Raptors-Hawks Preview

By TAYLOR BECHTOLD
Posted Jan 29 2013 4:07PM

After having their winning streak snapped, the Atlanta Hawks may be able to bounce back quickly against a Toronto Raptors team they've dominated recently.

The Hawks look for their fourth win in five games Wednesday night when they host the short-handed Raptors, who have lost 11 of 13 in the series.

After a rough 2-8 stretch, the Hawks (25-19) showed some signs of life with three straight wins - albeit against struggling Minnesota, Charlotte and Boston - before falling 106-104 at first-place New York on Sunday.

"They just made plays," said Jeff Teague, who had a team-high 27 points. "Things just didn't go our way."

Atlanta, though, has enjoyed a rebirth offensively, averaging 102.5 points in regulation in its last four games while shooting 52.1 percent from the field - 44.0 percent on 3-pointers.

The Hawks had scored 88.6 per game on 44.0 percent shooting and 36.0 percent from beyond the arc in their previous 10. Al Horford (22.7), Josh Smith (22.3), Kyle Korver (20.3) and Jeff Teague (20.0) are each averaging at least 20 points in his last three games.

They should be able to keep it going against the Raptors (16-29), who have allowed 104.0 points per game in regulation over their last nine following a 114-102 loss to Golden State on Monday.

Toronto has lost seven of those nine contests, continuing to be plagued by injuries.

The Raptors are expected to again play without Linas Kleiza (sore knee), Andrea Bargnani (torn elbow ligament) and Jonas Valanciunas (broken finger). Kyle Lowry (back spasms) is a game-time decision.

"I see fatigue, I see mental and physical fatigue," coach Dwane Casey said.

It doesn't figure to get any easier Wednesday for Toronto, which had lost seven straight trips to Atlanta before a 102-86 victory behind DeMar DeRozan's 23 points April 15. The Hawks won 109-87 in Toronto the following night in the teams' most recent meeting as Teague had 19 points and 10 assists.

Teague has averaged 19.1 points and 8.3 assists over his last seven games for Atlanta, which shot a season-best 60.0 percent from the field Sunday despite losing.

The Hawks allowed their second-highest field-goal percentage at 54.2 percent and 16 of 27 from beyond the arc. They had limited opponents under 100 points in regulation in 13 of 14 before Sunday.

They'll try to tighten things up against a Toronto team that has averaged 107.8 points and shot 48.9 percent in its last six road games. The Raptors have gone 3-3 in that span with two losses coming in overtime.

Ed Davis has stepped up lately, averaging 14.6 points on 55.4 percent shooting and 8.3 rebounds over the last 11 games. Alan Anderson also has played well, with 17.1 points per game over the last seven.

Despite averaging 3.0 points and 2.4 rebounds, Aaron Gray contributed a career-high 22 and 10, respectively, against the Warriors.

Horford's late jam helps Hawks edge Raptors, 93-92

By CHARLES ODUM
Posted Jan 30 2013 11:36PM

ATLANTA (AP) The Atlanta Hawks survived a wild, physical late-game battle under Toronto's basket - thanks to Al Horford's go-ahead dunk with 21 seconds remaining.

Horford had 22 points and 10 rebounds and played tough defense with two blocks near the basket in the closing seconds of the Hawks' 93-92 victory Wednesday night.

"It was a do-or-die situation," said Hawks coach Larry Drew, whose team braced for Toronto's final possession during a timeout with 12.6 seconds remaining.

"I told them during the timeout just believe in your defense, go out and get that one stop, and they did. There were bodies flying all over the place."

The game followed a late-afternoon trade which could reshape Toronto's season.

Longtime Raptors guard Jose Calderon and forward Ed Davis gave farewell hugs to their teammates about an hour before the game as word leaked of a trade that will send small forward Rudy Gay from Memphis to Toronto.

DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with 23 points. John Lucas added a season-high 19 points, Alan Anderson had 15 points and Aaron Gray had eight points and 11 rebounds.

With Toronto leading 92-91, a missed jumper by John Lucas set up a Hawks timeout with 27.8 seconds remaining. A few passes around the perimeter set up Horford's open jam to Atlanta the lead.

Horford blocked Kyle Lowry's shot out of bounds with 12.6 seconds remaining. The officials' review of the video confirmed possession belonged to Toronto.

Following a timeout, Alan Anderson missed a long jumper, DeRozan grabbed the rebound and had his attempt under the basket blocked by Horford. There was apparent contact from Horford on DeRozan, but no foul was called.

Coach Dwane Casey and the Raptors wanted a foul called during the intense exchange, but no whistle meant the Hawks survived for the win.

Casey charged onto the court with his arms extended, demanding an explanation for the no-call in the final seconds. He was still upset in his postgame news conference.

"I'm tired of this," Casey said. "I'm tired of losing games because of missed calls at the end of the game. I know the league's going to come down on me for this, but I don't care. Guys have fought their hearts out, played their hearts out and at the end of the game we get cracked, apology, go back to Canada."

Casey said his initial belief a foul should have been called was supported by his review of the video.

"I've been in this league 18 years and I've never seen as many missed calls at the end of the game to cost us the game," Casey said. "We have good officials. Too good to miss calls and short-change these young men like that. And it's not right."

Josh Smith had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Atlanta. Kyle Korver, who made five 3-pointers, had 17.

The Hawks had 10 3-pointers, giving them a franchise-record five straight games with at least 10 3s.

Smith said the Hawks "played some pretty good defense" in the closing seconds, though he added with a smile "I don't know what happened" after Anderson's miss.

The Raptors were left with nine players in uniform following the trade.

