The Atlanta Hawks were in Toronto on Monday evening to face the Raptors. It has been a rough time for the Hawks whenever they’ve come in contact with the Raptors this season, and it continued on Saturday when they took their third loss of the season with them.
This time around, the Hawks had Luke Kennard and Kristaps Porzingis at their disposal after they missed the last game. Trae Young was still out with a right quad contusion, and things got interesting with him hours before the game, with reports
coming out that he and his team were working with the franchise on a trade.
Nonetheless, there was a game that needed to played.
Zaccharie Risacher set up Dyson Daniels to get the Hawks on the board.
Outside of that, shots were hard to come by for the Hawks, and they found themselves in a hole early. Onyeka Okongwu benefited from the Hawks getting on the break and finished this dunk early in the quarter.
The Raptors have made it hard for the Hawks offensively every time they face them, and it continued in this game as well. The Hawks found themselves as down as 15 points in the first, but they had some life down the stretch after knocking down a few shots.
Kristaps Porzingis was a part of that run, getting a three-pointer and knocking down a pair of free throws.
Going into the second quarter, the Hawks found themselves down only five points. Porzingis continued his strong play early in the quarter in hopes of cutting down the Hawks’ deficit.
The Hawks couldn’t get out of their own way at times, and by that, it came with fouls. The Raptors were already in the bonus with nine minutes remaining in the second, and Zaccharie Risacher picked up his fourth foul. Despite the fouls, the Hawks were able to continue to cut down their deficit.
Just when the Hawks thought they had some momentum, the Raptors came back and extended their lead back to double digits. Jalen Johnson did all he could to keep the Hawks in it.
The Hawks couldn’t get their deficit out of double digits down the stretch of the second, and they went into halftime trailing 61-49.
It was Risacher’s show in the third quarter, and even though he picked up his fifth foul, he made sure to put his stamp on the game offensively as much as he could.
Risacher did not stop attacking, and he did what he could to cut the Hawks’ deficit.
No matter how much Risacher did, the Raptors still found a way to keep their lead, and the Hawks had to keep scrapping as much as they could. Luke Kennard used the three-ball to keep the Hawks alive.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Hawks trailed 86-73. The Hawks scrapped early in the fourth, and a few shots and stops helped them cut their deficit down to as much as six points. Daniels got it started for the Hawks and scored four straight points, all in the paint.
Kennard then followed it up with a three-pointer.
The Hawks once again had momentum brewing, but couldn’t sustain it as the Raptors continued to extend their lead whenever they had a chance. It was the Risacher show again in the second half, and most importantly midway through the fourth where they needed it the most.
Unfortunately, the hot streak didn’t last for long after the Risacher as he fouled out. From there, the Hawks lost some of their offensive juice and couldn’t get back into the game. In the end, the Raptors proved to be too much to handle for the fourth time this season.
Okongwu finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, Johnson finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds, and Risacher finished with 16 points.
The Hawks will be back in action on Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans.
