The Hawks had a chance to control their playoff seed.
Not anymore.
A poor effort against the Raptors, one in which the Hawks went to their bench early and often, resulted in a 113-96 loss Tuesday night in a nationally televised game at Philips Arena. The Hawks played without Al Horford and just a half with Josh Smith in a game they trailed by as many as 23 points. Smith played 13 minutes and received treatment on his knees at the intermission. He banged a knee in the first half and did not immediately come back to the bench after halftime but later returned with both knees wrapped in ice. Regulars Jeff Teague (19 minutes), Kyle Korver (18) and Devin Harris (17) played less than a half.
“This wasn’t quite the way I had expected things with this game,” coach Larry Drew said. “I said the last few days I’m going to err on the side of caution. … My focus is to end this regular season with healthy some bodies, particularly guys who I’m going to rely on to play a bulk of the minutes (in the playoffs).”
The Hawks can clinch the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, and a first-round playoff against the Nets, with a victory at the Knicks and a Bulls loss at home against the Wizards Wednesday.
The Bulls will claim the fifth spot with a victory or if both teams lose Wednesday. The Hawks would finish sixth and get a first-round matchup with the Pacers. The Hawks have split the season series with both the Nets and Pacers this season.
“It doesn’t matter,” Smith said of the Hawks’ playoff opponent. “I feel like we match up well against both of those teams.”
The Hawks may well play a Knicks team that is also resting players before the postseason. New York, who has clinched the No. 2 seed, did not play Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler, Raymond Felton, J.R. Smith and others in a 106-95 loss to the Bobcats Monday.
The Hawks (44-37) had a two-game winning streak snapped. They also had a three-game win streak against the Raptors end.
“For some people I think the rest has been good,” Korver said. “But you also want to be in rhythm. There is a balance to it and we are kind of walking that line.”
The Raptors (33-48) won their third straight game and sixth in the past seven. The win was just their 13th on the road this season. DeMar DeRozan led all scorers with 30 points. Rudy Gay added 22 points for the Raptors.
Korver led the Hawks with 13 points. He extended his streak to 73 consecutive games with a 3-pointer. Rookie Mike Scott had his first double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Ivan Johnson had 12 points and Shelvin Mack had 11 points as the other double-digit scorers for the Hawks, who got points from all 11 active players.
“I think it’s more important to have healthy bodies regardless of who our playoff opponent is,” Drew said. “If we don’t have healthy bodies, I don’t care who we play, we won’t be very effective.
“I had my mind made up how many minutes I was going to play those guys. I wasn’t going to burn them out. Not at this stage. To me, that does no good.”
Drew said it is very possible the Hawks could continue to rest players against the Knicks.
The Raptors led by 21 points, 96-75, after three quarters as they continued to shoot over 60 percent from the field. DeRozan had his 30 points in three quarters.
The Raptors led by as many as 18 points in the first half and took a 68-51 lead into intermission. They shot .667 percent (26 of 39) from the field in the first half to build the big lead. The first-half shooting percentage was the biggest allowed by the Hawks this season, eclipsing the .639 mark by the Heat in December. The 68 points, the final two coming on a pair of free throws by Kyle Lowry with .1 seconds remaining, equaled the mark for the most points allowed by the Hawks in the first half this season. The Mavericks also reached the total in March.
Most remarkable about the Raptors’ 68 first-half points was that they committed 11 turnovers in the first two quarters.
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