Raptors display dominating style in rout over Hawks
Pound the rock has morphed into pound opponents.
Toronto Raptors coach Dwane Casey’s catchphrase used to be all about working hard, chipping away and one day breaking through. Well, it seems like maybe that day is here. The Raptors won a sixth straight contest, clobbering the Atlanta Hawks 128-84 to complete a rare Air Canada Centre back-to-back.
Eight Raptors hit double figures, led by 21 by DeMar DeRozan and 17 apiece by Kyle Lowry and Patrick Patterson.
Atlanta came in completely discombobulated — blown out in Detroit Friday, crushed on the boards by 22 rebounds — and the Raptors jumped right on the visitors, building a 62-47 halftime edge and kept right rolling.
One of Casey’s toughest tasks at the moment is making sure his group is not overconfident based on all this success.
“That’s our whole key, our charge — not get happy on the farm. … We’ve got to continue it,” he had said. “Getting beat the way they got beat last night, they’re going to come back fighting, scratching, whatever it is. We’ve got to meet that intensity.”
He seemed to be onto something earlier in the day. One would think that a desperate, win-starved team like the visitors would bring an energy and effort edge, but the Raptors, as best exemplified by rookie Pascal Siakam, who scored a career-best 14 points, worked harder and played much smarter.
Siakam, the 27th pick in last June’s draft, is starting to resemble a young Amir Johnson in the way he beats opponents down the floor for a couple of easy buckets each night. Lowry, who finally slowed down from threepoint range following his recent rampage from deep, found him a couple of times, once on a fine heave from his own free throw line.
The Raptors also had ex-Hawk DeMarre Carroll — and Lowry — diving into the seats to corral loose balls while Atlanta spent more time chucking the ball away.
The Raptors will now host defending champion Cleveland Monday night tied with the Cavs for first in the East, a win ahead, though Cleveland has played two fewer games.
LeBron James and his crew arrived in Toronto Saturday and will be well-rested for the final clash between the two clubs until the end of the regular season.
Before the game, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer had lauded Lowry and DeRozan as one of the NBA’s best backcourts and had said a goal was to limit their trips to the free throw line. That worked, Atlanta actually shot more freebies, but the tired Hawks had only hit half of them into the fourth quarter.
The Raptors tied a pair of gaudy team records, hitting at least 10 three-pointers for a sixth consecutive games and also topped 50-per-cent field-goal shooting for a fifth straight contest, a ridiculous 57.6-per-cent mark.