Hawks 93, Raptors 84
Josh Smith scored 28 points to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 93-84 win over the Toronto Raptors at Philips Arena on Monday.
Atlanta (10-4) picked up its third straight win and its fifth in a row over Toronto (4-10), which has dropped five straight contests.
Smith bounced over a crowd under the basket to tip in the ball, putting Atlanta ahead by eight points and stuffing a late comeback bid from the Raptors in the final minutes of the game. He added 15 rebounds to his stat line, making up for the loss of all-star center Al Horford, who is out with a shoulder injury.
Joe Johnson also had another strong showing, burying a 24-foot jumper to push Atlanta ahead by double figures in the closing minutes. Johnson finished with 27 points, six assists and five rebounds.
Toronto trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half, but reserve guard Leandro Barbosa brought the Raptors withing a single point. He had 22 points off the bench to make up for the abence of leading Toronto scorer Andrea Bargnani, who is out with a calf injury.
The Raptors struggled with turnovers, coughing the ball up 17 times, which were translated into 20 points for the Hawks. Toronto was ice cold from outside, shooting just 3 for 12 from 3-point range.
Amir Johnson and Jose Calderon each turned in 13-point efforts for Toronto.
Jeff Teague chipped in with 13 points for the Hawks.