East-leading Hawks too much for Raptors
TORONTO (CP) - Another horrible start cost the Toronto Raptors on Friday, and some players in the starting lineup may end up paying the price.
Joe Johnson poured in a season-high 34 points, while Josh Smith added a career best 29 points to lead the red-hot Atlanta Hawks to a 111-102 win over the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre.
The Raptors couldn't overcome their woeful first-quarter performance, when they shot just 26 per cent and spent more time hanging their heads than playing defence, and the loss had head coach Sam Mitchell considering re-jigging the rotation.
"We'll change the starting lineup," Mitchell said afterwards. "We're not contemplating it right now, but we've played five games and we've had five bad starts, so we've got to do something."
Chris Bosh had 19 points and a game-high 17 rebounds to top Toronto (2-3). The all-star forward wasn't surprised when told Mitchell was considering making changes.
"We're not good enough to dig ourselves a hole, we're not that kind of team, we have to hit the ground running, we have to establish a tempo," said Bosh, who missed seven of his first eight shots. "I can't blame him. It might be me, if I'm holding us back .. if something has to be done, he's going to do it. He's the coach, that's what he's supposed to do."
Though Mitchell has experimented with different lineups deep into games, he's stuck with the same starters so far this season - Bosh, Rasho Nesterovic, T.J. Ford, Morris Peterson and Anthony Parker.
Peterson had 18 points, Ford and Fred Jones finished with 17 apiece, and Jose Calderon had 13 for Toronto.
The Raptors not only shot poorly in the first quarter, they allowed the Hawks to shoot 57 per cent in the frame, and a confident Atlanta squad dominated Toronto the rest of the night. The Raptors trailed by as much as 15 points and were down by seven heading into the fourth quarter.
A clutch 14-foot jump shot by Bosh capped a brief Raptors run that cut Atlanta's lead to 87-85 with 7:10 left in the game, bringing the crowd of 14,680 to its feet. But Toronto couldn't maintain any momentum, and a basket by Tyronn Lue with 2:15 left put the Hawks up by 13 with 2:15 left in the game.
The frustration showed on Bosh, who hollered at his teammates as they headed to the bench for a timeout.
"They'll have to do the things we've been talking about doing on defence, or they're not going to be able to play. It's just that simple," Mitchell said. "You've got to be accountable on defence as well as offence. We just blew a lot of things that we work on every day.
"If they're not doing it, they're just going to have to come out of the game. We're trying to be patient and give guys a chance, but we've got to get more people playing better."
The Raptors had been keen to get a win in the final game of the season-opening homestand. They head out west on a gruelling five-game road swing - their longest of the season - beginning Sunday in Sacramento.
"We're trying to win, coach is trying to win, and we're all searching for answers, trying to see why we're getting off to such a bad start," Peterson said, when asked about changes to the starting lineup. "I think with that, that's up to (Mitchell). Players in here, we play and we do what we have to do and we work hard and if things aren't working out in any situation, you've got to evaluate it."
The Hawks improved to 4-1 and sit atop the Eastern Conference standings. Along the way, they shot 50 per cent on the night, to Toronto's 47 per cent, and outrebounded the Raptors 49-40.
Johnson and Smith put on a show, Smith connecting on four three-point attempts, and Johnson adding three.
"Joe came out on a mission, he had it going early," said Hawks coach Mike Woodson. "Josh got it going in the second half so it just made it a double threat."
The Raptors made just seven of 27 shots in the first quarter and trailed the Hawks by 14 points late in the quarter. The Hawks led 28-16 heading into the second.
Calderon provided a spark for Toronto coming off the bench to score seven points in the second quarter, and Toronto managed to cut the Hawks' lead to eight. The Raptors trailed 47-38 at halftime.
The Raptors opened the third with an 8-2 run to pull within three points, but Atlanta managed to stretch its advantage to 15 points midway through the quarter before taking a 77-70 lead into the fourth.
NOTES: Toronto's next home game is Nov. 22 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
