Hawks-Raptors Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Apr 15 2012 11:22PM

The Atlanta Hawks have a favorable schedule to try to push for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, but did themselves no favors against the Toronto Raptors.

These teams complete a home-and-home set Monday night as the Hawks play their final road game and try to avenge a stunning loss to the Raptors.

Atlanta fell 102-86 at home to Toronto on Sunday, trailing by as many as 24 points and by double digits for almost the entire fourth quarter. The Hawks had won six straight matchups in the series.

"Very flat," Hawks coach Larry Drew said. "The energy level was very low."

Atlanta (35-25) fell into a tie for fifth place in the Eastern Conference with Orlando, three games behind Indiana in the race for the No. 3 seed. The Hawks, who close the regular season with five home games, and the Magic are one-half game behind Atlantic Division leader Boston.

"I think this is a game we need to think about," guard Willie Green said. "We're supposed to be getting prepared for a playoff run. It was a letdown tonight on our part."

It was a particularly dreadful night for Joe Johnson, who made 2 of 12 shots for seven points, failing to score in double figures for the first time in 24 games. Johnson averages 18.6 points.

"Give Toronto credit," he told the league's official website. "They were better than us tonight. If we come out and start like that (Monday), they'll be better than us. We'll see."

The result was particularly surprising since Toronto (22-39) played without Andrea Bargnani (calf) and guard Jerryd Bayless (oblique), who are both out for the season. Point guard Jose Calderon also was out, and he's day to day with an eye injury.

Instead, the Raptors used three players on 10-day contracts to support DeMar DeRozan, who had a team-high 23 points. One of those players, Alan Anderson, had 16.

"Guys are just playing the right way, playing together, playing with a purpose," coach Dwane Casey said. "You've got guys who don't want to go down without a fight."

Toronto shot 55.4 percent for its second-best mark of the season. Casey also employed a zone defense at times that helped force the Hawks into missing 17 of 22 3-pointers.

"It's a changeup and it's kind of disguised," the coach said. "We see sometimes that teams don't know whether it's a man-to-man or if it's zone. It helps. You can't win a championship with it but it's a good thing to have in our pocket."

Ben Uzoh and rookie Justin Dentmon added 10 points each. The 10-day contracts of Anderson, Uzoh and Dentmon will expire Monday, giving them one more day to impress the Raptors.

"Coach keeps saying, 'Make the extra pass; share the ball.' We're passing up good shots for great shots," Anderson said. "Everybody wants to stay in the NBA."

Josh Smith led Atlanta with 26 points, and Green and Ivan Johnson chipped in with 14 apiece.

Teague has double-double as Hawks beat Raptors

Posted Apr 16 2012 10:25PM

TORONTO (AP) This was one night the Atlanta Hawks were happy to be playing back-to-back games.

Jeff Teague had 19 points and 10 assists, Ivan Johnson scored a career-high 21 and the Hawks beat Toronto 109-87 on Monday to clinch their fifth consecutive playoff berth.

Joe Johnson scored 18 points and Josh Smith had 15 points and nine rebounds as the Hawks avenged Sunday's 102-86 home loss to Toronto, a game in which the Raptors never trailed.

"I'm glad we were able to turn right back around and play this team again," Joe Johnson said. "That way we could really get that sour taste out of our mouth."

Teague agreed that it was good to face Toronto again while the sting of Sunday's defeat was still fresh.

"Losing a home game like that, you want to come out and get another crack at it," Teague said. "It's rare when you get another chance to play a team that just beat you."

Marvin Williams scored 16 for Atlanta and former Raptors star Tracy McGrady scored nine of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, giving the Hawks their seventh win in eight games against the Raptors.

"We let it slide through the cracks (Sunday) night but we responded tonight," Hawks coach Larry Drew said. "Right at the beginning of the game we played with a lot of energy, a lot of intensity."

Drew issued a pregame challenge to Teague to step up his aggressiveness and the third-year guard followed through by leading the Hawks to 28 fast-break points, the most by a Raptors opponent this season.

"I thought he was a difference maker tonight with his speed," Drew said. "He got in the lane quite a few times tonight. When he's playing with that type of aggression, we're just a different ball club."

The victory allowed the Hawks to remain tied with Orlando, which earned a home win over Philadelphia earlier Monday, for fifth place in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta owns the tiebreaker with the Magic.

"We're right there in the thick of things," Drew said. "As long as there's an opportunity for us to move up, we want to try to take advantage of that."

The Hawks finished their road schedule at 17-16, the first time they've been above .500 on the road since the lockout shortened 1998-99 season, when they went 15-10. They finish up with five straight at home against Detroit, Miami, the Knicks, Clippers and Dallas.

"Hopefully we can get all five of those," Teague said. "That would be big."

DeMar DeRozan scored 22 points to lead Toronto, James Johnson had 18 and Alan Anderson added 12.

"What a difference a day makes," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "(The Hawks) came out and made some shots."

Leading 79-68 through three, Atlanta pulled further away with an 8-0 run to start the final quarter, including three points from McGrady and a 3 by Joe Johnson.

Anderson stopped the run with a 3 but Toronto never recovered and was unable to get the deficit below 15 points the rest of the way.

