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Johnson leads way as Hawks beat Raptors

Dec 12, 2009 - 3:51 AM TORONTO(AP) -- The Raptors went looking for revenge. All they got was a reminder of how good the Atlanta Hawks are.

Joe Johnson scored 20 points, Jamal Crawford and Maurice Evans each had 15, and the Hawks handed the Raptors another double-digit loss, beating Toronto 111-89 on Friday night.

"They beat us," Raptors forward Chris Bosh said. "You're going to get beat sometimes by teams that are better than you, and they're better than us. I can't sit here and be like 'Well, they're not better than us, I think we're better.' No, they're better than us. They beat us. They smoked us once and then they beat us again today."

The Hawks trounced the Raptors 146-115 on Dec. 2 in Atlanta, their highest-scoring game since 1993. Bothered by foul trouble early and resting on the bench late in that game, Bosh was held to a season-low two points.

Bosh was better in this one, scoring 14 and adding 10 rebounds for his league-leading 21st double-double, but the Raptors lost their second straight following a season-high, three-game winning streak.

"We can circle dates on our calendar all we want to, but until we become a better team and, individually, take the challenge a little bit better, we're going to stay where we are," Bosh said.

Evans said the Hawks were prepared for Toronto's early energy.

"We knew that they would come out trying to reconcile what happened in Atlanta," Evans said. "We knew they really wanted to avenge that loss, they were going to play hard and they're a tough home team. We came out with that focus and I think it paid off for us."

Zaza Pachulia scored 14 points, Jeff Teague had 11 and Al Horford scored 10 for Atlanta, which has won three straight and five of seven.

Josh Smith had nine points and eight rebounds for the Hawks, who led by as many as 23. Atlanta has won four straight against Toronto.

Led by Evans and Crawford, Atlanta's bench scored 55 points, one less than the starting five.

"When our bench comes out and plays like that, we're a tough team to beat," Johnson said. "It makes us a lot more deadly, you can't really sit up and guard just one or two guys when you've got everybody rolling the way we were tonight."

Atlanta's reserves helped break it open in the second quarter as the Hawks shot 14 for 21 from the floor.

"Our second unit was huge tonight," coach Mike Woodson said. "This is three straight games they've played unbelievable."

Andrea Bargnani returned to the starting lineup after missing Wednesday's loss at Milwaukee with a sore right ankle and scored 17. Jarrett Jack had 13 points and Hedo Turkoglu had 12.

Atlanta finished 9 for 17 from 3-point range while Toronto made just two of 10. The Raptors are shooting 43 for 148 (29 percent) from behind the arc in their past eight games.

"It's really disappointing, losing to them the first time, coming home and losing to them by double digits again," Toronto rookie DeMar DeRozan said. "It's really frustrating. We've got to pick ourselves back up and move on to the next one."

Toronto, which hosts Houston on Sunday, had as many turnovers (17) as assists.

Raptors guard Jose Calderon was scratched from the starting lineup minutes before the game and replaced by Jack. Calderon, who had missed the past two games with a sore left hip, came off the bench late in the first but lasted just seven minutes before aggravating the injury.

Toronto coach Jay Triano said Calderon had gone for further tests and did not know whether the guard would be available to face the Rockets on Sunday.

The Raptors led 18-10 with 3:59 left in the first but the Hawks used a 14-5 run to reclaim the lead. Toronto's Antoine Wright made a buzzer-beating jumper but Atlanta led 29-27 after one.

Evans scored 10 points in Atlanta's hot-shooting second as the Hawks built a 61-48 lead at the half.

Joe Smith did not travel to Toronto because of a dislocated left thumb, becoming the first Atlanta player this season to miss a game through injury. Othello Hunter was activated to take Smith's place.

NOTES: Woodson received a technical foul for arguing in the first. ... Bosh's five turnovers were a season high, just the second time this season he's made more than three. ... Atlanta's highest-scoring game ever was a 149-123 victory over Philadelphia on Jan. 30, 1993.