Raps’ long-range forecast cloudier
Ugly three-point shooting hands game and tiebreaker to Eastern rival Hawks
ATLANTA— The need for consistent effort and hard work is of the utmost importance for the Raptors, because they have such a slim margin for error with Kyle Lowry recuperating from surgery.
They have done that and then some — morphing into one of the best defensive teams in the NBA over the last fortnight by some advanced metrics — but for all the grit and intensity and teamwork they show, there is still a crying need for consistent shooting if they are going to win.
They didn’t get enough of it here Friday night, dropping a 105-99 decision to the Atlanta Hawks that tightened the race considerably in the middle of the Eastern Conference standings.
While DeMar DeRozan had 28 points and all five Raptors starters were in double figures, the bench contribution was paltry and Toronto was a miserable 4for-25 from three-point range on the night.
Patrick Patterson had three field-goal attempts — one from long range — in 19 minutes, Norm Powell missed all three of the three-pointers he attempted, and De- Marre Carroll was likewise 0-for-3 from beyond the arc.
Dennis Schroder racked up 26 points to lead Atlanta, Paul Millsap had 21and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 20 as the Hawks pulled away in the final two minutes to win their fourth game in a row.
The win is significant in that it gives the Hawks the season series, 2-1, and the tiebreaker advantage if the teams finish the regular season with the same record.
They are fourth and fifth in the Eastern Conference, in a group of five that seems to have separated itself from the rest.
While some movement is possible with about a quarter of the season left, there is every chance this was a playoff sneak preview. In this iteration there is not much separating the two — at least Friday, when neither team led by more than four points until Atlanta went up by six with just over two minutes to go, before running out the string.
That could change if Lowry is able to return fully healthy for the postseason, but as they are now constructed there isn’t much difference between Atlanta and Toronto.
Defensively, Serge Ibaka’s versatility gave the Raptors a chance to dictate tempo and style at times, because as the team’s de facto backup centre he was both able to defend Dwight Howard and stretch the floor to take the Hawks big man away from the basket, creating space.
Instead of having to use Jonas Valanciunas for every minute that Howard was on the floor, or having to sacrifice rookie Jakob Poeltl, the Raptors were able to force the issue with Ibaka. His first half, though, was limited by a couple of dubious foul calls away from Howard that kept him on the bench for the last five minutes. But he and P.J. Tucker once again provided some defensive leadership for a Raptors team that’s in the top five league-wide in some rankings since the all-star break.
“Those guys are defensive players. They have the defensive skill set, the physical makeup, the physical disposition to play defence,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said before the game. “You wish you had a team full of 15 guys who could do that.