Scottie Barnes finished with 20 points and 10 assists and made some clutch plays down the stretch as the Toronto Raptors kept Trae Young in check to beat the host Atlanta Hawks 123-121 on Friday.
Toronto, which topped the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, pounced on Atlanta early in the Hawks’ first game since the All-Star break. But after the Raptors built a lead of as many as 16 points in the early second quarter, Atlanta rallied to keep the score close throughout the second half.
The Raptors never trailed in the final period, but the Hawks cut their nine-point deficit down to two late in the fourth quarter.
Barnes had critical responses throughout Atlanta’s late-game push, including dunks on back-to-back possessions to push the Raptors’ lead back to five points.
His most pivotal play came with 1:18 remaining when Barnes fired a pass to a wide-open Gary Trent Jr. for a 3-pointer that put the Raptors ahead 119-114.
Toronto kept Atlanta at bay from that point on until Young hit a 3-pointer just before time expired, but it wasn’t enough. Young finished with a season-low 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
Atlanta went 43.4 percent from the floor, including 12-for-39 from 3-point range. Dejounte Murray led the Hawks with 24 points and added 10 rebounds, but shot 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Toronto shot 49 percent from the floor and 15 of 39 from 3-point distance. Immanuel Quickley connected on his first four 3-point attempts and finished 6-for-11 from deep, scoring 24 points. He paced eight Raptors in double-figure scoring, four of whom came off the bench. Gradey Dick’s 18 points led the Toronto reserves, who combined to score 54.
Ochai Agbaji added 14 points, Bruce Brown notched 12, and Kelly Olynyk had 10, including a pair of crucial baskets in the final 2:30.
–Field Level Media
