Atlanta Hawks at Toronto Raptors Preview: Hello, Regular Season!

Finally, the 2014-15 season is here for the Atlanta Hawks.

After a few games last night, the majority of the NBA is in action tonight with the Hawks starting their season with a road trip to take on the Toronto Raptors.

The Raptors should be a real challenge for the Hawks tonight as they return the majority of their team from last season — a team that set a franchise mark in wins, with 48. Bringing back point guard Kyle Lowry was the biggest move of the offseason for them, as Lowry was fielding offers from a variety of different teams. Last season, Lowry led the team with a 20.2 PER while scoring 17.9 points per game and dishing out 7.4 assists per game.

More from Atlanta Hawks

• Atlanta Hawks Sweep Back-to-Back Games Over Weekend
• Atlanta Hawks Look to Continue Momentum Tonight Against Portland
• Joel Embiid Leads Sixers Over Hawks On Monday Night
• Atlanta Hawks: John Collins Playing His Best Basketball Of Season
• Atlanta Hawks Win Second Straight Against the Dallas Mavericks

Alongside Lowry is an extremely solid core: DeMar DeRozan, Terrence Ross, Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas.

In addtion, the Raptors will have former Atlanta Hawk Lou Williams available off the bench, which provides an additional storyline. The incentive is surely there for Williams to make an impact with his new team, while sticking it to the Hawks.

Atlanta head coach Mike Budenholzer has a nice group of his own to counter with: Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver in the back court, with DeMarre Carroll, Paul Millsap and Al Horford rounding out the starting five in the frontcourt. Budenholzer hasn’t said much about his planned rotation, but between Thabo Sefolosha, Mike Scott, Pero Antic, Elton Brand, Kent Bazemore and others — there are plenty of quality options.

For more on this year’s Hawks team, you can check out our full preview if you haven’t already. In the meantime, feel free to sound off in the comments about this match-up and the start of the NBA season!

Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@ATLBeatBlog) for more Atlanta Hawks information leading up to the game and check back after for a full recap.

Date: October 29, 2014

Tip-Off Time: 7:30 p.m.

TV Channel: SportSouth, NBA League Pass ($)

Radio: 92.9 The Game (Local in Atlanta), Atlanta Hawks Radio Network Affiliates

Live Stream: League Pass Broadband