Matchups.
This season, the Atlanta Hawks have started slow but then have picked up steam, their record catching up with their league-leading statistics. But none of this has mattered against the Toronto Raptors, who coming into Thursday night's game in Atlanta had beaten the Hawks three straight times this season, twice in the month of March as the Hawks were beginning to take off.
So it was good medicine to see the Hawks dispatch the aggressive Raptors, 95-87, to get their first win of the season against a potential playoff opponent and to show how they might beat this team in the playoffs.