For as encouraging as the 20-15 mark they brought into 2026 was, it\u2019s hardly a start that guarantees anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before the Raptors hosted the Atlanta Hawks<\/a> for the first of two home games Saturday, they could comfort themselves by noting that even after posting a 6-8 record in December (after a 12-3 November), they were still in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n But not all standings are created equal. The Raptors were only 2.5 games ahead of the ninth-place Chicago Bulls and 3.5 games ahead of the 10th-place Hawks.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s still a good spot to be in, particularly given the Raptors were 8-27 at this point last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n But nothing can be taken for granted.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Saturday, the Raptors were playing the first of their 15 games in 27 days this month, with nine of them on the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s not a murderer\u2019s row of opponents. According to John Schumann of NBA.com<\/a>, the Raptors’ schedule for January rates 17th in terms of difficulty, with their opponents having an accumulated winning percentage of .494.\u00a0<\/p>\n And to their benefit, they have a league-high (according to Schuman) five games in which they have a “rest advantage.” Games where they are playing an opponent that is on the second night of a back-to-back.\u00a0<\/p>\n Needless to say, if Toronto is going to get to February still holding onto a top four seed in the East \u2014 or at least a playoff spot \u2014 it’ll need to squeeze every advantage it can.<\/p>\n Such as, for example, a home game after two days of rest against a Hawks team that was playing on the second night of a back-to-back and without Kristaps Porzingis or Trae Young<\/a>. Porzingis\u2019 durability issues aren\u2019t new, and whether the Hawks are better or worse with their four-time all-star point guard is in the line-up (they were 2-8 with him sidelined before Saturday), is up for debate.<\/p>\n But a tired road team down two talented players should play into the home team\u2019s hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n Well, through three quarters it looked like the Raptors were in danger of fumbling a schedule gift, the kind of mistake that good teams don\u2019t make.\u00a0<\/p>\n But something clicked in the fourth. The Raptors tapped out of the fun-to-watch-as-long-as-you\u2019re-not-coaching game of glorified pick-up, where the two teams scored 213 points on 55 per cent shooting combined, and were rewarded with a 134-117 blowout win in a game they only led by one starting the fourth.<\/p>\n The key was defensive effort and execution.\u00a0<\/p>\n Toronto forced three turnovers in the first minute of the fourth and held Atlanta without a point for the first 5:11 of the period. By then, the Raptors led by 17, and the Hawks couldn\u2019t make up the gap, finishing with just 11 points on 4-of-19 shooting with eight of their 16 turnovers for the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Raptors’ offence continued to chug along, with RJ Barrett<\/a> \u2014 in his third game back after missing five weeks with a knee injury \u2014 scoring 12 of his 29 points down the stretch, including a pair of threes and a lay-up in transition in the space of two minutes that pushed the Raptors lead to 15.<\/p>\n The Raptors shot 53.3 per cent from the floor for the game, 12-of-21 from three and made 24 of their 26 free throws too.<\/p>\n As for Barrett, it was not only his best offensive showing since his injury but his highest point total of the year. But he said it was the defence that made it happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think I kind of got lost in the game. Not just the game, but the fourth quarter,\u201d said Barrett, who was 11-of-19 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from three. \u201cThat\u2019s really what it was. Going back and forth, scoring. All right. But nobody\u2019s playing defence. That fourth quarter, that\u2019s Raptors basketball. So that felt good to be a part of, you know, being on the court for that. Like, that\u2019s who we are, that\u2019s who we need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n The Raptors’ season will likely hinge on how close and how often they can play to their identity as a ball-hawking, transition-based team. It\u2019s what drives their offence and compensates for their lack of traditional paint presence on defence \u2014 especially when Jakob Poeltl remains out with his back problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n The more they play that way, the more likely they are to uphold their status as the surprise team in the Eastern Conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n It means the kind of effort they got Saturday from Brandon Ingram<\/a> \u2014 who kept the Raptors afloat for the first three quarters when he scored 27 of his 29 points on a steady supply of more and more difficult mid-range jumpers over helpless Hawks defenders, punctuated with the odd pump fake, drive and dunk \u2014 didn\u2019t go to waste.<\/p>\n Livestream 40-plus regular season Toronto Raptors games, marquee matchups from around the association, select NBA Playoffs games, the NBA Draft and summer league action on Sportsnet+.<\/p>\n Broadcast Schedule<\/a><\/p>\n It was Ingram\u2019s mid-range shot-making that carried the Raptors’ offence for the first three quarters before the defence provided the spark necessary. The Raptors led after the first quarter and at half time, but the basket trading strategy came back to haunt them in the third quarter when Canadian national team star Nickeil Alexander-Walker<\/a> put on a show in his hometown by putting up 13 of his game-high 31 points, joining his cousin Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (twice) as one of five Canadians to put up 30 or more in Toronto, along with Barrett, Shaedon Sharpe and Rick Fox.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was fun to watch, but it\u2019s no way for a serious basketball team to live, especially when rested and hosting a short-handed team on a back-to-back.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is going to be very interesting (game) film,\u201d said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. \u201cBecause we had one quarter where we were allowed 41 points (the second, when the Raptors scored 42) and one where we allowed 11 points (the fourth).\u00a0\u00a0And that comparison is going to be very daring for us. We need to look at it and really try to understand what it takes to win an NBA game and win against a really good team.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019ll see how deeply the lessons resonate on Monday when the Raptors host the Hawks again and throughout the month as things get harder still.\u00a0<\/p>\n Alexander-Walker\u2019s leadership:\u00a0It\u2019s not even been half a season, but Alexander-Walker seems to have found a long-term home after signing with the Hawks in free agency. He\u2019s delivered on the court, putting up 20.4 points, more than double his career average, along with career-bests in assists (3.4) and steals (1.0), and has emerged as a veteran voice on a young team. <\/p>\n His message post-game was that for the Hawks to reach their considerable potential, they need to find a way to manage games on back-to-backs, especially after coming off an impressive win over the New York Knicks on Friday. \u201cIt\u2019s knowing when you\u2019re on a back-to-back, there are small things that have to be done to prevent ourselves from hurting ourselves the way we did. They turned defence to offence just like that, especially off turnovers \u2026 we\u2019re growing as a young team making sure we can handle the things we can control \u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"NBA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Toronto-Raptors-Scottie-Barnes-640x360.jpg\")
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