The Atlanta Hawks suffered a disheartening defeat to the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night, losing 134-117 in a game that was more competitive than the final scoreline might suggest. The Hawks trailed
by just one point heading into the fourth quarter, but managed just 11 points in the final frame and were outscored by 16 in the period. Atlanta’s 11 fourth quarter points were the fewest they’ve scored in any quarter this season.
The Hawks are winless against the Raptors this season (0-3), and after last night’s defeat, their losing streak against Toronto stands at five-games dating back to last season.
Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett led the way for Toronto, pouring in 29 points apiece. Scottie Barnes added 20 points and 7 rebounds. Sandro Mamukelashvili turned in an all-around performance, finishing with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists.
For Atlanta, Jalen Johnson continued to make his case for an All-Star bid, going for 30 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, a Toronto native, led all scorers with 31 points. Dyson Daniels had a nice night, finishing with 20 points on 9-for-13 shooting to go along with 12 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
The Hawks, playing on the second night of a back to back, were without Kristaps Porzingis (reconditioning) and Luke Kennard (back soreness), in addition to Trae Young, who missed his third consecutive game with a right quad contusion. Jakob Poetl (lower back strain) was the only player sidelined for the Raptors.
How It Happened
A sluggish start from Toronto saw the Hawks lead by as many as six in the early going, though turnovers combined with shaky transition defense and mediocre outside shooting gave the Raptors a 35-29 lead after 12 minutes. Toronto scored 10 points off of Atlanta’s five first quarter turnovers, while committing just one themselves – a massive swing in the opening frame. Atlanta shot just 3-for-11 from deep in the first quarter.
The game heated up in the second quarter, with both teams topping the 40-point mark in the period. Dyson Daniels was instrumental for Atlanta during this stretch, scoring 12 points on perfect 5-for-5 shooting (2-for-2 at the free-throw stripe) and dishing out 4 assists.
While the Hawks were clicking offensively, they had a really hard time keeping Toronto out of the paint on the other end of the floor, conceding 26 paint-points to the Raptors (on 13-for-16 shooting) in the second quarter. By halftime, Atlanta trailed 77-70.
Atlanta’s offense continued to roll in the third quarter, with their outside shooting and ball security playing a pivotal role in their offensive success. The Hawks posted a 59% three-point attempt rate in the period, and shot 8-for-16 from the perimeter, with five different players cashing in from beyond the arc. They turned the ball over just once.
Additionally, contrary to how the rest of the game went, Atlanta dominated the glass in the third quarter, grabbing five offensive rebounds while keeping Toronto off the glass entirely on the other end. Atlanta outscored the Raptors 11-0 in second-chance points in the third, and cut the deficit to 107-106 heading into the final frame.
The beginning of the fourth quarter was where the game was lost for Atlanta. The Hawks committed a stunning 7 turnovers in the first five minutes of the period while failing to score a single point, shooting 0-for-6 from the floor and 0-for-2 at the line over the course of a 16-0 Raptors run to blow the game wide open. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored Atlanta’s first points of the quarter with 6:49 remaining to cut the deficit to 14.
Speaking on Toronto’s fourth quarter run after the game, Quin Snyder said:
“First and foremost, they ran off our mistakes, turnovers. We had a couple of shots that didn’t fall, but it’s hard to defend against those turnovers. I thought we did a pretty good job during the game reacting to some of the physicality and the pressure. We settled in a little bit from the beginning of the game. But that stretch in a game like that, it’s tough to overcome.”
“As I’ve said, our offense really impacts [our defense] – like for all teams – but in our case, when they’re scoring, it makes it more difficult. And it’s hard to keep them from scoring when you’re turning the ball over, it just cascades.”
To their credit, the Hawks didn’t stop competing until the final buzzer sounded, however, playing on the second night of a back-to-back they just looked fatigued and out of sync in the final period, shooting a miserable 4-for-19 from the field and 1-for-4 from the free-throw line en route to their lowest scoring quarter of the season (11 points). They finished the game on the wrong side of a 134-117 defeat.
It is worth noting that this was the second night of a back-to-back for Atlanta, and the Hawks were without three of their top offensive weapons in Trae Young, Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kennard, which certainly didn’t make life easier for them late against a physical Raptors side. Nonetheless, it was still an ugly way to lose a game that the Hawks were competitive in through three quarters.
Turnovers were the killer tonight for Atlanta. They averaged 11.5 turnovers per game in their last two games against New York and Minnesota (both wins), before committing 16 miscues in last night’s defeat*. While the final turnover margin doesn’t look all that bad, five out of Toronto’s 14 turnovers occurred during the final 7 minutes of the game when the game was essentially out of reach. The Hawks are 2-12 this season when their opponents outscore them in points off of turnovers.
*Jalen Johnson (4 turnovers) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (6 turnovers) combined for 10 out of Atlanta’s 16 turnovers in the game.
Another area where Toronto had a significant advantage last night was in points from the mid-range. Per cleaningtheglass, the Raptors shot 18-for-31 (58.1%) on ‘mid-range’ shots* while Atlanta went just 10-for-28 (35.7%). Brandon Ingram — a renowned master of the mid-range — and Scottie Barnes did most of the damage from this area for Toronto.
*Defined as FGA’s taken between 4-feet away from the basket and the three-point line.
While Atlanta had a higher three-point attempt rate and hit five more threes than Toronto, the Raptors mid-range proficiency and the edge they gained at the free-throw line (+8) proved to make the difference on the scoreboard.
While there were not a lot of positives for Atlanta last night, Dyson Daniels deserves a shoutout for his effort on both ends of the floor. Despite his outside shot abandoning him this season, Daniels has still proven to be an impactful offensive player thanks to his off-ball movement as well as his willingness to push the pace and generate early shot-clock paint touches.
Early in the second quarter, Daniels gets into the lane off the Raptors turnover and finds Okongwu for an easy two.
Later on in the period, Okongwu returns the favor, finding Daniels for a pretty backdoor slam.
A few plays later, Daniels shows off the off-ball prowess once again, catching RJ Barrett napping before finishing at the rim with force.
Daniels finished the evening with 20 points, 12 assists and just 1 (!) turnover. He also grabbed 5 boards and added 4 ‘stocks’ to round out his performance.
Credit to Daniels for his play last night.
The Hawks will have a chance avenge themselves in their next outing, taking on this very same Raptors team in Atlanta on Monday night. Atlanta will hope to get Young, Porzingis and Kennard back in the lineup for that one as they look to avoid a regular-season series sweep against Toronto.
Tip-off is at 7:30PM EST on FanDuel Sports Network.
