Atlanta @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 24, 2018 ) Toronto 108, Atlanta 93

The Atlanta Hawks are becoming a frisky team of late, but they are still on the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The Toronto Raptors, who host the Hawks on Tuesday, are at the top of the East and own the best home record in the NBA at 26-5.

Atlanta knocked off one top-eight Eastern Conference team -- the Indiana Pacers -- and then battled the defending champion Golden State Warriors tough in a 114-109 setback before knocking off the Phoenix Suns 113-112 on Sunday to finish off a 2-2 homestand. Taurean Prince knocked down the go-ahead 3-pointer with 7.6 seconds left in Sunday's triumph and his development is a big part of the Hawks' plans for the future. The Raptors are not looking too far into the future and are instead focusing on winning a championship this season. Toronto's lone loss in the last 12 games came in overtime and the increasingly well-rounded roster is leading the team to wins even when All-Star guards DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry struggle.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Atlanta), Sportsnet One (Toronto)

ABOUT THE HAWKS (20-44): Prince went 6-of-8 from 3-point range in Sunday's win and Atlanta knocked down 17-of-33 from beyond the arc. "I thought we got good looks," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters. "I thought we moved the ball when we could get good looks. We actually passed up a lot I thought. I thought we for sure could have had more attempts, you don't know whether they'll go in or not, but I'd like to see us shoot more when we're open." Point guards Dennis Schroder and Malcolm Delaney combined to go 5-of-10 from 3-point range and were two of the five players on the roster to knock down multiple 3-point attempts in the win.

ABOUT THE RAPTORS (45-17): Toronto struggled a bit in its last two games and held off a late surge to pull out Sunday's 103-98 home win over the Charlotte Hornets. "I would say last year we probably would have lost that game, but we were mature enough to make plays, the right plays," Raptors coach Dwane Casey told reporters. "The dog days of the year right now -- you can't see the end of it." The end of it for Toronto includes 10 more games at home but also two trips to Cleveland and one to Boston.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Raptors SF OG Anunoby (ankle) sat out the last two games and is day-to-day.

2. Prince is 14-of-25 from 3-point range over the last three games and knocked down multiple 3-pointers in each of the last six contests.

3. Toronto took the first three meetings this season by an average of 20.7 points.

PREDICTION: Raptors 119, Hawks 106