Fourth-quarter surge propels Raptors past Hawks
RJ Barrett scored a season-best 29 points and Brandon Ingram also scored 29 on Saturday night as the Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting Atlanta Hawks 134-117.
The Raptors, who have won three of their last four games, tightened their defense in the final quarter and turned a one-point lead to a 17-point advantage before the Hawks could score.
Scottie Barnes added 20 points for the Raptors, who have won all three meetings with the Hawks this season. Sandro Mamukelashvili nearly had a triple-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, Immanuel Quickley scored 15 points and Jamal Shead added 10.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 31 points for the Hawks, who defeated the New York Knicks on Friday and showed the fatigue of back-to-back games late in Saturday's matchup.
Atlanta's Jalen Johnson finished with 30 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, Dyson Daniels added 20 points and 12 assists, Vit Krejci scored 13 and Keaton Wallace scored 11.
Toronto took advantage of turnovers and scored the first 16 points of the fourth quarter to lead by 17 with 7:18 to play. With the Raptors' defense stiffening, Alexander-Walker's 3-pointer with 6:49 to play gave the Hawks their first points of the quarter.
Toronto led 35-29 after one quarter after three lead changes and three ties.
Atlanta chipped away and trailed by one after Zaccharie Risacher's dunk with 6:56 to play in a loosely played second quarter. Toronto answered with a 7-0 run.
Alexander-Walker reeled off four straight points and the margin was four with 4:55 remaining. Toronto worked the lead up to nine, helped by Barnes' six-point surge before taking a 77-70 lead into halftime.
With defense often an afterthought, Toronto shot 58% (29 of 50) from the field and Atlanta shot 53.3% (24 of 45) in the first half.
The Hawks reduced the lead to two when Alexander-Walker swished a 3-pointer with 8:41 remaining in the third. Toronto got the lead back to eight, but Atlanta persisted as Alexander-Walker's layup finished the quarter's scoring and left Toronto with a 107-106 lead.
The Hawks were without Trae Young (quad), Kristaps Porzingis (return-to-competition conditioning) and Luke Kennard (back).
The Raptors' Jakob Poeltl (lower back) also sat out.
The teams conclude the four-game season series Monday in Toronto.