NBA Matchups: February 23

Toronto Raptors (back end) at Atlanta Hawks

Team Totals: Raptors 119.5, Hawks 126.5

Injury Report: Onyeka Okongwu (O, toe)

Raptors projected starters: Immanuel Quickley, Gary Trent Jr., R.J. Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl

Hawks projected starters: Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, De’Andre Hunter, Jalen Johnson, Clint Capela

Darko quotes: Said they had a “training camp feel” with over an hour scrimmage, said they installed some new things in practice, talked about Scottie deserving the All-Star nod, said they want to get in the play-in tourney, said they’re trying to get R.J. Barrett to play more like Manu Ginobili and Darko will watch more film with R.J., said they lost Mikal Bridges a couple of times, said he still liked the defense from Gary Trent Jr. and Gradey Dick.

Snyder quotes: Nothing recent besides the injury updates, suggested Capela might have a limit.

Stats and Notes: 

*Toronto continues to be one of the worst defenses in the NBA, ranking 28th since Jakob Poeltl returned (28th in last 11 games). It’s been bad for everything, but they are getting beat by perimeter players rather than rim scoring. For the Hawks, it’s Coors Field of the NBA time with their horrendous rim defense while also getting smashed at all three levels. This should be one of the best environments on the slate.

*The matchup for Immanuel Quickley is about as good as it gets. The biggest problem with IQ as a Raptor is his efficiency off PNR has really taken a big hit, and he’s not generating much around the basket these days at just 2.5 rim points per game in his last four. Still, I like this spot for him.

*Scottie Barnes should get the toughest matchup of the bunch, but, unlike Quickley, we’ve seen Scottie turn it up. In his last two games, he’s racked up a whopping 17.5 rim points per game, and it’s led to some more handling (3.7 last game). If Scottie can keep attacking the rim, the 1-on-1 matchup shouldn’t matter.

*Trae Young has taken a meteor to these Raptors this year with a 34/13 line over the three games (Dejounte missed one). The Raptors just don’t have anyone who can guard him and he was even taking it to a better defender in Dennis Schroder earlier this year. The only concern would be that they trap Trae, but that seems a little unlikely.

*The matchup is so good for Trae that it makes it tougher to get excited about Dejounte Murray. He’s also cooled off quite a bit after a hot January, dropping his FG% from 49.4 in January to 40.0 in February. The Raptors are bad defensively, and I’m not buying what they did last night against the paltry Nets O.

*Jalen Johnson should be busy here. Snyder is playing him heavier minutes, but he may have to guard Scottie in the minutes that De’Andre Hunter isn’t on the floor. With how poor the Hawks are on defense, you’d think they would start Hunter in this spot, which makes it very tough to get into Saddiq Bey.

Great matchups: Trae Young

Good matchups: Immanuel Quickley, Dejounte Murray, Jalen Johnson, Jakob Poeltl, Scottie Barnes

Bad matchups: Nobody

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Cleveland Cavaliers (back end) at Philadelphia 76ers (back end)