Hawks at Raptors Live Notebook
The Hawks visit Toronto for the first time this season on Tuesday to take on the defending NBA champions. The Toronto Raptors are 32-14 on the season despite injuries to multiple starters and have won seven games in a row since Marc Gasol returned to the lineup.
The Hawks, meanwhile, are 12-35 after winning four of their last seven contests. Coming off a blowout win over the Wizards, Atlanta will look to keep its momentum rolling on Tuesday and seek its first win in three tries against the Raptors.
Follow along below for live updates and insights.
Pregame
Atlanta will be extremely shorthanded in the frontcourt tonight as Alex Len (back), Bruno Fernando (calf), Jabari Parker (shoulder), and DeAndre' Bembry (hand) are all out with various ailments. Atlanta will start John Collins at center alongside Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, Cam Reddish, and De'Andre Hunter.
The Raptors, far deeper and healthier than the Hawks, will start Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, and Marc Gasol. Siakam scored 35 points -- including 25 in the first quarter -- in his last outing against San Antonio.
First Quarter
Atlanta finding success in transition
Pushing the tempo has yielded solid early returns for the Hawks, who have been opportunistic in transition to start. Atlanta has gotten several good 3-point looks in transition, with a connection between Trae Young and John Collins in early offense as well.
The Hawks haven't capitalized on every opportunity, but their ability to push the ball ahead and create easy offense could be an important tool against a Raptors defense that puts its length and activity to good use in the halfcourt. Despite boasting the second-most efficient defense in the NBA, Toronto has a middling transition defense, which the Hawks should look to exploit as much as possible.
Meanwhile, the Raptors have been leaving Kevin Huerter wide open behind the arc, and the guard has begun the night 1-for-3 from deep. We'll see if that approach is intentional and whether it continues against one of Atlanta's best shooters.
Raptors go big against undersized Hawks
With Atlanta thin in the frontcourt, the Raptors go to a bigger lineup with Siakam at small forward, and Serge Ibaka and Gasol playing together. Gasol and Siakam's versatility, particularly as shooters and passers, allows Toronto to get away with bigger units against most opponents. Against a small team like the Hawks, it gives them a huge advantage on the glass and on defense. It will be incumbent upon De'Andre Hunter, Vince Carter, and Damian Jones to play physically inside on defense and be aggressive in pulling Toronto's bigs away from the basket on the other end.
Second Quarter
Young out of rhythm early
Trae Young battled foul trouble in the first quarter, picking up two quick personals before he really had a chance to settle into the game, and he has yet to really get himself acquainted in this contest. While he has five assists already, Young is 0-for-4 from the field (including three 3-point attempts). He just let Terence Davis sneak behind him from the weak side for a cutting dunk, prompting Lloyd Pierce to call timeout and regroup.
Toronto leads, 45-32 with just over nine minutes to play in the second.
Hawks go back to starters after Carter provides boost
Vince Carter gave Atlanta an important lift with 10 points in six minutes off the bench in the first and second quarters. With Young struggling and in foul trouble, the veteran was the Hawks' only reliable source of offense most of the time he was in the game and played hard for his entire stint on the floor.
Atlanta used him as a screener in their double high ball screen actions -- which were successful in Oklahoma City -- and simply as a spot-up threat while Young, Brandon Goodwin, and Jeff Teague worked with the ball in their hands.
Pierce went back to his starters early in the quarter, and with a thin rotation tonight, he might that group even more than usual against a deep Raptors team.
Turnovers hampering Atlanta
Despite generating mostly good shots thus far and posting a tidy 52.9 effective goal percentage, the Hawks are scoring just 0.93 points per possession to Toronto's 1.33. That disparity is due largely to turnovers. Atlanta has coughed the ball up on 17 percent of its possessions; Toronto has given it away on only five percent of its trips.
That issue plagued Atlanta in its last outing against the Raptors, who generate the second-highest percentage of opponent turnovers in the NBA, per Cleaning the Glass. Their help defense has been outstanding and their rangy defenders are creating issues on the ball as well.
Halftime
The Raptors lead, 68-56, at halftime.
John Collins, with 20 points and eight rebounds, is just about the only thing keeping Atlanta in this game. The big man missed a single shot and took six free throws in the first half, but the rest of the team shot just 36 percent from the field and attempted five free throws.
Trae Young has six points and seven assists, and the starting lineup combined to shoot 4-of-19 from deep in the game's first 24 minutes. The Hawks turned the ball over nine times (three came from Collins) to the Raptors' two.
