The Toronto Raptors, at 16-30, have lost four straight, and Andrea Bargnani isn’t coming through that door. Lead guard Kyle Lowry has an undisclosed illness and is questionable for tonight’s game at Air Canada Centre versus the Atlanta Hawks. Quincy Acy is likely out with a groin injury. And their major mid-season trade acquisition, Rudy Gay, has a sore back and may not be available.

You know what all of that means, dontcha, Hawks fans?

That’s right! Hawks will fall behind by double-digits again!

It’s safe to suggest that no halfway-decent NBA franchise plays up the inverse relationship between “opponents unavailable” and “likelihood of winning comfortably” quite like our dear Atlanta Hawks can. We saw it in Indiana on Monday, as broadcasters were forced to dig into the back of their media guides to figure out who were these pinstriped players lighting up the Hawks’ starters. And we saw it in Atlanta back on January 30, not long after two Raptors starters found out Delta truly is Ready When You Are, getting the “You Just Got Traded” rug pulled out from under them, and sent off to new teams less than two hours before tip-off at Philips Arena.

Rookie Jonas Valanciunas, Mickael Pietrus, and Linas Kleiza were out of commission, too. Being down to just nine guys at Coach Dwane Casey’s disposal didn’t stop the transformation of rarely-used John Lucas III into Lucas with the Lid Off, ringing up 19 points as a reserve to outscore Atlanta’s entire bench. That was just ahead of the accounting firm of Alan Anderson (15 points), the 30-year-old journeyman suddenly thrust into starting action. Aaron Gray got more offensive rebounds (4) than Atlanta’s whole team (3).

Toronto staked out a 13-point lead in the first half before the Hawks could figure a way to Stop the Insanity in the third quarter, largely behind some short-range offense from Josh Smith. Once ahead, Atlanta could barely shake free of the residual Raptors, needing heroics from Al Horford (four points and two blocks in the final minute) plus some mad scrambling (and, according to Casey, some blind refs) to pull a one point win out of their tailfeathers.

What does Coach Larry Drew have up his sleeve to keep Toronto from becoming the Land of the Loss? Perhaps he will hold out a short hook when his starters are either not executing the game plan or proving to be effective. He may have reached that conclusion Monday after several reserves, most notably new permanent fixture Shelvin Mack (10 points and 4 assists), led a spirited charge to put a relaxed Pacer squad suddenly on their heels. To avoid extended time on the pine, Jeff Teague will need to direct the offense and make crisper passes (1 assist and 3 turnovers in over 28 minutes) than he displayed in Indianapolis.

He’ll also want players on the floor who can get to the line and knock down some shots. The Hawks left 10 points from free throw attempts off the boards, the most misses in a game in over three months. Led, if you will, by Amir Johnson (3.8 personal fouls per game, tops in NBA), the Raps slap opponents a league-leading 22.9 times per game, leading to an NBA-high 26.7 free throw attempts by their foes.

Absent Lowry (38.1 3FG%), Lucas (37.8%) and Anderson (35.1%) represent the Dinos' primary three-point threats. They will beat teams with mid-range shots (largely by DeMar DeRozan) and second-chance opportunities (primarily via rebounds by Amir Johnson and Valanciunas).

Converting turnovers into points turned the Pacers game from laughable to watchable late in the final quarter. Toronto is 5-23 when they commit 15 or more gaffes, 21-21 otherwise. The Hawks player who leads the team in steals on a per-minute basis? Why, it's Ivan Johnson (1.9 thefts per 36 minutes), who enjoys taking charge by taking charges as well. On offense, Ivan can bang inside and draw those Raptor fouls, and has been doing a better job with his free throw shooting. He has shot 80% on free throws in the last two weeks, but has had no trips to the line in his last three appearances.

Go Hawks!

~lw3