Hawks start fast, but fall short against Raptors
The Hawks did not begin their series of back-to-back games the way they wanted.
They executed well in the first half, keeping the Raptors out of the paint and punishing them in transition. But the Raptors flipped the script in the second half and limited the Hawks’ opportunities.
The Hawks, who had improved their transition game since the season opener two weeks ago, couldn’t stop the Raptors. When the Raptors forced the Hawks into tough shots, they grabbed the rebound and ran with it.
Quick stats: Jalen Johnson had 21 points, seven rebounds, four assists and one steal. Nickeil Alexander-Walker finished with 20 points, two rebounds and three assists. Kristaps Porzingis had 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists and four blocks.
Key moment
The Hawks led by as many as 11 points with 5:44 to play in the third quarter. But as they relieved the starters with the second unit, the Raptors carved into the lead by forcing the Hawks to take desperate looks deep into the shot clock.
It allowed the Raptors to go on a four-minute, 11-2 run that cut the Hawks’ lead to two. Then the Raptors opened the fourth quarter on a 14-0 run before taking the lead on a Scottie Barnes driving layup.
Highlight play
Risacher showed off his ability to handle the ball and create plays for himself. He dropped Scottie Barnes and then finished a layup through traffic. Then Keaton Wallace pushed the ball ahead to him after the Hawks got a stop, and Risacher hit a pull-up 3. It forced a Raptors timeout and gave the Hawks a 39-28 lead with 9:20 left in the second quarter.
What they said
“I feel like we got to take this game and learn from it. But at the same time, we don’t gotta put our head down, because we have a game in less than 24 hours now. So, we just got be able to get ready for the next game, and be in the right mindset for the film tomorrow morning, and they just gotta stay ready to play.” -- Zaccharie Risacher on making adjustments when the Hawks have back-to-back games.
Up next
The Hawks host the Lakers on Saturday on the second night of back-to-back games. Saturday’s meeting against the Lakers marks the first time the Hawks have faced Luka Doncic since his 73-point night on Jan. 26, 2024.
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