As a result, the Hawks scored just 103.8 points per 100 possessions while Toronto hummed at nearly 131. In addition to taking care of the ball, the Raptors generated and made high-quality shots. Serge Ibaka led the team in scoring with 15 points off the bench while Terence Davis had 11. Siakam, Gasol, and Lowry combined for 31.
Atlanta must address its turnover issues in the second half to have any chance of winning. Not only do they need to take better care of the ball, the Hawks must also be more active and make Toronto more uncomfortable on the other end of the floor. The Raptors looked comfortable in the first half. The Hawks, by contrast, seemed hurried by its opponent's activity and pace.
Third Quarter
Young finding teammates as Hawks begin to get stops
For all his shooting struggles tonight, Young has done a marvelous job setting up his teammates with 10 assists. Early in the quarter, he pulled three defenders with him as he drove the baseline and found Collins all alone for a dunk, and back-to-back assists to Collins and Hunter have helped cut the Raptor lead to just 12. Another nice hit-ahead pass to Cam Reddish the next possession went unrewarded.
Meanwhile, on the other end, the Hawks have strung together a couple of stops, which has helped juice their transition offense. Pascal Siakam continues to get to the rim, however, which has yielded open layups and free throws in this third quarter. He leads all Raptors with 20 points, including eight in this quarter.
Raptors lead 79-63.
Costly third foul puts Collins in jeopardy
A bad mental mistake by Collins costs him his third foul and gives the Raptors two easy points. The big man chased down a long rebound on the baseline, but tried to save the ball back in bounds underneath his own basket and delivered the ball directly to OG Anunoby. Rather than getting a stop and a chance to score in transition, the Hawks instead gave Toronto two of their easiest points of the night. The Raptors scored on each of their next two possessions to stretch the lead to 18 points.
Raptors lead 88-70 just over halfway through the third quarter.
Gasol out with sore hamstring
Marc Gasol, who left the floor and went to the locker room earlier this quarter, will not return this game due to hamstring tightness. That will leave most of the center duties to Serge Ibaka, who played well in the first half, and could nudge Chris Boucher into spot duty for a few minutes near the start of the fourth quarter.
Hawks' lack of frontcourt depth creating problems in third quarter
John Collins has been outstanding tonight, but the Hawks' haven't gotten much production behind him. With Alex Len, Bruno Fernando, and Jabari Parker injured, Atlanta has had to rely on Damian Jones for 14 minutes through three quarters. The Hawks will almost certainly close with Collins at center, especially with Gasol out, but will need to buy enough time for those final minutes to matter.
That has proven challenging tonight. Jones has not been good tonight, save for a couple of offensive rebounds in the third quarter, and Atlanta's defense has suffered as a result. He looks as though he's playing on a dusty floor while everyone around him darts around on freshly-polished hardwood.
As thing currently stand, the Hawks may not be within striking distance in the final few minutes. That isn't entirely Jones' fault, but -- especially given how well Ibaka and Gasol have played -- it's hard to say he's helped the visitors' effort.
Fourth Quarter
Huerter, Reddish struggling from deep
It's been one of those nights for Kevin Huerter and Cam Reddish, who have shot a combined 1-of-15 from deep on their way to 10 total points. Huerter has also shot an uncharacteristic 1-for-3 from the free-throw line. Toronto has dared each player to fire away all night, and the two youngsters haven't been able to capitalize.
Young has begun to come around from the field as Collins continues to shoot well; De'Andre Hunter has contributed 15 points. But the Hawks simply didn't get enough from the rest of the bunch tonight.
Raptors win, 130-114
Reddish started to find his shot late in the fourth, but it mattered not as the Raptors put this one away early and closed out a 130-114 win to claim the season series against the Hawks. They'll look to sweep the season set on April 10 in Toronto.
Toronto put up a 125 offensive rating in this game while holding the Hawks under 0.97 points per possession. The Raptors' depth, execution, and collective intelligence was too much for Atlanta, who committed 18 turnovers and struggled on defense all game, to contain.
Ibaka and Siakam each finished with 24 points as Lowry, who had 12 points, 11 assists, and eight rebounds, became the Raptors' all-time assist leader. Fred VanVleet quietly pitched in 19 points and three assists, and OG Anunoby set the team's defensive tone early.
Collins had a game-high 28 points to go with 12 boards while Young tallied 18 points and 13 assists. Reddish eventually notched 18 points, but most came after the game was well in hand.
The Hawks will return to State Farm Arena on Thursday for their second bout of the season with the Philadelphia 76ers at 7:30.