"We did the exact same thing that they did (Sunday)," James Johnson said. "We let our heads down early when the fight was still on."

DeRozan had 11 points in the first quarter and James Johnson came off the bench to score seven, but Williams hit a 3 with less than a second left to pull the to 32-30 after 12 minutes.

James Johnson scored eight points in a dunk-filled second quarter, with the teams combining for six slams, four by the Raptors. Teague answered with eight points and Ivan Johnson and Williams each had six for Atlanta, which led 54-51 at halftime.

Toronto scored just four points in the final 3:12 of the third as Atlanta turned a 67-64 edge into a 79-68 lead heading into the fourth. Teague scored eight points in the third and Ivan Johnson had seven.

Seldom-used Toronto center Solomon Alabi set career highs with eight points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes. Guard Ben Uzoh set career-highs with 10 rebounds and eight assists.

NOTES: The Raptors signed Anderson and Uzoh for the rest of the season but did not re-sign G Justin Dentmon when his 10-day contract expired Monday. ... Toronto's Jose Calderon (right eye) missed his third straight game while Linas Kleiza (sore right knee) dressed but did not play. ... Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar attended the game. ... Atlanta is 24-3 when scoring 100 points or more. ... The Raptors wore camouflage uniforms on the fourth and final time this season. ... Toronto's final home game, April 26 against New Jersey, has been moved ahead one hour and will now start at 7 p.m. EDT.

Notebook: Hawks 109, Raptors 87

Posted Monday April 16, 2012 10:34PM

By Duane Watson, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Atlanta Hawks (36-25) defeated the Toronto Raptors (22-40) 109-87 at the Air Canada Centre. Playing in the second half of a home-and-home, the Hawks made up for a home defeat on Sunday to the Raptors losing 102-86 and clinched a playoff spot with the win. The Hawks are fighting for home court advantage in the Eastern Conference in a fight for the fourth spot.

After only leading 54-51 at the half, the Hawks outscored the Raptors 25-17 in the third, with the Raptors shooting 7-for-22 (.318) from the field in the quarter. The Hawks continued the pace in the fourth, taking a 24-point lead in the quarter and making up for their own embarrassing loss the night before. Ivan Johnson's career-high 21 points and eight rebounds off the bench led the Hawks, while Jeff Teague added 19 points and 10 assists. Joe Johnson had 18 points and Marvin Williams contributed 16 off the bench. The Raptors were paced by DeMar DeRozan's 22 points and James Johnson's 18 points, had their two-game win streak snapped and fell to 12-20 at home.

QUOTABLE: "We was better than what we played last night, we just stepped it up more. It happens, it's the NBA where amazing happens."
-- Hawks forward Ivan Johnson

THE STAT: Fast break points were 28-5 in favor of the Hawks. Their ability to capitalize on the Raptors 19 turnovers and put the ball into motion was a big difference.

TURNING POINT: The third quarter opened the game up for Atlanta with the Raptors shooting 7-for-22 (.318) from the field and a Hawks 13-4 run near the end of the quarter. Atlanta took their biggest lead of the game at that point with 13 points, ending the quarter up 79-68 and never looked back.

QUOTABLE II: "I'm glad we was able to turn right back around and play this team again. That way we can really go ahead and get that sour taste out of of our mouths. We understand that we was the better team last night and we wanted to come out and show it and we did."
-- Hawks guard Joe Johnson

HOT: James Johnson went 6-for-7 from the floor in the first half. He finished with 15 points, three assists, one steal and a monster 3-point play dunk on Vladimir Radmanovic. He has shot 12-for-15 with 30 points in his last three quarters. Unfortunately in the second half he was held to one basket, scoring 2 points on 1-for-4 shooting.

NOT: The Raptors point guards. With Jose Calderon suffering an eye injury, available only if needed Ben Uzoh and Gary Forbes shot a combined 5-for-23 with eight assists and six turnovers. Both logged heavier minutes than normal after point guard Justin Dentmon's 10-day contract was not renewed today.

NOTABLE: It was the Hawks' last road game of the season, as they finished 17-16 ... The Hawks win the season series (3-1) with Toronto for the fourth straight year ... The Hawks have scored 100 or more points in five of their last seven games .... Hawks guard Willie Green was not with the team ... Linas Kleiza (sore right knee) and Calderon (eye) were dressed for the Raptors but did not play .... Former Toronto Blue Jay and Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar was at the game ... The Hawks have won seven of eight matches against the Raptors ... The Raptors signed forward Alan Anderson and Uzoh for the remainder of the 2011-12 season ... Uzoh recorded career highs with 10 rebounds and eight assists ... Solomon Alabi recorded career highs in points (8) rebounds (9) and minutes (24) ...

UP NEXT: Toronto goes on the road on Wednesday @ Miami, @ Detroit on Sunday and @ Milwaukee on Monday. Atlanta returns home to play vs. Detroit on Wednesday, vs. Boston on Friday and vs. New York on Sunday.

• Hawks: Horford, Pachulia
• Raptors: Bargnani, Bayless

• Hawks: --
• Raptors: --

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
• Officials: #38 Michael Smith, #56 Mark Ayotte, #66 Haywoode Workman
• Attendance: 15992
• Duration: 2:10