Wednesday, March 19, 2014
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Rebounding Hawks edge Raptors in OT

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[March 19, 2014]  ATLANTA, Ga. — With guard Jeff Teague and forward Paul Millsap leading the way, the Atlanta Hawks are bouncing back nicely after losing 14 of 15 games.

Teague tied his career best with 34 points, Millsap had his first career triple-double, and the Hawks defeated the Toronto Raptors 118-113 in overtime Tuesday night.

Millsap, playing his 600th NBA game, had 19 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists as the Hawks won their season-best fifth straight game.

"We're not going to make excuses for that down stretch, but we've got most of our players back now and we're ready to make a playoff run," said Millsap, who missed time due to a knee contusion.

Guard DeMar DeRozan, who scored 31 points in each of Toronto's two previous games against the Hawks this season, scored 29. Fellow guard Kyle Lowry added 20 for the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors (37-29).

Toronto, though, allowed 22 points off 15 turnovers and couldn't keep Teague from penetrating.

"We blitzed him, we switched him, we tried everything," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said.


Teague, who had five assists, shot 11-for-18 from the floor and 11-for-11 from the foul line as he topped 30 points for the third time this season.

"I was just being aggressive and trying to get to the basket," Teague said.

Guard Kyle Korver, who had 16 points, put the Hawks ahead on a 3-pointer with 1:20 left in the fourth quarter, but Lowry scored on a drive with 8.1 seconds left to send the game into overtime at 106-106.

DeRozan and Lowry combined for Toronto's final 19 points in regulation, but they combined to make just two of seven shots in overtime.

Toronto center Jonas Valanciunas had 16 points but did not play after the third quarter because of a lower back sprain.

Valanciunas said felt his back go when he stopped and tried to set a screen.

"I wanted to play," Valanciunas said, "but when you can't do anything, you can't do good things. The worst part is we lost."

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The Hawks made just three of their first 16 shots from the field while falling behind 22-9 after eight minutes. The Raptors led 26-17 at the end of the first quarter thanks to 11 points from Valanciunas.

Atlanta (31-35) took its first lead of the game with 1:35 remaining in the second quarter on two free throws by center Pero Antic. The Hawks were up by five before Raptors forward Steve Novak hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the teams into halftime tied at 49.

"It's a great win, especially the way we came back after the first quarter," Millsap said.

Teague scored 15 first-half points for the Hawks, 12 of them coming in the second quarter.

"He woke us up," Millsap said. "He had an amazing game."

The Hawks had a buzzer-beating 3-pointer themselves at the end of the third quarter, with rookie guard Dennis Schroder's trey giving them an 80-78 lead. Millsap had 10 points in the quarter.

Schroder sprained his left ankle early in the fourth quarter and was lost for the rest of the game.

NOTES: Raptors F Patrick Patterson missed his sixth consecutive game because of a sprained right elbow. ... The Raptors and Hawks meet again Sunday in Toronto. ... The teams split their first two games, each winning at home. ... The Raptors came in having lost nine of their past 11 games in Atlanta. ... It was the second game in the 16th back-to-back this season for the Hawks, who beat the Bobcats in Charlotte on Monday. ... The Raptors play the Pelicans in New Orleans on Wednesday. The Hawks' next game is also against the Pelicans, on Friday at Philips Arena.

[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

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