Raptors 113, Hawks 96
ATLANTA - The Atlanta Hawks didn't put up a fight against the Toronto Raptors Tuesday night at Philips Arena, losing 113-96.
The Hawks never led after the six-minute mark in the first quarter, when the score was 19-18, and they were down by 21 points at the end of the third quarter.
DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points for the Raptors and Rudy Gay scored 22. Kyle Lowry had 11 assists to go with eight points, Amir Johnson had 11 points and eight rebounds and Jonas Valanciunas added 13 points and eight rebounds for Toronto (33-48).
The Raptors, with nothing but pride to play for, shot 66.7 percent from the field in the first half to lead the Hawks 68-51, despite turning the ball over 11 times.
The Hawks (44-37), whose priority going into the game was to come out of it healthy so as not to jeopardize their playoff chances, never found a rhythm; coach Larry Drew's game plan was to play all his available players moderate minutes.
Josh Smith, bothered by some tendinitis in his knee, was shut down after 13 minutes; he had six points and three rebounds in 13 minutes. Jeff Teague had four points and nine assists in 18 minutes.
Kyle Korver, who knocked down two 3-point shots in the first three and a half minutes of the game to extend his streak of games with at least one made 3-point shot to 73, was the only Hawk in double figures after the first half with 10 points. He finished with 13.
Ivan Johnson had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
NOTES: The Hawks were without Al Horford, who has been experiencing some soreness in his surgically repaired left pectoral muscle. He was scheduled to be examined by Dr. Xavier Duralde prior to the game. Duralde, who performed Horford's surgery, was coming over from the Atlanta Braves' game, where he was checking on the strained right oblique of first baseman Freddie Freeman. ... Horford will travel to New York following Tuesday's game. The Hawks close out the season against the Knicks on Wednesday night. ... DeShawn Stevenson was also out for the Hawks. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported he had a cold. ... Hawks coach Larry Drew said he was being cautious with the playoffs at hand and that he'd be keeping an eye on everybody's minutes. ... Raptors coach Dwane Casey said he likes his team's recent focus, fight and togetherness. "This is the time of year, believe me, every coach in the league is pulling their hair out, whether they're in the playoffs or not," Casey said. ... Valanciunas was back in the starting lineup for the Raptors. He had missed two games with a flexion extension (whiplash) in his neck.
