Game Time: 7:30 PM ET, Monday, January 31st, 2022 

Venue:  State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia 

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: Hawks -2.5

BetMGM:  Spread:  NL

VegasInsider:  Spread: Hawks -2.5

WynnBet: Spread:  NL

Raptors: 24-23, 8th place Eastern Conference

Hawks: 24-25, 10th place Eastern Conference

A battle of Eastern Conference foes that both need a win to stay competitive in the weaker of the two conferences.  Bothe Toronto and Atlanta have had recent playoff successes.  Toronto has had a nice long run in the East that was topped off by an NBA Championship in 2019.  The Raptors have the league’s best GM Masai Ujiri.  He gets this reputation from finding players  that don’t have a lot of interest from other teams and these players end up doing pretty well in the NBA. PF Pascal Siakam, late first round draft pick, became a star.  Fred Van Vleet, undrafted free agent, became a quality scorer.  SF OG Anunoby, another late first round pick, became a 19 ppg scorer.  C Chris Boucher, seemingly out of nowhere, has shown signs of being a quality NBA role player.  But the secret to Masai’s success was he was willing to trade his star SG DeMar DeRozan and some lesser assets for a better star SG in Kawhi Leonard.  That big move brought a championship.  Then Kawhi bolted to live in his hometown (Technically Orange county) of Los Angeles.  The team took a hit and has been rebuilding to try to become a contender again.  The best move of the rebuild was of course drafting SF Scottie Barnes with the #4 pick in the 2021 draft.  Scottie is a solid rookie and will be a star in the future… he looks a lot like he could be plugged in to almost any position on the court.   The Hawks don’t have a championship to show anyone, but last season they were the most impactful young team in the playoffs.  A deep run from a team that is made up of mostly nobodies surrounding the very young star PG Trae Young.  Trae is a scorer and he never lets up.  He will shoot like Steph Curry and passes a bit like Steve Nash… he’s not much of a defender.  The Hawks had that big playoff run last season falling short in the Eastern Conference Finals to the eventual Champion Milwaukee Bucks in six games.  NBA observers thought it may have been a coming out party, an announcement of arrival, a bigger and better eventual Champion if they just develop the young guys another year.  That didn’t happen.  They opened this season cold and plummeted in the standings.  They are currently lodged in 10th place, 2 games behind 9th place. The Hawks did suffer an unfortunate spate of injuries, but everyone hasd.  The real reason they struggled is that SF Deandre Hunter missed so many games… That guy poses as the 3rd option to Trae Young and PF John Collins when he is healthy and in the line-up… but the dirty secret is he is the roster's most important player.  Deandre plays well on both ends with a perfect combination of size, skill, and hustle.  Trae may score more points but the most positive production comes from Deandre locking down his position and netting stats in every column available.  It’s no coincidence that this bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff play-in tournament qualifiers has been on a win streak ever since his return.

The Toronto Raptors have won only 4 of their last ten games.  They had a big win Friday night against the East’s #1 Miami Heat in overtime 124-120.  Problem is they have also taken losses from the Portland Trail Blazers and the Detroit Pistons.  A big part of the problem is also a big part of what helps this team win:  They have no true big man in the middle.  The get by at Center by playing a collection of athletic power forwards and even the occasional small forward in that spot… even the guy the list at Center (when he is healthy) Khem Birch is really just a 6’9 PF.. They rotate that position with PF Chris Boucher, PF Precious Anchiuwa, and PF Pascal Siakam.  It works sometimes because small ball works sometimes, but it doesn’t usually work. This team desperately needs to find a 7-footer… they need to call around with the deadline looming… or maybe they have already decided to stand pat and get a real big man in the draft after this season… after all they have Masai Ujiri making the picks and next year SF Scottie Barnes will be a year older.  BTW PG Fred Van Vleet is this team’s leading scorer… Fred is a good player, but the PG should not lead the team in scoring when he is surrounded by an athletic small ball concept.  Coach Nick Nurse is doing something backwards… maybe they pull it altogether by playoff time.

