Last night the Atlanta Hawks (3-15) fell to the Toronto Raptors (15-4) by a score of 124-108 at State Farm Arena. It was one of those nights where the final score didn’t properly reflect the overall story of the night. A night where the veteran Vince Carter reached 25,000 points, in the final seconds of the game, with a dunk, against the team that drafted him to kick off his NBA career.
It took a while for both clubs to find a rhythm, but once the Raptors found theirs they never let up. After they went up on the Hawks 29-24, the Hawks would play catch up the rest of the evening.
Hawks veteran Jeremy Lin had a fantastic game and looked like the “Linsanity” that fans were hoping for with his arrival. Not only did he have his best game yet as a Hawk, but he also had a team-high in points, keeping the game within reach throughout the first half. He would finish with 26 points.
The milestone man Vince Carter would finish with 14 points and five rebounds. It was an above average night for the former Raptor as he basically continues on his farewell tour (he announced this would be his last season).
The Hawks Miles Plumlee would prove helpful in the third quarter but the night belonged to Toronto.
A total of five Raptors players would end the night with double-digit points: Pascal Siakam (22), Jonas Valančiūnas (24), Fred Van Vleet (11), Kyle Lowry (21), and Serge Ibaka (19). Lowry and Valančiūnas both had double-doubles by totaling 25 rebounds along with their point total (13 for Valančiūnas, 12 for Lowry).
The loss against the Raptors is the Hawks ninth straight. They’ll try to shake off their poor run of form when they travel to Boston to face the Celtics Friday, November 23.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
-Jon J.
Photo: Hakim Wright