The Raptors fell behind early to the undermanned Hawks, but they got themselves righted. Atlanta collapsed late, and the Raptors won a laugher.
The visiting Atlanta Hawks looked like they were interested in breaking their losing streak for this game’s first three quarters. After that, the Toronto Raptors stepped on their throats. The result was a 42-14 wipeout in Q4, leading to the biggest Raps margin of victory in team history.
The Hawks were a tired squad, having arrived in Toronto in the early hours of Saturday after being thrashed on their home court by the Pistons. It showed: Atlanta was totally gassed when it mattered, and the Raptors emptied their bench.
The Raps owned this game no matter who was on the floor. Hawks starters totaled a pitiful 46 points, while Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan scored 48 between them. Toronto’s second unit had a marvelous outing, with four players in double figures, and with crazy efficiency. Terrence Ross needed only 8 shots to score 15 points, and was plus_32(!), while Patrick Patterson missed just one of his five 3-ball attempts.
Dec 3, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Pascal Siakam #43 of the Toronto Raptors celebrates after teammate Kyle Lowry (7) (not pictured) scored a basketball against the Atlanta Hawks in the second quarter at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports
The team defense was all there too; 9 Raps combined for 14 steals. They surrendered 12 turnovers – we’ll take those numbers every game, thanks.
Raptors are DEEP
Toronto’s depth is once again proving to be its ace in the hole. They are getting consistent sound play from starting power forward Pascal Siakam, who enjoyed the best scoring night of his young career with 14 points. Now that Patterson has rediscovered his shooting touch, the team’s biggest pre-season weakness is turning into a strength.
Likewise, whatever magic wand touched Lucas Nogueira a month or so ago was effective. He’s been better than the starter, Jonas Valanciunas, on a number of nights recently, including this one.
While Cory Joseph is theoretically the team’s backup point guard, he isn’t playing like one. When he and Lowry are on the floor together, lots more good things happen than bad. CoJo’s 6 assists helped him to plus_20.
It’s not within our purview to worry about the Hawks, but they have a lot to worry about. Should top basketball manager Mike Budenholzer fire his coach, Mike Budenholzer? How do you have a heart to heart with yourself?
Anyway, the Raps have carved up their last four opponents by double-digit margins, but that’s not likely to occur on Monday night. The NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers are in town, for the Raptors’ third try against LeBron and his mates.
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