Hawks at Raptors
The Atlanta Hawks remain one of the worst teams in the NBA in terms of wins and losses but are also one of the most exciting. The Hawks will try to follow up a 152-point effort in a win over Washington on Sunday when they visit the defending champion Toronto Raptors on Tuesday.
Atlanta dropped a 140-111 decision at Oklahoma City on Friday but turned things around at the offensive end on Sunday, shooting 58.1 percent from the floor and totaling 30 assists in the 152-133 home victory over the Wizards. "Across the board, I thought we were great," Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce told reporters. "We fouled too much and it really kept them in the game in the first half, but I thought we were tremendous everywhere else." The Raptors are winners of seven in a row and are looking every bit like a team that intends to defend its title with Pascal Siakam taking on a starring role. The All-Star forward led the way with 35 points on 12-of-23 shooting as Toronto escaped with a 110-106 victory against the Spurs on Sunday, snapping an 11-game losing streak at San Antonio.
TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: FS Southeast, TSN4
ABOUT THE HAWKS (12-35): All-Star point guard Trae Young came out wearing No. 8 in honor of his idol Kobe Bryant following the news of the legend's passing on Sunday and played with a "Mamba mentality," collecting 45 points on 13-of-24 shooting and 14 assists. "Trae, he's a problem," Wizards coach Scott Brooks told reporters. "He's a handful. He's an All-Star for all the right reasons. He's a hard guy to guard, he was making his shots, he was getting guys involved. They run everything through him, which they should, and then we didn't do a good job of containing it." Young posted at least 26 points and 14 assists in each of his last three games and owns four 40-plus scoring efforts this month.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (32-14): Toronto and San Antonio each took 24-second violations to begin Sunday's game in honor of Bryant before fighting through a defensive battle. Siakam was one of the few players to shoot 50 percent or better from the floor in the win and he finished the two-game road trip a combined 21-of-38 from the floor, including 7-of-16 from beyond the arc. Reserve shooting guard Norman Powell, who grew up a fan of Bryant in southern California, went 3-of-11 from the floor on Sunday to snap a streak of seven straight games shooting 50 percent or better since he returned from a shoulder injury.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Raptors F Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (ankle) left Sunday's game and is day-to-day.
2. Hawks SG DeAndre' Bembry (hand) sat out the last three games and is questionable for Tuesday.
3. Toronto owns a nine-game winning streak in the series, including a 122-117 triumph at Atlanta last week.