Raptors-Hawks Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Jan 15 2012 1:41PM

The Atlanta Hawks have been getting solid production from a number of players since All-Star center Al Horford was hurt.

The slumping Toronto Raptors need someone to step up if injured center Andrea Bargnani remains out.

Atlanta goes for its fifth straight victory in this series Monday when the Raptors try to end a season-high four-game losing streak.

With Horford sidelined at least three months after suffering a torn left pectoral muscle in Wednesday's 96-84 loss at Indiana, the Hawks (9-4) have a major hole to fill. So far, Atlanta hasn't missed a beat, routing Charlotte 111-81 on Thursday before rallying from 18 points down in the third quarter Saturday for a 93-91 win over Minnesota.

Ivan Johnson, Willie Green and Vladimir Radmanovic combined for 14 points off the bench during a 24-2 Hawks run that bridged the third and fourth quarters.

"I just thought it was a really gutsy performance by our guys, particularly the guys that came off the bench, Ivan Johnson, Willie Green - I thought he did a phenomenal job in spearheading that comeback," coach Larry Drew said. "... That's where it all begins with us. If we're not playing with energy, we can't expect positive results. But it's just a gutsy performance."

Johnson, who hit the clinching free throws with 4.6 seconds left, finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Green scored all 10 of his points in the final 12 minutes.

The two have combined for 43 of the team's 51 bench points in the last two games.

Joe Johnson, who finished with a season-high 37 points in Toronto's last visit - a 100-87 Hawks victory on Feb. 2 - leads Atlanta with 48 points in two games without Horford.

Josh Smith is averaging 19.0 and 10.5 rebounds in those contests, while point guard Jeff Teague is adding 18.0 points and 8.5 assists per game.

The Hawks will go for a fourth straight home win overall and seventh in a row over the Raptors there.

Toronto (4-9) is in the middle of a three-game trip following Saturday's 77-64 loss against Chicago.

The Raptors starting frontcourt of Amir Johnson (13 rebounds), Rasual Butler and Ed Davis combined for eight points and missed 13 of 17 shots.

"With Andrea out, we didn't have a low-post presence," coach Dwane Casey said.

It's uncertain if Bargnani, the team leader with 22.3 points per game, will play Monday after missing two games with a strained left calf.

"Andrea Bargnani adds so much when he's on the court. It's tough not having him, but we have to fight it out," DeMar DeRozan told the Raptors' official Twitter account.

The Raptors would likely be in a better position if forward James Johnson were available off the bench, but he's also questionable after leaving Saturday's game with a sprained right ankle. He finished with 12 points.

No matter who's ready to go, Toronto needs to keep taking care of the ball. The team committed a season-low nine turnovers Saturday after averaging 19.3 in its previous three games.

"Thats' something that we have to continue to do to give ourselves a chance," Casey said.

DeRozan is scoring 17.0 points per game on 51.3 percent shooting from the field in the last three, but he averaged just 12.7 as Toronto went 0-3 versus Atlanta in 2010-11.

Jose Calderon averaged 8.3 points and 8.0 assists in those losses - the first time the Raptors were swept in the season series since 1997-98.

Smith, Johnson push Hawks past Raptors 93-84

By GEORGE HENRY
Posted Jan 17 2012 1:30AM

ATLANTA (AP) Josh Smith believes the Atlanta Hawks can keep winning even though center Al Horford will miss the next three to four months with an injury.

"We have veteran guys who have been there and done that before," Smith said. "All we need is to just keep flying under the radar."

Smith scored 28 points and pulled down a season-high 15 rebounds and Joe Johnson added 27 points to help the Atlanta Hawks win their third straight game, 93-84 over the Toronto Raptors on Monday.

The Hawks are 3-0 since Horford tore his left pectoral muscle last week, and Smith is hardly concerned that Atlanta has yet to beat a strong opponent during that stretch. Charlotte, Minnesota and Toronto are a combined 11-29.

"We've played against some good teams here and some not-so-good teams, so we've just got to be able to be disciplined no matter who we're playing against," Smith said. "We have to be able to get out to a good start. The bench guys came in (Saturday) night and gave us a lift and the starters did the same thing today and everyone else followed."

Leandro Barbosa had 22 points off the bench for Toronto, which has lost five straight.

Toronto was without center Andrea Bargnani, the NBA's ninth-leading scorer, for the third straight game because of a strained left calf. Reserve guard James Johnson didn't play because of a sprained right ankle.