The Atlanta Hawks are on a roll!  Yes, they are in 10th place.  Yes, no one respects them from visiting teams to book makers.  However, they just beat the Los Angeles Lakers 129-121 to extend the winning streak to 7 games!  They have now won 7 of their last ten games. The three losses are also good news, sort of, because they were against the #1 Miami Heat twice and the New York Knicks once.  The Heat are that good and when the hawks played the Knicks they were missing lots of key players to the injury list.  The best part of the Hawks' season may start during this game as they have a glaring oddity on their league paperwork:  “No Injuries to Report”.  Everyone is back in the fold finally.  There are only a few teams that can say that at almost any given time. It’s even better news that everyone is back at full strength just before the trade deadline… There have been rumblings that John Collins is not a good fit with Trae Young… or maybe just not fully happy.  Either way, with Danilo Gallinari and Onyeka Okongwu both available to play minutes at the Power Forward spot… a long hard look should be made at what can be gotten for a player like PF John Collins who averages 16.9 ppg and 8.0 rpg during an off year.  

Today, Big Al looks for a great day, and is back on the NBA hardwood with this NBA High Roller Winner out of a 57-34 ATS angle. Don't miss out on the roundball $$$$. Get on board right now! Go get it! Get Big Al’s picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB, college football… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

 Toronto is 24-23 on the season, but 26-21 ATS.  They have logged 26 Over and 21 Unders.  They are 11-11 in road games.  

Atlanta is 23-25 on the season, but 21-27 ATS.  They have notched 25 Overs and 23 Unders.  They are 13-11 in home games.

The Toronto Raptors are 22nd in scoring with 107.5 ppg, 15th in rebounds with 44.8 per game, and 15th in AST/TO ratio with 1.7. They are shooting 26th in FG%, 18th in 3PT%, and 24th in FT%.  They are active on defense ranking 10th while allowing opponents 106.7 ppg. 

The Atlanta Hawks are 7th in scoring with 111.7 ppg, 18th in rebounds with 44.4 per game, and 4th in AST/TO ratio with 2.0.  They are shooting 6th in FG%, 3rd in 3PT%, and 6th in FT%.  Unfortunately they shoot themselves in the foot by being 23rd in defense while allowing  111.3 ppg.  No wonder they offered SG Kevin Huerter as part of a rebuffed trade recently. With shooting numbers like they have, they absolutely get wins if they can get stops (Deandre Hunter’s return is THAT important).

Our prediction for Monday, January 31st is….  Hawks 118 - Raptors 113

The Hawks are at full strength and on a strong roll.  Toronto’s lack of a true Center will be a welcomed sight to Atlanta’s big men C Clint Capela and PF John Collins… both of whom are going to be highlighted over the next few days.  They most likely will not be traded but the Hawks would be silly to not throw them the spotlight against Toronto.

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Atlanta is 4-2 ATS versus Toronto over the last 3 seasons.

Atlanta is 3-0 ATS versus Toronto at Atlanta over the last 3 seasons.

3 of 3 of these games have gone OVER. (ALL OVERS)

Raptors: C Khem Birch (nose) Out ** PG Goran Dragic (Personal) Out indefinitely

Hawks: No Injuries to Report

Toronto: PF OG Anunoby, SF Scottie Barnes, C Pascal Siakam, PG Fred VanVleet, SG Gary Trent JR

Hawks: SF Deandre Hunter, PF John Collins, C Clint Capela, SG Kevin Huerter, PG Trae Young

Raptors

Points: Fred VanVleet 21.7

Assists: Fred VanVleet 7.0

Rebounds: Pascal Siakam 8.4

Steals: Gary Trent JR 1.9

Blocks: Chris Boucher 1.1

Hawks

Points: Trae Young 27.7

Assists: Trae Young 9.3

Rebounds: Clint Capela 12.4

Steals: Malcolm Hill 1.3

Blocks: Onyeka Okongwu 1.6 

Raptors: Nick Nurse.  Coach Nurse has an NBA Championship on his resume.  He also has a cool hat with a double N symbol.  If he can turn this group into something over the next few seasons he may sell a lot of those hats.

Hawks: Nate McMillan.  Coach McMillan was a fierce defender when he played in the league.. He will need a few more of himself on his own roster.