Raptors in Atlanta Saturday, November 19th, 2022
The Toronto Raptors are on the road tonight to face the Atlanta Hawks for the second of three meetings this season. The Raps will be hoping two days rest will help the remaining pieces of their rotation — who have been spread pretty thin over the last week and will be spread thinner.
Pascal Siakam has resumed on-court activities but is continuing without him, and other vital pieces in Gary Trent Jr., Precious Achiuwa and Otto Porter Jr. Delano Banton and Chris Boucher will also miss significant time with an ankle injury and non-COVID illness, respectively. That leaves the Raptors with ten active players.
Meanwhile, Atlanta is enviably healthy — albeit they have been a good matchup for the Raptors in recent meetings.
OG Anunoby will have to be huge tonight against the Hawks:
The Raptors will have to lean heavily on their remaining pieces — with OG Anunoby leading the way. The stud forward has been playing at an All-Star level and is coming off a big performance against the Heat. He will be tasked with handling Trae Young for most of the night — a challenge he has relished in the past.
Anunoby will need to be even more aggressive tonight, as the Raptors are shorthanded and will need him to create offence for himself and others to keep pace with Atlanta’s explosive attack.
Turnovers have been an ongoing problem for Young, and they need to be more careful with the ball if they want to win this game. In the last meeting, 18 turnovers led to 24 points for their opponents. They'll need to focus on getting out in transition and being more careful with the ball if they want any chance of winning.
