in place of Hunter, a change from what they did Monday night against the Nuggets when Hunter was out. Monday they started Garrison Matthews, but head coach Quin Snyder opted to go in a different direction.
Young and Matthews will be starting alongside Dejounte Murray, Saddiq Bey, and Clint Capela.
The Raptors are sticking with their usual starting five of Dennis Schroder, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam, and Jakob Poetl.
Toronto was known for having elite defensive teams when Nick Nurse was the head coach, but they are just average on that end of the court this season. Toronto is 17th in PPG allowed, 19th in field goal percentage allowed, and 24th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Toronto is 15th in points per 100 possessions allowed and 18th in effective field goal percentage. With players like Anunoby, Barnes, and Siakam, you would think that Toronto would be much better on defense, but they are just average.
Toronto ranks 22nd in the NBA in PPG, 21st in field goal percentage, last in three-point percentage, 5th in offensive rebounding, and 16th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Raptors rank 22nd in points per 100 possessions, 24th in effective field goal percentage, 19th in turnover rate, 5th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 25th in free throw rate. Outside of offensive rebounding, there is not a lot that the Raptors do well on offense. They don't have any shooting on the team, although Scottie Barnes has gotten better in that area this year, and they don't have a lot of playmakers.
If there is a defense that can make the Raptors offense look good though it is Atlanta's. The Hawks rank 28th in PPG allowed, 28th in field goal percentage allowed, and 23rd in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 26th in points per 100 possessions allowed and 29th in effective field goal percentage allowed.
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