Hawks at Raptors
The Toronto Raptors have won 13 of their last 14 home games to keep the pressure on the first-place Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference. The Atlanta Hawks, who visit the Raptors on Thursday, are riding a hot streak of their own and have jumped into fifth place in the East.
The Hawks picked up their third straight win with a 91-84 triumph at Utah on Tuesday and are winners of five of their last six, with the lone loss in that span coming at the NBA-best Golden State Warriors. The five wins have all featured strong defensive performances, with Atlanta allowing the opposition an average of 84.4 points in the victories, and the Hawks limited the Jazz to 34.9 percent from the floor on Tuesday. Toronto was having some problems on the defensive end in a 113-107 loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday that snapped a franchise-record, 12-game home winning streak and continued its issues on that end while allowing the Brooklyn Nets to build up a 16-point halftime lead on Tuesday. The Raptors locked down in the second half to pull out a 104-99 victory and will face three teams battling for playoff position in the East to finish out the seven-game homestand.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Atlanta), TSN2 (Toronto)
ABOUT THE HAWKS (36-28): Atlanta will face the Raptors three times and Cleveland twice over the final 18 games of the regular season as it tries to close the gap on No. 3 Boston and No. 4 Miami in the East while holding off a group of teams coming from behind. Hawks point guard Jeff Teague is picking up the offense of late and is averaging 23 points on 17-of-33 shooting in the last two games. The 27-year-old failed to reach 20 points in any of the previous six games and had found himself on the bench in the fourth quarter in favor of backup Dennis Schroder.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (42-20): Toronto will challenge Teague with the best backcourt in the Eastern Conference in All-Stars DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry. The two both failed to reach 20 points in the loss to the Rockets but bounced back on Tuesday and combined for 48 points and 11 assists. “(The season is) a grind,” Lowry told reporters. “A lot of people don’t understand the work that goes into it every game. Yes, we get paid good money and yes we’re treated very well, but it’s a grind, mentally, physically on your body.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hawks G Kyle Korver is 11-of-20 from 3-point range over the last four games.
2. Raptors F Jason Thompson made his first start on Monday since joining the team last week and scored nine points on 4-of-6 shooting.
3. Lowry scored 31 points while Teague was held to 11 as Toronto won at Atlanta 96-86 on Dec. 2.