State Farm Arena was treated to a nail-biter Saturday evening, as the Atlanta Hawks won in an overtime thriller, 124-122, against the Toronto Raptors. The play of the game came in the final seconds as Atlanta executed an in-bound play to perfection, which resulted in Trae Young throwing a lob pass to wide-open, A.J. Griffin, who laid the ball in as time expired.
While the game ended in a Hawks’ victory, it was not smooth by any means. The Raptors were without Pascal Siakam, Gary Trent Jr. and four other rotational players, and still gave the Hawks all they could handle. Toronto, known for their activity and length on defense, forced the Hawks into six steals in the opening quarter alone. Barnes hit a leaning three-pointer to send the game to the second quarter with the Raptors leading, 31-29. The second period included more turnovers for the Hawks, as the Raptors surged ahead on a 17-4 run. However, the Hawks kept the game manageable, as Toronto’s largest lead was only nine.
Atlanta struggled to execute offensively in the half-court and struggled shooting the three-ball, going 7-25, but they were able to get out on the fast-break off Toronto’s missed shots. The Raptors took a 55-62 lead into halftime.
The Hawks started the third on a 13-4 run, and the game hung in the balance for most of the quarter, but Toronto closed out strong and took an 89-82 lead to the final frame. The fourth is where things got interesting.
Atlanta trailed, 101-109, with less than three minutes left and went on an 8-0 run courtesy of De’Andre Hunter and Trae Young. Each player hit three’s that sent the home crowd into a frenzy, and Hunter followed with two free throws to knot the game at 109. Young sank one of his patented-floaters to take a two-point lead, but Raptors forward, O.G. Anunoby, countered with two clutch-time free throws. Atlanta failed to take the lead, and Raptors forward, Scottie Barnes, had a couple golden opportunities but could not convert sending the game into overtime.
‘Ice Trae’ closed the opening half with 12 points but exploded in the second to finish with 33 points and 12 assists on great efficiency, shooting 12-21 from the field. Young returned to All-Star form against a formidable defensive team, and a team in Toronto, that has given him fits in the past.
After a rough first-half, Hunter went into attack mode in the second, ending with 22 points, while going 11-14 from the free throw line. Capela continued to dominate the paint, finishing with another double-double, 18 points with 14 rebounds. Dejounte Murray chipped in 17 points on 7-18 shooting with seven rebounds. Griffin played 30 minutes and finished with 17 points on 8-15 shooting, despite going 1-6 from downtown. Griffin also had eight of the Hawks 13 overtime points.
Barnes and Anunoby combined for 57 attempts on the evening with Siakam out. Barnes flirted with a triple-double dropping 28 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Anunoby added 27, including a perfect 7-7 from the line. Fred VanVleet put up 15 points but struggled with his efficiency shooting just 4-18. Thaddeus Young stuffed the stat sheet for an efficient 18 points, nine boards, four assists and four steals. Malachi Flynn had his best scoring night of the season adding 17 points off the Toronto bench, including three three’s.
The Hawks did a much better job of cutting down their turnovers in the second-half, with only four compared to the 10 they had in the first-half. Taking care of the ball will be of the utmost importance when the Hawks travel to face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night. This will be must-watch television, as two of the best backcourts in the NBA go head-to-head in Darius Garland/Donovan Mitchell versus Trae Young/Dejounte Murray.
