Atlanta Hawks Fall at Home to Toronto Raptors, 96-86
By John Buhler
The Atlanta Hawks were unable to hold on to their 14-point halftime lead, instead falling to the Toronto Raptors 96-86 Wednesday night at Philips Arena.
The Atlanta Hawks’ struggles with the Toronto Raptors of late continue, as Atlanta falls to Toronto Wednesday night at home, 96-86. Atlanta held a 46-32 lead at halftime, but Toronto outscored them 64-40 in the second half.
Once again, it was the outstanding Toronto backcourt duo of Point Guard Kyle Lowry and Shooting Guard DeMar DeRozan that allowed the Raptors to beat the Hawks at home. Lowry was sensational for Toronto. He had a game-high 37 points, dishing out 5 dimes, and gathering 5 boards. He’s in better physical shape than he was last season and he made the All-Star Game for the first time in 2015.
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Lowry continues to stand as one of Jeff Teague‘s toughest point guard matchups in the league, along with Russell Westbrook and John Wall. Those three elite point guards always seem to give Teague the most trouble. While Teague had 11 points and 10 assists tonight, Lowry was better this evening. Usually the point guards end up canceling each other’s production out.
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The Atlanta Hawks had a balanced night offensively with all five starters in double figures and two bench players near it, but when your leading scorer has 14 points, you might be in for a rough night. Paul Millsap lead the team with 14 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Al Horford had 12 points and 9 rebounds. Thabo Sefolosha had 13 points in his start and Kyle Korver had 12 points tonight.
What seemed to give the Raptors the edge tonight was that they fared better on the glass (TOR 50, ATL 43) and shot better from the field (TOR 45.6%, ATL 36.7%). Those aren’t staggering deficits for the Atlanta Hawks, but do stand as a big enough of a discrepancy to yield a 10-point lose to an Eastern Conference foe.
This tough home loss brings Atlanta to 12-9 on the year, retaining 6th place in the East. The Atlanta Hawks will have tomorrow night off before hosting the awful Los Angeles Lakers in the Kobe Bryant‘s final game in Philips Arena.
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It’s interesting how the Highlight Factory will likely sell out for a home game against a 3-15 team that just lost to the Philadelphia 76ers. That road loss to the Sixers is Philly’s only win on the year. Meanwhile Golden State is 20-0 with a 9-game lead over their arch rival Los Angeles Clippers in the Pacific. The Lakers are already 16 games back of Golden State.
Here’s to the Atlanta Hawks getting win number 13 over a very bad Los Angeles Lakers team on Friday night in Kobe Bryant’s final game at Philips Arena. Let’s Go Hawks!