Toronto vs Atlanta Prediction: Will the Canadian club be able to extend their winning streak in the home crowd?

The Raptors have beaten Atlanta in 6 straight games at Scotiabank Arena, only to lose twice at home to the Hawks in 2021 when they were temporarily stationed in Tampa. Will the Canadian club be able to extend their winning streak in the home crowd?

The Raptors are a very distinctive team that varies the tempo of their attacks depending on the situation. Toronto leads the NBA in fastbreak scoring, but the Canadian club plays a very stiff offense with plenty of isolation. In principle, nothing has changed from last season, and the only hope is for the rapid progress of Scottie Barnes. Last season's best rookie looks very confident but takes fewer shots than either Gary Trent Jr. or Pascal Siakam. Barnes is shooting well from midrange while leading the Raptors in three-point percentage (50%). As a team, Toronto ranks 11th in shooting from beyond the arc (37.6%), with Barnes, Trent, VanVleet and Anunoby all making significant contributions. Otto Porter is still on the sideline and could be a big part of Toronto's offensive rebounding ability.

Nick Nurse's team made 3 wins in 6 regular season games. The day before, Toronto lost 90-121 at home to Philadelphia. Only Scottie Barnes and Chris Boucher made long-range shots at a normal percentage, while VanVleet, Trent and Anunoby combined for 18 misses. Siakam again shot a lot from midrange and again hit well. With 25 points, he was the highest scorer for the Raptors.

The Hawks have a similar style of play to the Raptors, which is a bit surprising. With two playmakers - Dejounte Murray and Trae Young - in Atlanta's starting five this season, it is a good time to play some combination basketball. But the Hawks play a lot of isolation and rank only 13th in average assists, while Murray and Young are among the top 15 players in the NBA in that regard. That said, Atlanta has been very sluggish on the opposite side of the ball. With Onyeka Okongwu, Clint Capela, and John Collins in the lineup, playing mostly 2 big men, the Hawks are only 19th in the league in offensive rebounding. All in all, so far, it seems as if Atlanta is reinventing the wheel where they could build on their strengths. Bogdan Bogdanovic could bolster the Hawks' attack, but he's currently sidelined and is the club's only loss before the game against Toronto.

Nate McMillan's team won 4 of 6 games in the current regular season but the day before, they lost on the road to Milwaukee 115-123. Murray and Young took more than half of Atlanta's shots. Overall, both Hawks' playmakers were efficient, hitting a combined 8 three-pointers made with a percentage above 50, but midrange misses did hurt the picture. John Collins was invisible this time, scoring only 4 points. The Hawks' defense was visibly dwindling, and they couldn't do anything about Giannis Adetokunbo.

Toronto is playing very slow basketball and is only 23rd in the NBA in the shooting. VanVleet and Trent did not have much consistency last season and converted something like 40% of their attempts from the floor, so the Raptors could get stagnant offensively at any time. In one of the games against Detroit, Atlanta had difficulties in overcoming their opponent's defense, but now the Raptors will be confronted by a more tenacious team. The last meetings between the teams were productive. It's time to stop this trend. Our prediction for Toronto vs Atlanta is as follows:

• Total Under 224.5 points for 1.75;
• Toronto handicap (-4.5) for 2.05;
• Toronto win by 21 or more points for 7.50.