DETROIT –

The Detroit Pistons downed the Los Angeles Kings in overtime on Tuesday in front of a packed Palace of Auburn Hills crowd.

Guard Rodney Stuckey shined with 34 points for the Pistons on route to their 88-85 win. They forced Kobe Bryant to go 8-26 from the field and 2-9 on three point attempts.

Detroit (13-26) hopes to ride the momentum from that thrilling victory into Friday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks (23-16) just dropped a tough game to the Miami Heat, 89-86. Despite a solid 46.1 shooting percentage, Atlanta had problems holding on to the ball with 22 turnovers. LeBron James scored 31 points to help the Heat win a second-straight.

The Pistons are 5-5 in their past 10 games and seven of their past 10 at the Palace. They are five wins out of a playoff spot, with three teams sitting between them and 8th-place New York.

Atlanta has won the past three games with Detroit.

Tip off is at 7:30 p.m.

The Toronto Raptors face the Pistons on Saturday in their third consecutive game in Auburn Hills.

Instead of giving his sore left ankle more rest, Jeff Teague decided to play and the point guard turned in one of the best games of his career.

Teague tied a career high with 24 points and the Atlanta Hawks won for the fourth time in five games, 94-72 over the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday night.

“I didn’t really feel too much pain when I got out there,” Teague said. “I might feel a little bit tomorrow or something, but we just played as a team. We were moving the ball well, guys were getting open shots and just knocking them down.”

Willie Green added 16 points and Marvin Williams 14 for Atlanta, which can close its road trip with a 4-1 record by winning in Toronto on Tuesday night.

“It’s just a road mentality,” Teague said. “It’s tough to beat somebody at their home, so you come in and you have to be fully focused and ready, and we’re doing that.”

The Hawks broke the game open with a 23-4 run during the last half of the third quarter, while New Orleans was in the midst of missing 12 straight shots. Green’s 32-foot 3-pointer to end the period made it 76-52, and Atlanta’s lead got as large as 29 in the fourth quarter as the Hawks handed the Hornets their most lopsided loss this season.

“I don’t think we let them key in on anything. We switched it up with the play calling and things like that,” Teague said. “When you’re moving the ball and making shots like that, it’s hard for anybody to play defense.”

Emeka Okafor scored 13 points for New Orleans, which was as close as 53-48 on Jarrett Jack’s free throws with 5:44 to go in the third before Atlanta took over.

Jack finished with 10 points in the Hornets’ 16th loss in 18 games.

The Hornets, who have lost 10 times by single digits, have been competitive in most of their games and had hoped they were turning the corner after a lopsided victory over Orlando on Friday night, which snapped a nine-game skid. Instead, they responded with one of their worst games of the season, shooting only 37.5 percent (27 of 72).

“Frustrating. Embarrassing. It’s not what the fans deserve. It’s not what the coaches deserve,” Hornets forward Jason Smith said. “We came out sluggish. We didn’t play hard. We didn’t play defense.”

The Hornets shot 5 of 19 in the first quarter and 5 of 20 in the third. They went from 7:06 of the third quarter to 9:35 of the fourth without hitting a field goal (0 for 12) and turned the ball over six times during that stretch.

“It’s certainly one of those games you have to flush the toilet on and get ready for the next one, but I was really disappointed in our effort, especially at home with a day in between games,” Hornets coach Monty Williams said. “We don’t have enough talent to go out there and play one-on-one basketball. We certainly don’t have enough talent to go out there and not play with effort. That was the frustrating part.”

The Hawks shot 44 percent (36 of 82) and went 12 of 23 on 3-pointers, with Teague hitting all four he attempted. Marvin Williams was 3 of 4 from long range. Atlanta also outrebounded New Orleans 42-36.

Joe Johnson and Ivan Johnson each scored nine points for the Hawks.

Teague left Atlanta’s previous game at Detroit on Friday with a sprained left ankle, but he returned to the starting lineup Sunday and had an immediate effect on the game.

