Raptors at Hawks
The Toronto Raptors struggled in their season opener, and won; the Atlanta Hawks did the same, and lost. Both teams will be looking for stronger efforts Friday as they face off in the Hawks' home opener. The Raptors looked listless Wednesday night but still did enough to escape with a 93-87 victory over the Boston Celtics, while Atlanta allowed the Dallas Mavericks to shoot better than 57 percent from the field in a 118-109 decision.
Toronto's best player in the opener may have been newcomer Tyler Hansbrough, who muscled his way to seven points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots in a reserve role. The Raptors will need his energy against a Hawks roster boasting one of the NBA's most impressive offensive frontcourts in Al Horford and Paul Millsap. It was the defense, however, that let Atlanta down as it surrendered a 17-2 third-quarter run in the loss to the Mavericks.
TV: 7:30, RSN1 (Toronto), FSN South (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (1-0): It may have been difficult to tell which team actually won Wednesday night after listening to Toronto head coach Dwane Casey after the game. "A lot of work, a lot of work to do," he told reporters. "Too many one-handed passes, too many one-on-ones. A good defensive team is going to shut that out. We've got to get that ball moving and we had been doing a good job of it, but for whatever reason in the fourth quarter we got standing around." Toronto finished with a 48-33 rebounding edge, led by Hansbrough and second-year center Jonas Valanciunas (11).
ABOUT THE HAWKS (0-1): New Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer saw things in the Mavericks' pivotal third-quarter run he would like his players to adopt. "We had a couple of turnovers in that stretch that kind of fueled them and we missed a shot or two and they got us in transition and got a couple of 3s," he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "That little moment is when the game changed. They had some guys step up and make plays in that period and we need the same from our group." Millsap was solid in his Atlanta debut, scoring 20 points on 9-of-15 from the field.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Toronto ended Atlanta's three-game winning streak in the head-to-head series with a 113-96 triumph April 16.
2. Hawks SF Kyle Korver has made a 3-pointer in 74 consecutive regular-season games, the fourth-longest streak in NBA history.
3. Valanciunas averaged 16 points and eight rebounds in a pair of games versus the Hawks last season.