The Hawks were without Kyle Korver for the second straight game as the shooting guard remained in Atlanta with back spasms.
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer did not have an update on the condition of Korver or whether he would miss additional time. Korver also missed Friday’s game against the Pelicans when his back flared up during pre-game warm-ups.
With Korver out, Shelvin Mack got his second straight start. Mack had 18 points, of 7 of 11 shooting, in the loss to the Pelicans. He had seven points in Sunday’s 96-86 loss to the Raptors.
The Hawks dropped to 1-5 this season in games without Korver.
The Hawks could have used another scorer down the stretch against the Raptors. The Hawks shot .273 (6 of 22) in the fourth quarter as they were outscored 36-15.
Raptors' stars shine: The Raptors starting back court of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan took over in the fourth quarter Sunday. The duo combined to score 25 of the Raptors' 36 points. Lowry had 13 of his game-high 25 points and DeRozan had 10 of his 21 points in the final period.
“That’s what he does,” DeRozan said of Lowry. “To be honest, that’s Kyle. The hunger to win kicks in and when it comes down to me and him, we take the onus on that and try to pull our team to victory.”
Down the stretch: The Hawks have 14 games remaining in the regular season as they cling to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They started a stretch of five games in seven days with Sunday's loss.
“This is one of the worst losses of the season,” DeMarre Carroll said. “We were up the whole game. We had the momentum and we just crumbled at the end. Man, we have 14 games left and we have to keep pushing.”
The Hawks have nine home games and five road games remaining in the regular season.
Stretching the floor: Center Pero Antic has caused problems for some Hawks' opponents who struggle to guard the big man at the 3-point line.
It was an issue Raptors coach Dwane Casey was aware of entering Sunday’s game.
“For us, it’s probably better for our bigs to get their butts out there in the corner and cover Antic there,” Casey said of the strategy to defend Antic with a power forward. “We don’t want to overreact. His is making 1.3 (3-pointers) a game but he has the ability and he has done it for a lot of years.”
Antic struggled from the field against the Raptors. He had just four points on 1 of 6 shooting, including 0 of 5 from 3-point range.
Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas posted a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds.
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