TORONTO – As the Toronto Raptors get set to host the red-hot Atlanta Hawks at the Air Canada Centre on Friday, coach Dwane Casey smiled when asked if the game will be a good measuring stick for his team.

“Tomorrow night’s game isn’t going to make or break our season,” said Casey following practice on Thursday.

No, he’s right it won’t. But it will give the Raptors a good sense of where they match up at this time against a surprising powerhouse in the Eastern Conference.

“It’s a big game because they are one of the best teams in the league right now,” noted the Raptors head coach. “We are not going to judge who we are and what we are not, by one game.”

What the 26-12 Raptors are right now is a team that is struggling with just two wins in their last seven games and a team that has not been strong on the defensive end, having allowed 100 or more points in six of their last eight.

Toronto finds itself four-and-a-half games back of Atlanta for top spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Hawks meantime have won 10 straight and are 31-8 sitting in top spot in the East. They enter play on Thursday seventh in the league in points per game (103.1) and second in the Association in assists per game (25.6) and points allowed (96.7.)

The Hawks have five players who are averaging double digits in points per game, led by point guard Jeff Teague (17.5 PPG) and centre Al Horford – “one of the top centers in the league,” said Casey – who in his eighth season in the league is averaging 14.8 PPG and 6.6 RPG.

 “No, I don’t envy anybody,” said Casey. “[The Hawks] play the game the right way. I don’t envy them because our job here is to play that way. Not out of envy, but out of necessity. “

“One thing they do is shoot the ball extremely well at every position,” said Casey. “They come off the bench with shooters. And their commitment to defence. They play a team defence. They don’t have a team of stoppers. They play the way we want to play, as a team concept.”

With DeMar DeRozan back, fresh off playing 29 minutes and scoring 20 points against Philadelphia on Wednesday, including eight points in the fourth quarter, the Raptors expect to give the Hawks all they can handle. But will they – can they – pick up the defensive intensity for the entire game?

“We are getting there,” said DeRozan. “Especially with me back, we are definitely going to get there. You got to give Atlanta credit, they are one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now. It is going to be a good test for us.”

The Raptors have beaten the Hawks twice already, but this is a different Atlanta team

 “One thing we caught them early before they got hot,” said Casey of the Raptors' season-opening 109-102 win and in the 126-115 win November 26, the final game of a six-game winning streak. “We were playing better defensively at the time and clicking better offensively. We’ll see where we are [on Friday.]”

 “They are kind of like us in the sense where they really don’t have a superstar player,” said DeRozan. “All their guys just play together and play hard.”

“Their consistent effort on every possession,” is what impresses Casey the most right now.

“They are all pulling together, they are playing as a team right now," Casey explained. "Everything they are doing is clicking. If we have a chance [on Friday], we got to be the hardest working team on the floor."

Casey sees similiarities between the two clubs.

“We both are shooters that have to play defence - that’s kind of the personality of both teams,” noted Casey. “We are similar from that standpoint. They’ve done it at a high level for longer than we have.”

 “I think our biggest test is becoming a team for a whole 48 minutes,” said James Johnson. “It’s all about us at this point."

There is no bigger test right now for the Raptors than the NBA’s hottest team.