Hawks soar past the sloppy Raptors, 136-107

Toronto coughs up a season-worst 31 turnovers as the Raptors’ losing streak hits 10

The Toronto Raptors follow up their worst defensive showing with their sloppiest offensive game of the season.

Don’t get me wrong, the defense was still non-existent. The performance was just “topped” by a calamity of errors on the offensive end.

The Atlanta Hawks kicked off their 6-game road trip by destroying the Toronto Raptors 136-107, after the home team coughed up a season-worst 31 turnovers. Trae Young led the way with 34 points and 10 assists. Super Sub, Deandre Hunter, chipped in with 22 points as seven Hawks scored in double figures. Scottie Barnes led the Raptors with 19 points and 8 rebounds. RJ Barrett added 17 points and 6 rebounds as Toronto suffered its 10th straight loss.

With the Hawks dealing with multiple injuries and the Raptors welcoming back a number of players, the first 90 seconds were reminiscent of a pickup game at the YMCA. Both teams had two turnovers each, including sloppy dribbling, lazy passes, and wayward shots. It was an apt premonition of what was to transpire — at least for one of the teams.

Atlanta played without NBA Steals leader, Dyson Daniels, but that didn’t stop the Hawks from gobbling up the many gifts the Raptors left for them. Jalen Johnson had 6 steals. Vit Krejci and De’Andre Hunter each had 3 steals. Four other Hawks had at least 2 steals. Atlanta finished with a season-high 22 steals — 6 more than their previous season-high. In fact, the last time the Hawks had more than 20 steals was on February 20, 1998 against the Vancouver Grizzlies.

This was supposed to be a positive game for Toronto. The vibes were high pre-game as Bruce Brown was finally cleared to make his season debut. Also returning to the lineup was Jakob Poeltl, who missed the previous 4 games with a groin strain, as well as Jamal Shead (right knee) and Ja’Kobe Walter (illness).

There will be plenty of negatives surrounding the Raptors and plenty of positives pertaining to the Hawks, so let’s get to Toronto’s big (only?) positive from this game: Bruce Brown.

After missing the first 31 games of the season, Brown made a triumphant return to the lineup. Atlanta had the right idea targeting him on defense, testing out the abilities of a player who hadn’t played a competitive basketball game since April. Unfortunately for the Hawks, Brown was up for the challenge. He played stellar defense whenever he was posted up, forcing a couple of turnovers. He was opportunistic on the offensive end, scoring eight points in the first half and entering the break as the only Raptor with a positive plus/minus (+9).

The lack of chemistry was evident throughout the first half as the Raptors piled up 17 turnovers.

• Barnes and Gradey Dick were on a 2-on-1 fastbreak and somehow came away with no field goal attempt
• A simple pick-and-roll involving Kelly Olynyk and Barnes led to Kelly passing directly to Hunter, who took the present all the way to a breakaway dunk
• Toronto piled up 5 more turnovers in the first 5 minutes of the second quarter, including 2 illegal screens and 1 offensive charge, from 3 different players. Truly, a team effort.

Deandre Hunter entered the game as the leading scorer among all reserves (he has started only 2 of 21 games this season). He certainly looked like a Sixth Man of the Year favourite as he consistently knocked down increasingly difficult buckets on the way to 17 first-half points.

Despite the sloppiness, the Raptors entered halftime with only a 6-point deficit after Chris Boucher gave Toronto a jolt of energy.

Fans should have probably headed home after Boucher’s buzzer-beater, as that was the high point for the Raptors.

Trae Young went on one of his Trae Young heaters, scoring 12 points in the frame, including a pair of “oohh” inducing threes. Onyeka Okongwu added 9 points off the bench. Their 21 points combined almost outscored Toronto’s total (24) in the quarter.

Darko Rajakovic called THREE timeouts in the first 6 minutes of the half. The turnovers continued piling up (8 more in the quarter), as did Atlanta’s lead. What was once a 6-point halftime lead had ballooned up to 21 points.

Outside of Brown’s inspired play, the only other item keeping Toronto in the game (relatively speaking) was Atlanta’s inability to convert from the charity strip. They shot 6-for-11 from the line. The Hawks outscored the Raptors 40-24 in the third.

Tonight marked the third straight game where Toronto gave up at least 136 points. Last Thursday, Toronto gave up a franchise-worst 155 points to the Memphis Grizzlies. In the prior game, the Knicks hung 139 points on the Raptors, with most of the 4th quarter considered garbage time.

The Raptors close out 2024 (mercifully) in Boston against the defending champions. The Celtics had the best offense in NBA history last season, so the prospects of any defensive gains may have to wait until the calendar flips to 2025!