HAWKS 118, RAPTORS 110: Smith’s energy powers victory

Toronto —- Urgency.

That’s all Josh Smith wanted to talk about before the Hawks hit the floor against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night.

The Hawks needed to play with a sense of it if they wanted to snap out of their three-game funk.

Well, they played with plenty of urgency, rallying from a 10-point deficit after halftime for a crucial 118-110 victory over the Raptors at Air Canada Centre, winning on the road for the first time in more than a month.

“This was just important for us for so many reasons,” Smith said. “We had to have this one. Any way we can get everybody involved the way we did tonight and get everybody playing well and having fun like that, we need that every minute and every second of every game we play.”

It was a performance that couldn’t have come at a better time for the Hawks, who are 44-34 and still trying to fend off Miami and Philadelphia for the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.

With only four games left in the regular season, the Hawks go back to work tonight at the Milwaukee Bucks.

Before Tuesday’s game, it seemed as if the Hawks might back into the playoffs like they did last year, when they lost their final three games of the regular season.

But Smith and his teammates fixed that against a Raptors team that had won six of its past seven games. Smith led the Hawks’ charge with words before the game and backed those words with action.

He tied Joe Johnson for team-high honors with 25 points, including a 3-for-5 showing from beyond the 3-point line, seven rebounds and two timely blocks.

Seven Hawks scored in double-figures as they piled up their highest scoring total since a 119-107 home win over Sacramento on March 17, thanks in large part to their 11-for-22 shooting effort from beyond the 3-point line.

“This was just a huge win,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. “These guys stepped up. You have seven guys score in double-figures, that means they came to play. And it’s all about us now.

“We’ve said all along, we control our own destiny. These guys have fought all season for this fourth spot, and they want to go out and show people that they can earn it.”

They certainly played that way in the second half against the Raptors. Mo Evans (17 points, including a 3-for-4 effort on 3-point shots), Al Horford (15 points and 12 rebounds) and Mike Bibby (13 and 10 assists) all did their part.

So did Flip Murray, who had 12 points off the bench, including nine during an early fourth-quarter run that helped the Hawks take control of the game. So did Zaza Pachulia, who scored 11 points.

“There were a number of things we needed to prove on both ends of the floor,” Evans said. “All the best teams in the league do that, play together on both ends of the floor. That’s what we have to be able to do going into the playoffs. We have to play like this.”

The Hawks certainly didn’t help their own cause with a lackluster early effort on defense. It took them until the second half to catch up to the Raptors, but they did midway through the third quarter, using 11 points from Bibby and two big 3-pointers late in the quarter from Smith.

“It was about finishing tonight,” Horford said. “We didn’t start well, but we finished it the right way.”

NEXT FOR HAWKS

> Who: at Bucks

> When: 8 p.m. today

> TV; radio: SPSO; 790 AM

On ajc.com/sports: Follow the Hawks all the way to the playoffs on beat writer Sekou Smith’s blogs.