The Raptors twice cut the lead to one late in the third quarter when Barbosa hit a pair of free throws and a runner, but Atlanta went on an 18-9 run that Jeff Teague ended with a free throw to make it 81-71 with 7:55 remaining.

Toronto never got closer than five after Ed Davis scored inside over Smith to make it 85-80 with 2:12 left.

Smith responded on the next possession by jumping from the right baseline and tipping in Johnson's missed runner to give the Hawks an 87-80 lead.

"It sounds like a broken record, but I thought our guys competed," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "We're truly missing our players, but that's no excuse. There's only so much you can ask for from certain players. That's not their role."

Jose Calderon had 13 points and 11 assists and Amir Johnson added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost seven of eight overall and dropped to 2-6 on the road.

The Hawks converted 17 Toronto turnovers into 22 points.

"I don't want to make excuses, but we're a young team and we have a new coach," Calderon said. "Maybe we need some practice. Hopefully we can get on the same page. Sometimes we turn the ball over because we're trying to do too much."

Calderon likes that Casey wants the Raptors to run the floor with an up-tempo offense - an approach that could give Toronto a better chance to succeed when Bargnani and others return from injury.

"We just have to get used to this," Calderon said. "We have to keep fighting. Everybody believes in what we're doing, we just have to do it for 48 minutes. We're competing. We're not losing by 20 or 30 points."

Teague, who gave Atlanta its biggest lead when his floating jumper made it 43-30 at the 3:55 mark of the second, is pleased that the Hawks are doing what comes natural and leaning on their two best scorers (Johnson and Smith) with Horford sidelined.

"It's going to take team efforts every night," Teague said. "We've played well the last few games, but coming in here (Wednesday), Portland is a really good team. They'll play hard. We'll just have to stay together."

Atlanta improved to 10-4 overall, 6-1 at home.

Notes: The Hawks never trailed after Smith's layup made it 13-11 at the 6:35 mark of the first. ... Davis had 11 rebounds. ... Johnson and Teague each had six assists. ... Hawks G Tracy McGrady finished with no points and three assists in 8 minutes after missing the past three games with back spasms. ... Atlanta has won five straight over the Raptors and seven in a row at home.

Notebook: Hawks 93, Raptors 84

By Matt Winkeljohn, for NBA.com
Posted Monday January 16, 2012 9:49PM

Jon Cooper, for NBA.com -- THE FACTS: The Atlanta Hawks may have lost Al Horford, but thanks to Josh Smith and Joe Johnson, they continue to find ways to win without him.

Smith had 28 points and 15 rebounds, Johnson added 27, seven of them in the final quarter, and the Hawks held Toronto scoreless for nearly six minutes early in the fourth quarter to top the Raptors, 93-84, Monday afternoon on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at Philips Arena.

The Hawks raised their record to 10-4 on the season, 6-1 at home, and beat the Raptors for the fifth straight time and seventh time at Philips Arena. Toronto dropped its fifth in row to fall to 4-10 and is 2-6 on the road.

Atlanta started slowly and trailed 9-3 three minutes in, but then went on a 16-4 run over the next 5:00 to take a 19-13 lead. Smith fueled the run, scoring 12 points and eight straight. Toronto didn't help itself, shooting 1-for-6 and committing three of their seven first-quarter turnovers.

The Hawks would never trail again, leading by as much as 13 in the second quarter and by seven with 1:30 left in the third. But Toronto's zone defense frustrated Atlanta and its relentlessness attacking the basket in the third quarter, when they attempted 16 foul shots, cut the deficit to two points on two occasions and to one on two others. But they would never equalize.

The Raptors trailed 75-73 heading into the final quarter but went scoreless over the period's first 5:15, allowing the Hawks to open an eight-point lead. The lead would never go lower than five the rest of the way.

Leandro Barbosa came off the bench to score 22 points to lead the short-handed Raptors, who dressed 10 players and played only nine, while Jose Calderon added 13 points and 11 assists. Toronto hurt itself with 17 turnovers which led to 22 Hawks points.

QUOTABLE: "He's just playing. He's not worrying about anything. I think that's carrying over to everybody. He has me playing like that. It's going throughout the team."
-- Atlanta point guard Jeff Teague on the play of Josh Smith, who is averaging 22.0 points and 11.0 rebounds in Atlanta's three games without Al Horford.

