A look inside the Hawks’ 95-87 win over the Raptors Thursday:
Five observations
1. Fast break points
The Hawks held a 22-2 advantage in fast-break points for the game, a clear indication they were able to play at a pace they like. The Raptors give the Hawks problems but they can neutralize some of their advantages by rebounding the ball and getting up the floor. The Hawks were only outrebounded 46-41.
2. Teague time
The Hawks led by as many as 13 points in the third quarter, thanks to a fast start by Jeff Teague. The point guard scored 11 of the Hawks’ first 16 points in the quarter. He finished with a game-high 23 points with 17 in the second half. His three-point play with 48 seconds left and two free throws with 5.9 seconds left gave the Hawks enough separation.
3. Sefolosha starts
With Kent Bazemore out with right knee stiffness, Thabo Sefolosha got the start at small forward – and the task of guarding Raptors’ All-Star DeMar DeRozan. It worked. DeRozan scored just six first-half points on 3 of 12 shooting. For the game, he had 16 points on 7 of 24 shooting. In addition, the Hawks held Kyle Lowry to 16 points on 6 of 15 shooting. So the all-star guards had a combined 32 points on 13 of 39 shooting.
4. No free throws
The Hawks were committed to keeping Lowry and DeRozan off the free-throw line. They two are proficient at getting free attempts. Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer reminded his team – several times – Thursday morning not to fall for Lowry’s pump fakes behind the 3-point line. Lowry was 2 of 5 from the line and DeRozan was 2 of 2. That’s just seven trips – and Lowry got three attempts on a questionable foul call. In the game between the teams on March 30, the two were 12 of 14 from the line.
5. Added wrinkles
Budenholzer and players hinted Thursday morning they prepared a few new wrinkles for the Raptors in light of their recent lack of success. They played little-used guard Kirk Hinrich, who played five minutes in the second quarter. They paired Teague and Hinrich at times. They also used Tim Hardaway Jr. at point guard for a few minutes at the end of the second quarter. Little-used center Mike Muscala was the first sub in the second half.
