The Atlanta Hawks are currently in third in the Eastern Conference, and are fighting off the Boston Celtics who are right behind them in fourth place in the East. The Toronto Raptors are entrenched in second place, but still have plenty of things to tighten up heading into the playoffs. On this night, Raptors’ forward DeMarre Carroll’s time has come; as he was listed as active and would be making his in-game return against his former team.
The Hawks got out to an early lead, taking an eight point advantage, 28-20, heading into the second quarter. It became a 4 point game by halftime, with the Raptors closing the gap in the second quarter, as the Hawks held on to a 47-43 lead at the half. The game was a competitive affair, but the Raptors were never able to fully close the gap, only outscoring the Hawks in the second quarter. Atlanta went on to win, 95-87.
DeMarre Carroll scored five points and FOUR steals in 14 minutes of play. This was DeMarre’s first game played since January 3rd, having missed just over 3 months of game action due to surgery, recovery, and rehab from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.
DeMar DeRozan shot just 7-24 from the floor in this game, and attempted (and made) only two free throws in the game, an uncharacteristically low tally for DeRozan.
The Hawks outscored the Raptors 22-2 on fastbreak points in the game, and the Raptors are now 1-5 when failing to score 90 points in a game this season.
Notable Raptors stat lines:
Norman Powell – Ten points, four rebounds
Jonas Valanciunas – 13 points (including 7-8 free throws), eight rebounds, one block
DeMar DeRozan – 16 points (7 of 24 shooting), four rebounds, four assists, one steal
Kyle Lowry – 16 points (6 of 15 shooting), four rebounds, six assists, one steal
Bismack Biyombo – Ten points, nine rebounds, one block
Notable Hawks stat lines:
Atlanta Hawks had seven players reach double-digit scoring:
Thabo Sefolosha – Ten points
Paul Millsap – 13 points, 14 rebounds, two assists, one steal, five blocks (Millsap’s 30th double-double of the season)
Al Horford – 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals
Kyle Korver – 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, three blocks
Jeff Teague – 23 points, five assists, one block
Tim Hardaway Jr. – 11 points, one steal, two blocks
Mike Scott – 11 points, seven rebounds
Postgame Reactions:
Dwane Casey
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT-VEMIXeIM]DeMar DeRozan
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awGuB-OE_Pw]DeMarre Carroll
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