Howard scores 27 to lead Hawks past Raptors
TORONTO -- Dwight Howard scored 27 points and added 15 rebounds and the Atlanta Hawks held on to defeat the Toronto Raptors 125-121 on Friday night.
The Hawks lost 128-84 in their previous visit to the Air Canada Centre on Dec. 3.
The loss ended the Raptors' four-game winning streak. They have won 10 of their past 12 games.
Dennis Schroder added 24 points, Kyle Korver had 19 off the bench, Paul Millsap and Tim Hardaway Jr. 14 each and Malcolm Delaney 10 for Atlanta (13-13).
DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors (18-8) with 34 points and Kyle Lowry added 27. Cory Joseph added 17 points off the bench for Toronto with Jonas Valanciunas contributing 11 points and Patrick Patterson and Terrence Ross 10 each.
The Hawks led by 17 points at halftime and by 13 after the third quarter.
DeRozan trimmed the lead to six points with 2:35 to play but Millsap's cutting dunk had Atlanta ahead by eight with 2:17 left.
DeRozan's jumper again reduced the lead to six. Schroder's layup put the Hawks up by eight with 1:27 to go. A dunk by Valanciunas got the lead down to six points and DeRozan cut it to four with a turnaround jumper.
Delaney made one of two free throws to put the lead at five with 16.6 seconds left before DeRozan's shot made it a three-point lead.
Schroder made one of two free throws and Atlanta led by four points with six points left. Lowry missed a shot to end the game.
Howard scored eight points and added six rebounds to lead Atlanta to a 37-25 advantage after the first quarter.
After Lowry missed three free throws, Thabo Sefolosha put the Hawks ahead by 12 points with a layup in the second quarter.
Howard's put-back layup and free throw stretched the Hawks' lead to 15 points with 1:55 to play in the first half.
The lead reached 19 on Kent Bazemore's 3-pointer with 31.5 seconds left in the first half.
The Hawks led 69-52 at halftime.
Howard had 18 points and nine rebounds in the first half as Atlanta shot 55.8 percent from the field. Lowry led Toronto with 16 first-half points.
DeRozan scored the first six points of the second half as the Raptors trimmed the Hawks' lead to 11 points.
DeMarre Carroll made three free throws with 3:42 left in the third quarter to cut the Hawks' lead to five points. Korver answered with his fourth 3-pointer of the game 21 seconds later.
Mike Muscala's layup got the lead back to 15 and the Hawks led 95-82 after three quarters.
Korver's 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter had the Atlanta lead at 16.
Joseph made two free throws with 5:57 remaining to cut the lead to 10 points. Lowry's 3-pointer whittled the lead to nine with 4:54 to play
A 3-pointer by Ross and a running dunk by DeRozan reduced Atlanta's lead to six points with 3:47 left.
NOTES: Hawks G Tim Hardaway Jr. started Friday at shooting guard and will start the next game as well on Saturday. G Kent Bazemore is being brought back slowly after missing two games with a sore right knee. Bazemore played 15 minutes off the bench Tuesday in the 131-120 loss to the Orlando Magic. ... Atlanta F DeAndre Bembry (personal reasons) did not make the trip to Toronto. No specific reason was given. ... Toronto C Lucas Nogueira (sore right knee) returned to the lineup in his reserve role Friday after missing the 123-114 win over the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday. ... The Raptors will visit the Magic at Amway Center on Sunday. ... The Hawks will be home to the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday at Philips Arena.