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Raptors beat Hawks by 25 in conference showdown

Feb 21, 2015 - 6:04 AM Atlanta, GA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Toronto Raptors opened the second half of the season with a statement win against the Eastern Conference's top team.

Lou Williams made seven 3-pointers and scored 26 off the bench and the Raptors handed the Atlanta Hawks their first home loss since the day after Christmas, rolling to a 105-80 victory on Friday in a game between the conference's top two teams.

DeMar DeRozan added 21 points for the Raptors, who trimmed Atlanta's lead in the East to 5 1/2 games.

The Atlantic Division leaders have won four games in a row and are 10-2 in their last 12. They got their third win in four meetings with Atlanta this season.

"Sometimes offense spurs your defense, sometimes defense spurs your offense," said Williams. "Tonight I though was one of those games where we made a concerted effort on both ends of the court. We just played well."

The Hawks had a 12-game home winning streak snapped, losing for the first time in Philips Arena since Dec. 26 against Milwaukee. They have dropped four of their last seven since a 19-game winning streak and didn't hold a lead in this one after the first quarter.

Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver scored 11 points apiece to lead the Southeast Division leaders and the team's fourth All-Star, Al Horford, had 12 rebounds and seven points.

Both teams set franchise records for wins prior to the All-Star break, but only one of them looked the part Friday night.

Atlanta shot 33 percent overall, including just 8-of-38 on 3-pointers. The Hawks committed 20 of their 23 turnovers in the first three quarters, leading to 25 Toronto points.

"You have to give Toronto a lot of credit," said Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer. "They gave it to us good tonight."

The Raptors took a 23-point lead with a 23-4 run in the third quarter that was bookended by two bursts.

Kyle Lowry scored five in an 11-0 run that extended a four-point lead to 15 and dunks by Patrick Patterson and DeRozan highlighted a 9-0 flurry to give Toronto a 77-54 advantage.

The Raptors led 77-58 going into the fourth quarter and went ahead by as much as 35 down the stretch.

The Raptors led by eight in the first quarter and six in the second on the way to a 49-45 lead at halftime. They took the lead for good on Greivis Vazquez's jumper 37 seconds into the second quarter.

DeRozan scored 17 points in the half and Williams had 14.

Game Notes

Jonas Valanciunas had 13 rebounds and eight points for Toronto. Amir Johnson scored 11 in the win and Lowry had 10 points and nine assists ... Williams was 7-of-10 on 3-pointers and the Raptors shot 13- of-30 as a team from beyond the arc ... The Raptors have won five in a row on the road ... The Hawks travel to play Milwaukee on Sunday ... Toronto continues a four-game road trip on Saturday in Houston.