ATLANTA — The Hawks (24-26) fell to the Raptors, 106-100, Monday at State Farm Arena, snapping a seven-game win streak.
Next up, the Hawks’ five-game homestand concludes when they host the Suns Thursday.
Below are some takeaways from the loss:
1. Trae Young missed this game with a right shoulder contusion, after taking a hit to the shoulder in the first half of Sunday’s win vs. the Lakers. Delon Wright started in his place and tallied a team-high seven assists, with Lou Williams adding six assists off the bench. The Hawks still moved the ball well, despite Young’s absence (28 assists to the Raptors’ 21), but missed Young’s game management and scoring down the stretch.
2. This snapped a seven-game win streak for the Hawks, who came in to this game with wins against Milwaukee, Minnesota, Miami, Charlotte, Sacramento, Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers. They hadn’t lost since Jan. 15 (a 117-108 loss to the Knicks). The Hawks’ recent success lifted them to play-in tournament standing, the No. 10 spot in the East, but they’ll still need to chip away and climb the ranks if they want to avoid the play-in.
3. Despite a nine-point Hawks lead at halftime, they got stomped in the third quarter, 32-15, and went into the fourth trailing, 80-72. Although the Hawks won the first half of this back-to-back Sunday vs. the Lakers after trailing by 10 entering the fourth, they didn’t quite have another comeback in them. A 3-pointer by Bogdan Bogdanovic (18 points, five rebounds, four assists) narrowed the deficit to 101-100 with 1:17 to play, but the Hawks quickly gave up a 3-pointer to OG Anunoby on the other end. Pascal Siakam missed two free throws with 15.1 seconds to play, giving the Hawks a fighting chance, but John Collins ( missed a jumper and the Raptors were able to pull away. Second-year center Onyeka Okongwu was again in the closing lineup for the Hawks, alongside Collins, De’Andre Hunter (17 points, five rebounds, one assist, one steal), Kevin Huerter and Bogdanovic.
“I thought they established the tempo with their defensive pressure pretty much all night long,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said. “I thought defensively for us, I thought we were back on our heels and they were in the attack mode, so they were the aggressors throughout this game.”
4. As a team, the Raptors made 18 3-pointers and shot 50% from beyond the arc, compared to the Hawks’ 37.5% (12-for-32) with Gary Trent Jr. leading the way (game-high 31 points, 9-for-15 from 3-point range). Fred VanVleet went 4-for-10 from 3-point range (16 points, 11 assists, six rebounds) and finished as a plus-17, with Siakam adding 25 points, four assists, two steals and two blocks.
5. With Young out, Huerter stepped up as a scorer and finished with a team-high 26 points, going 5-for-6 from 3-point range. He had 16 points in the first half on a perfect 6-for-6 clip, the first time Huerter has finished a half with 15-plus points without missing a shot from the field. Huerter also added two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Stat of the game: 15 (the amount of turnovers the Hawks committed, compared to the Raptors’ eight)
Star of the game: Trent Jr. (made nine 3′s and led Toronto in scoring with 31 points)
Quotable: “Just one game that we couldn’t come back from the beginning... They found a rhythm and basketball is all about that momentum.” (Bogdanovic on the Raptors pulling away in the second half)
