The Toronto Raptors picked up their second road win of the season by defeating the Atlanta Hawks 122-119.
Clutch defense
The Raptors held on to win this game after giving up a 17-point first-quarter lead. The Raptors coughed up the basketball 19 times, which led to 32 points for the Hawks. However, the Raptors came up with timely stops in the fourth quarter. On one possession Trae Young had Jakob Poeltl one-on-one but the Raptors quickly doubled, which forced the ball out of his hands and led to a big time stop. Then with the game on the line, Young missed a three, but the Hawks picked up the offensive board. De’Andre Hunter then drove inside but Scottie Barnes blocked him. Poeltl came up with the ball and hit two clutch free throws to ice it for Toronto.
Gradey Dick hot start
Dick got off to a solid start scoring 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field in the first 6 minutes of the game. It was an aggressive start from the sophomore who has also shown improvement with his finishing at the rim. In Dick’s first 36 games, he had just 8 dunks. In his last 2 games, he has 4. One of them came in the first quarter when Dick finished a nice lob from Poeltl. Overall, Dick finished with 15 points and he was a perfect 5-for-5 from inside the paint.
Time to sell high
The Raptors are starting to win. They have won 4 of their last 5 games and it has been their veteran players who have stepped up from off the bench. Bruce Brown had another strong outing in this one finishing with 18 points and Chris Boucher scored 17 points in 18 minutes. Kelly Olynyk finished in double figures as well with 11 points to go along with 4 rebounds and 5 assists. With the Feb. 6 trade deadline fast approaching the Raptors are likely to offload their veteran pieces for future assets. By subtraction, the Raptors should revert back to their losing ways which will help their draft lottery odds come May.
Next on tap
The Raptors will stay in Atlanta and will take on the Hawks once again on Jan. 25
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