Raptors 105, Hawks 97
TORONTO -- For the first time in franchise history, the Toronto Raptors have a 50-win season.
They reached the milestone by defeating the Atlanta Hawks 105-97 Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre.
DeMar DeRozan led the way with a game-high 26 points in addition to six assists and five rebounds. Jonas Valanciunas added 19 points and nine rebounds, while Kyle Lowry, who continues to be bothered by a right elbow injury, chipped in with 17 points, 11 assists and six rebounds.
The Raptors (50-24) topped Atlanta (45-31) for the fourth consecutive meeting and improved to 13-3 against the Southeast Division this season.
The Hawks were led by 18 points from Jeff Teague, while Tim Hardaway Jr. added 15 points off the bench. Dennis Schroder had 13 points, and Mike Scott finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Trailing by 22 after three quarters, Atlanta cut Toronto's lead to nine by holding the Raptors to 2-of-11 shooting from the field while outscoring the Atlantic Division leaders 17-4. However, that was as close as the Hawks would get as their four-game win streak ended.
The Raptors led 89-67 after three quarters as guard Norman Powell heated up. Powell had 10 points third-quarter points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field while going 2-for-3 from beyond the arc.
Toronto led 54-41 at the break behind 13 points from DeRozan.
In the second quarter, DeRozan had eight points, two rebounds and two assists.
Toronto held Atlanta to 38.6 percent shooting from the field and 29.4 from beyond the arc in the first half.
For the game, the Raptors barely outshot the Hawks, 45 percent to 44.6 percent. Atlanta also made 14 3-pointers to 11 for Toronto. The difference was at the foul line, where the Raptors were 22-for-28 while the Hawks were 9-for-13.
NOTES: Raptors F DeMarre Carroll (knee) received the green light from doctors to resume practicing. Carroll has missed 39 games. ... Raptors F Terrence Ross was available after missing three games with a sore left thumb. ... Raptors F Luis Scola missed his first game because of a sore left knee. F Jason Thompson started in his place. ... Hawks G Thabo Sefolosha remained active Wednesday despite right ankle stiffness. ... The Hawks open a four-game homestand Friday when the Cleveland Cavaliers come to Atlanta. The Raptors head out on a two-game trip to Memphis (Friday) and San Antonio (Saturday).