Back to Business: Raptors Face East-Leading Hawks

Where to Watch: 7:30 PM EST, Sportsnet One

The Raptors and the Hawks were among the few teams that stood pat during the trade deadline craziness last night. Obviously that's been discussed pretty thoroughly by our own Alex Wong here, so we won't rehash it in the preview. Needless to say, both the Hawks and Raptors feel confident in their current core enough to combat challenges come playoff time.

Although Toronto stands 2-1 against Atlanta on the season, the two wins came before the Hawks turned into a juggernaut, and the lone loss was a beatdown handed to them at home when the Raptors were sputtering. The Hawks are 3-3 in their last 6 games, and lost to the pre-Isaiah Thomas Celtics to head into the All Star break. Their offence has also come down to Earth a little bit, as they've had 100 points or less in each of those losses.

Remember how we were scared about how the Raptors would perform heading into this incredibly tough stretch of games after losing to Brooklyn and Milwaukee? The Raptors beat the Clippers, Spurs and Wizards before the All Star break, and now have a tough road-trip coming up.

Kyle Lowry was the only Raptor to have a role in the All Star festivities, so everyone should be rested and healthy. A reminder that Bruno Caboclo is in the D-League, so no BRUUUUUNOOOOO time if there's a blow-out at any point in the next week.

Thoughts?