Raptors 104 – Atlanta Hawks 96: hold the fort
By Brian Boake
The Raptors protected their home court with a competent and successful effort against the Hawks.
The first of three quality Eastern Conference rivals invaded the Air Canada Centre last night to battle the Toronto Raptors, and battle they did. The Atlanta Hawks stayed with the Raptors all game, but a Raptors surge in the fourth quarter proved too much to overcome.
First Half
The Raptors have been sloppy in the extreme lately. Many of their turnovers have been comically bad. DeMar DeRozan has been charged with 14 in the past 3 games, and added 3 more in the first half. He wasn’t alone with sloppiness, as Atlanta were happy to accept 9 Toronto flubs. Fortunately, when the Raptors actually held on to the ball long enough to get a shot up, many of them found the bottom of the basket. They shot over 51% for the half, defended with vigour, and took a 4-point lead into the dressing room. DeRozan had seven field goals leading to 16 points, topping all scorers. Atlanta defenders were no match when he took the ball to the hole.
Patrick Patterson, who’s long overdue to repay his coach’s faith in him, finally enjoyed a solid 24 minutes, making all but one of his shots on the way to 9 points. Terrence Ross was deeply committed on defense and was rewarded with 16+ minutes of playing time. He chipped in with a 3-ball and a memorable drive and stuff over Kyle Korver.
Luis Scola got the start at power forward. While his shooting was cold again, he crashed the boards with surprising success. Norman Powell continued his apprenticeship.
Second Half
The third quarter was a quirky one for Toronto, as they managed only one 3-ball in 6 tries, got zero from Kyle Lowry, yet scored 30 points. DeRozan earned trips to the free-throw line and had 11 points. Scola also got to the stripe and had a couple of buckets. Toronto had more steals (3) than turnovers. Atlanta wasn’t getting the contributions it expects from Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver, but were saved by ultra-efficient Al Horford. He didn’t miss any of his five shots, including two from beyond the arc. Usually “stretch-5″s have only long shooting to brag about, but this guy does so much more.
With the Raptors lead at seven, the fourth quarter promised to be interesting, which it was if you like defense. Bismack Biyombo played all save seven seconds, despite Jonas Valanciunas already in the books with a double-double. Biz did what he does: protect the rim and battle for every board. Cory Joseph’s outside shooting was off, but he penetrated several times for welcome baskets.
Lowry finally woke up and started scoring, and took a critical charge from Dennis Schroder with half a minute left. After DeMar hit 2 free throws, Paul Millsap turned the ball over on a bad pass, and the Hawks were finally grounded.
Conclusion
The Raptors didn’t dominate this game, though they did enough to deserve the victory. Team defense was stout, and six of nine rotation players scored in double figures. Atlanta’s lack of size hurt them, as the Raptors ended with a massive 15-rebound advantage, which is partly why they scored 50 paint points to the Hawks’ 34.
Next Up
The home stand record is at 4-1, with two left. Miami visits on Saturday night, and then there’s the grudge match on Monday versus the Bulls.