1 advantage Raptors have over Bulls, Hawks, and Heat in play-in
By Mike Luciano
Atlanta Hawks: Overall Defense
While Quin Snyder made his bones in the NBA as a standout coach with the Jazz who built a style around Rudy Gobert protecting the rim, he hasn’t had the time nor personnel to implement his vision with the Hawks. This could help Toronto in a hypothetical matchup.
The Hawks are currently 25th in the league in points allowed, showing that even Clint Capela and Onyeka Onkongwu aren’t enough to stop teams from coming into the paint. Whatever positives Dejounte Murray and De’Andre Hunter have on defense are washed away by two huge negatives in Trae Young and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
The Raptors have a better defense than the Hawks.
The fact that Toronto went so long without quality rim protection was baffling. Not only has the team been much better on that end with Christian Koloko in the lineup, but the Poeltl acquisition has helped this starting lineup become one of the best units in the game on that end.
The only teams who are allowing fewer points per game than Toronto are Cleveland, who is in first place by a mile, and arguably two of the four best teams in the league in Boston and Philadelphia. That should give Toronto confidence, even against a Hawks team with some offensive firepower.