The Sports Inquirer

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

Atlanta’s defensive struggles continued on Wednesday night as the Hawks saw their two-game winning streak snapped with a 126-115 home loss to Toronto.

The 126 points are the second-most Atlanta (7-6) has given up in a game this season and the seventh time it has allowed 100 or more points.

“They (Raptors) deserve credit,” Hawks’ coach Mike Budenholzer said. “They made a lot of shots. Defensive, we’d like to be better. Tonight is a night that will test your mental toughness and your physicality. It’s hard not to consider it a step back defensively.”

Seven Raptors (13-2) scored in double-figures, including all five starters. DeMar DeRozan’s game-high 27 points was followed by two bench players; Lou Williams (22 points) and Greivis Vasquez (21 points). Kyle Lowry had a game-high 13 assists along with 14 points for a double-double.

“I thought (our bench) came in and changed the game,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. “They gave us great energy and helped us keep (the starters’) minutes down.

Jeff Teague had a team-high 24 points along with 12 assists for a double-double of his own. Al Horford had 23 points along with nine rebounds for Atlanta.

“They were getting a lot of good looks,” Horford said. “The fast break was a big part of it I thought. They outscored us on the break and we didn’t do a good job in the fast break. That was one of the differences.”

Both teams shot 51.2 percent from the floor. Toronto made 14 three-pointers while Atlanta made 10. The biggest discrepancy came at the free-throw line. The Raptors made 28 of 33 free throw attempts while the Hawks made 21 of 24.

The Hawks trailed 34-24 after the first quarter. A strong second quarter by Atlanta cut Toronto’s lead to 64-61 at halftime. Teague had a game-high 17 first-half points for the Hawks while Dennis Schroder and Kyle Korver each had 11. Schroder finished the game with 13 points while Korver ended with 19. Teague also had a game-high six assists through the first two quarters.

DeRozan team-high 16 points at halftime paced the Raptors while Terrence Ross and Williams each had 12.

Both teams shot well from the field in the first half with Atlanta at 58 percent and Toronto hitting at a 56 percent clip. The Hawks converted on eight out of 13 three-pointer attempts.

The Hawks managed to tie the score at 80-80 with 3:05 left in the third quarter on a pair of Pero Antic free throws but that’s as close they would come. Atlanta’s only lead of the game was at 9-6 early in the first quarter.

The Raptors held a 91-88 after the third quarter and outscored the Hawks 35-27 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.