THE STAT: 0-10. The Raptors started the fourth quarter trailing 75-73 but proceeded to miss their first 10 shots, allowing the Hawks to open up some breathing room.

TURNING POINT: As part of the 0-for-10, Toronto squandered an important possession 30 seconds into the fourth. Down 75-71, the Raptors had three looks at the basket and grabbed two offensive rebounds but came up empty. Barbosa missed a three, then, after grabbing his own long rebound, misfired on a mid-range jumper. Jamaal Magliore got the rebound of that miss but couldn't convert a short put-back. Atlanta's Ivan Johnson grabbed the rebound and Toronto would never get as close as four again.

QUOTABLE II: "We had too many turnovers and have to do a better job executing down the stretch. We break down, commit turnovers, and miss easy shots. Nobody forces us into anything. It's all on us."
-- Toronto guard DeMar DeRozan.

HOT: Josh Smith. The Hawks forward scored eight straight points in a five minute stretch of the first quarter during Atlanta's decisive 16-4 run. Three of the buckets came on the same play, a pick-and-roll in which he received the ball down on the left block. Smith's seven-foot jump hook began the run, which turned a 9-5 deficit into a 19-13 lead. Smith, who shot 13-of-19 for the game, was 6-for-7 in the first quarter, 7-for-9 at the first half and 10-of-14 over three.

ALSO HOT: After missing one of two free throws on the Hawks' first possession of the game, Joe Johnson was money from the line the rest of the way, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 in the final 12 minutes, five of them in the final 20.6 seconds.

HOT UNDER THE COLLAR: DeMar eRozan. The Raptors' guard got T'd up at a bad time. Toronto trailed by four when Magliore committed a foul with 3:07 left in the third quarter. Two seconds later DeRozan was called for his third foul. Four seconds after that he was whistled for his fourth. Toronto head coach Dwane Case subbed DeRozan out, but on his way to the bench he said the magic word and received a technical. The Hawks made the two shots on his foul and the technical, pushing the lead to seven.

NOT: That third-quarter sequence pretty much summed up DeRozan's day, as he shot 5-for-17 for the game, going 1-for-4 in each of the first three quarters. He was 0-for-4 from three. Teammate Gary Forbes also struggled, shooting 1-for-8, 0-for-5 in the second half. Forbes' only basket of the day came on a runner at the 8:35 mark of the second quarter.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Tough call, but Johnson outdid Smith all-around. Johnson shot 9-for-20 ? not as good as Smith's 13-for-19 ? but he also was 3-for-8 from three and 6-for-7 from the foul line (Smith didn't take a three and was 2-for-4 from the line). Johnson also grabbed five rebounds, dished out six assists against only one turnover, had two steals and three blocked shots. He had two blocks, total, coming into the game.

ROOKIE WATCH: Ivan Johnson continued to provide tough and productive minutes. The 27-year-old rookie played 21:48, scoring four points with two rebounds. While the numbers don't necessarily overwhelm, his energy and toughness in the paint made things difficult for the Raptors.

NOTABLE: Toronto was minus-5 on turnovers in the first quarter and minus-3 in the fourth They were outscored by 13 in those two quarters. They were even in the fourth quarter and plus-3 in the third and outscored the Hawks by six in those two quarters...The Raptors held a 40-28 edge on points in the paint and a 17-15 edge on second-chance points...Atlanta guard Tracy McGrady saw 8:10 of action. He didn't score but had three assists and a blocked shot. He'd sat the previous three games due to back spasms...Atlanta outshot Toronto 14-6 at the foul line in the first half, but the Raptors more than evened things up in the third quarter ? at least attempts-wise ? going to the line 16 times. They missed six of the 16 shots, however...Toronto shot 61.1 percent in the second quarter, but only outscored Atlanta, 27-24...The Hawks had a 7-2 edge in turnovers in the opening quarter and outscored Toronto off turnovers 11-2.

UP NEXT: For the Hawks, Wednesday vs. Portland, Friday @ Philadelphia, Saturday vs. Cleveland. For the Raptors, Wednesday @ Boston, Friday vs. Portland, Sunday @ L.A. Clippers.

• Raptors: Alabi, Gray
• Hawks: Hinrich, Horford

• Raptors: DeRozan
• Hawks: Teague

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
• Officials: #32 Eddie F. Rush, #71 Rodney Mott, #74 Curtis Blair
• Attendance: 11050
• Duration: 2:18