Calderon and Davis were starters, but Gay, averaging 17.2 points and 5.9 rebounds, could boost the Raptors' chances of moving into the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Toronto entered Wednesday's games in 11th place in the conference, 5 1/2 games behind eighth-place Boston.

Drew said before the game he warned his players to not be distracted by the Toronto trade.

Despite Drew's warning, the Hawks appeared to be sluggish in the first half as they fell behind by 13 points at 53-40 following a 10-0 run by the more aggressive Raptors. Toronto outrebounded the Hawks 28-13 in the half and led 55-45 at halftime.

The Hawks finally answered Drew's call in the third quarter, when they took the lead by outscoring the Raptors 30-14.

NOTES: Brothers B.J. and Justin Upton, added to the Braves' outfielder through free agency and a trade, respectively, had front-row seats, one day after Justin had his introductory news conference in Atlanta. ... Gray had 10 rebounds in the first half, matching his season high for a game. He had 22 points and 10 rebounds in Toronto's 112-102 loss to Golden State on Monday night. ... The Raptors finished with a 52-36 advantage in rebounds.

Notebook: Hawks 93, Raptors 92

Matt Winkeljohn, for NBA.com
Posted Wed Jan 30, 2013 11:32 PM - Updated Wed Jan 30, 2013 11:32 PM

THE FACTS: Al Horford scored 22 points, blocked two Toronto shots in the final 12 seconds, and his wide-open dunk with 21 seconds left helped the Hawks beat the shorthanded Raptors 93-92 Wednesday.

Atlanta (26-19) survived a frantic final sequence by Toronto (16-30), which dressed nine players after a trade that sent starting point guard Jose Calderon and starting power forward Ed Davis packing an hour before tip.

Yet with three starters new since Wednesday, the Raptors not only led by 13 in the second quarter, but had three shots to win in the final 13 seconds.

Their last shot came when Horford was not called for a foul despite laying a whole lot of body on Toronto's DeMar DeRozan as he tried score from point-blank range with a couple seconds left. Horford was credited with a blocked shot.

Horford had blocked Kyle Lowry's driving attempt out of bounds with 12 seconds left, and Alan Anderson missed a jumper with 4.9 to go.

DeRozan rebounded that, and went up only to find Horford all over him.

Horford gathered the ball and tossed it down court. The final seconds drained off the clock with Raptors coach Dwane Casey stomping on the court. DeRozan finished with a game-high 23 points.

John Lucas scored nine of his season-high 19 points in the second quarter, when Toronto pushed its lead to 53-40 with an 11-0 run.

Starting for Calderon, Lowry had 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Raptors whipped the Hawks 52-36 on the boards as Amir Johnson had 14 and Aaron Gray 10. Toronto, though, shot 33-for-85 (38.8 percent).

Josh Smith (20 points, 11 rebounds, three steals, three blocked shots) and Horford (10 rebounds, six assists) each scored 14 points in the second half as Atlanta overcame a 55-45 halftime deficit.

QUOTABLE: "Everything was happening really fast. My first instinct was the block the shot, and the ball just kind of hung around. I saw there was a second on the clock so I threw it out so they couldn't foul. It worked out."
-- Horford.

THE STAT: 4 -- The Hawks blocked four shots in the fourth quarter on a night when they swatted eight overall. Horford had two of his three in the period, Smith one of his three and DeShawn Stevenson his only one.

TURNING POINT: Horford's game-winning dunk was a schematic thing of beauty. He set a screen on the right side for Kyle Korver. When Toronto center Gray stepped out on the Atlanta sharpshooter (5-for-9 on 3-pointers Wednesday), Horford flashed into the paint.

Smith, who had the ball at the top of the arc, whizzed a pass through the wide-open lane.

QUOTABLE II: "They were hedging out on Kyle all night long, which is to be expected because he can knock down that shot. He has a very quick release. The play was run to perfection. Al set the screen, slipped it hard. I was able to threat it down the middle . ... it's our fourth-and-one play."
-- Smith on the game-winner.

HOT: After shooting 5-for-9 on 3-pointers, Korver is 31-for-51 (60.8 percent) over his past seven games. He's shot 41-for-68 (60.3 percent) overall in that span, averaging 17.4 points. Korver is the NBA's leading 3-point shooter (46.8 percent). ...

NOT: Toronto shot just 27.8 percent in the third quarter (5-for-18), when the Hawks outscored the Raptors 30-14. ...

NOTABLE: In addition to playing without Calderon and Davis, the Raptors were without Andrea Bargnani (torn elbow ligament), Linas Kleiza (sore right knee), Mickael Pietrus (left knee tendinitis) and Jonas Valanciunas (broken finger). ...Hawks reserve center Zaza Pachulia was out for the second time in four games with a sore right Achilles' tendon. ... Anthony Morrow was back in uniform for Atlanta after missing 17 games with back and hip issues, but he did not play. ... Atlanta's last three home games have seen the Hawks overcome double-digit deficits to win: (-18 Jan. 21 vs. Minnesota; -27 Jan. 25 vs. Boston and -13 vs. Toronto). ... Atlanta has made at least 10 3-pointers in a franchise-record five straight games.

UP NEXT: For the Raptors, Friday vs. L.A. Clippers, Sunday vs. Miami, Wednesday vs. Boston. For the Hawks, Saturday vs. Chicago, Tuesday @ Indiana, Wednesday vs. Memphis.

• Raptors: Calderon, Davis
• Hawks: Pachulia, Williams

• Raptors: --
• Hawks: --

• Lead Changes: 13
• Times Tied: 11

• Arena: Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
• Officials: #25 Tony Brothers, #42 Eric Lewis, #54 Nick Buchert
• Attendance: 12021
• Duration: 2:14