The Raptors started the game slowly with the Hawks taking a 10-6 lead and that is when the Raptors went on a 12-6 run to take a 18-16 lead but the Hawks ended the quarter with a 11-3 run to take a 27-21 lead. Raptors some good defense but still need to fight for positioning for rebounds and Jamal Crawford was on with a 11-point quarter while Al Horford had 6 points and 5 boards while the Raptors were lead by DeMar DeRozan had 9 points while Jose Calderon had 3 assists in the quarter as the Raptors had 7 assists on 9 buckets but the Hawks had 5 more boards (14-9). The second quarter was all Jamal Crawford in the quarter with 14 points (25 in the half) while the Raptors were lead by Bargnani (13 points) and Barbosa (13 points) as the Raptors outscored the Hawks (34-33) and the Hawks were +2 on the glass (Raptors are lead by Amir Johnson (3) and Hawks are lead by Al Horford (7)). The team who plays the better "D" in the second half will win the game most likely and the third quarter was the Raptors "D" as the Hawks scored only 15 points in the quarter while the Raptors went on a 15-2 run and the Raptors took a 77-75 into the fourth quarter and Barbosa had 6 points and Bargnani had 4 points while the Hawks had 2 more boards with Horford had 11 boards after three quarters. The Hawks and the Raptors went back and forth until it came down to the last 1:20 which started with Al Horford getting a lay-up to give the Hawks a 96-95 lead and then Andrea Bargnani hit a 3 to give the Raptors a 98-96 lead and then DeMar fouled Jamal Crawford in the act of shooting a 3 and went 3 for 3 from the line to give the Hawks 99-98 lead. Amir Johnson got a lay-up and fouled by Al Horford and hit the free throw to make it 101-99 Raptors and then the Hawks go down and had a # of possessions but Bargnani got a defense rebound and the Raptors went down with 30 seconds left and Jose Calderon had the ball and running down the clock and when he made his move towards the paint to run the clock down and try to end the game with a basket Amir Johnson was called on an illegal screen. The Hawks have the ball with 10 seconds left and Mike Bibby drains a 3 on the in-bound pass so the Raptors have last shoot so Calderon tries to go towards the basket but the Hawk "D" played it well and he fell out of bounds and the ball hit his back on the way too so the Hawks get the ball with 2 seconds left and Joe Johnson made to free throws to give the Hawks a 3 point lead and win when Bargnani's wishes did not come true at the Buzzer.
I*n the end...
The Raptors played a nice D game in the second half but the Hawks were too good on the boards out rebounding the Raptors (40-33) especially Al Horford (13) and Joe Smith (9) while Amir lead the Raptors with 7 while they got to the line more (31 to 12) and made more (25 to 9) so the Raptors need to stand their gound better and go at the basket more to get rebounds and get to the line more. Jamal Crawford was the beat hawk with 36 points and Joe Johnson was the best Hawk in the second half because most of his 26 where in the second half especially the fourth when he had 9 points. Barbosa and Bargnani both had 26 points in the game but then Calderon was next with 11 points but after having 9 in the first quarter DeMar DeRozan had none in the last three quarters and the Raptors had 25 assists in the game which is good but they only had 5 in the fourth and Calderon had 9 while both Jerryd Bayless and Barbosa had 5. The Raptors now face the Pistons @ home on friday and the Wizards on Staurday which are diffently winnable games.
Thanks
Tom Mehegan
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