Hawks at Raptors
THE STORY: The Atlanta Hawks look to finish a five-game road trip in a strong fashion when they visit the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday. Atlanta is 3-1 on the excursion after a 22-point win over the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday and is attempting to defeat Toronto for the second time this season. The Hawks beat the Raptors 93-84 in Atlanta on Jan. 16 as Josh Smith had 28 points and a season-best 15 rebounds and Joe Johnson poured in 27 points. Toronto received 22 points from Leandro Barbosa, who is nursing a sore left ankle and could miss Tuesday’s contest. The Raptors will be without center Andrea Bargnani (calf) for the ninth time in 11 games. Toronto is coming off a 3-2 trip that ended with a 21-point trouncing of the New Jersey Nets on Sunday despite the absence of Bargnani and Barbosa. “The guys played like they believed,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “They knew that we were shorthanded, so everybody carried their load.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, SportSouth (Atlanta), Sportsnet One (Toronto)
ABOUT THE HAWKS (15-6): Point guard Jeff Teague is one of the most-improved players in the NBA and matched his career-high with 24 points in the victory over New Orleans. Teague hit 9 of 11 shots and all four of his 3-point attempts. Atlanta didn’t even know if Teague could play after he sprained his left ankle two nights earlier against Detroit. But Teague did and recorded his fifth 20-point game of the campaign. He is averaging 13.0 points, a steep increase over last season’s 5.2 mark.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (7-14): Guard DeMar DeRozan had his top shooting performance of the season in the win over New Jersey, hitting 8 of 12 field goal attempts and scoring a season-best 27 points. DeRozan has been madly inconsistent and had tallied only 29 points in Toronto’s preceding three games. He was more aggressive driving with the basketball against the Hornets and went to the free throw line 16 times, making 11. “He’s too athletic and too quick to not get to the rim,” Casey said. DeRozan is averaging 14.6 points.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Atlanta has defeated Toronto five consecutive times.
2. Johnson’s season-high output last season was a 37-point game against the Raptors.
3. Toronto guard Jerryd Bayless has 35 points in the last two games after totaling only 14 in his first three games after returning from an ankle injury.