Atlanta raced to a 12-2 lead with Marvin Williams and Teague each hitting 3s and Teague adding a 16-foot jumper. Teague then hit back-to-back 3s on his way to 11 first-quarter points and the Hawks took a 21-point lead barely 9 minutes into the game when Kirk Hinrich’s layup made it 27-6.

Green called Teague’s performance on the sore ankle “very impressive.”

“We’ve been constantly on him about just being aggressive and tonight he did that,” Green said. “He set the tone for us. He does a good job of getting guys involved and sometimes he has to be aggressive. We just want him to be able to do all of that and that’s a lot to ask, but he’s just getting better.”

The Hornets clawed back into the game with an 11-0 run in the second quarter during which Okafor scored five points and capped the surge with a three-point play on an inside basket to make it 33-26.

Williams’ second 3 of the game interrupted the spurt before Okafor scored inside and Gustavo Ayon hit a reverse layup to cut it to 36-30. Atlanta then built its lead back to double digits, closing out the half with a 6-1 mini-run capped by Johnson’s driving floater from the lane to make it 46-35.

Notes: Greivis Vasquez tied a career high with eight assists. … During New Orleans’ 11-0 run in the second quarter, Green hit a jumper at the shot-clock buzzer that was initially ruled good and overturned on replay. … The Hornets’ 21-point deficit in the first quarter was at that point the largest deficit for New Orleans this season until it got worse in the second half. … New Orleans and Atlanta meet only once in this lockout-shortened season. … The Hornets’ worst loss coming in was by 16 points at Sacramento.

CBSSports.com wire reports
Jan. 29, 2012

NEW ORLEANS — Instead of giving his sore left ankle more rest, Jeff Teague decided to play and the point guard turned in one of the best games of his career.

Teague tied a career high with 24 points and the Atlanta Hawks won for the fourth time in five games, 94-72 over the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday night.

“I didn’t really feel too much pain when I got out there,” Teague said. “I might feel a little bit tomorrow or something, but we just played as a team. We were moving the ball well, guys were getting open shots and just knocking them down.”

Willie Green added 16 points and Marvin Williams 14 for Atlanta, which can close its road trip with a 4-1 record by winning in Toronto on Tuesday night.

“It’s just a road mentality,” Teague said. “It’s tough to beat somebody at their home, so you come in and you have to be fully focused and ready, and we’re doing that.”

The Hawks broke the game open with a 23-4 run during the last half of the third quarter, while New Orleans was in the midst of missing 12 straight shots. Green’s 32-foot 3-pointer to end the period made it 76-52, and Atlanta’s lead got as large as 29 in the fourth quarter as the Hawks handed the Hornets their most lopsided loss this season.

“I don’t think we let them key in on anything. We switched it up with the play calling and things like that,” Teague said. “When you’re moving the ball and making shots like that, it’s hard for anybody to play defense.”

Emeka Okafor scored 13 points for New Orleans, which was as close as 53-48 on Jarrett Jack’s free throws with 5:44 to go in the third before Atlanta took over.

Jack finished with 10 points in the Hornets’ 16th loss in 18 games.

The Hornets, who have lost 10 times by single digits, have been competitive in most of their games and had hoped they were turning the corner after a lopsided victory over Orlando on Friday night, which snapped a nine-game skid. Instead, they responded with one of their worst games of the season, shooting only 37.5 percent (27 of 72).

“Frustrating. Embarrassing. It’s not what the fans deserve. It’s not what the coaches deserve,” Hornets forward Jason Smith said. “We came out sluggish. We didn’t play hard. We didn’t play defense.”

The Hornets shot 5 of 19 in the first quarter and 5 of 20 in the third. They went from 7:06 of the third quarter to 9:35 of the fourth without hitting a field goal (0 for 12) and turned the ball over six times during that stretch.

“It’s certainly one of those games you have to flush the toilet on and get ready for the next one, but I was really disappointed in our effort, especially at home with a day in between games,” Hornets coach Monty Williams said. “We don’t have enough talent to go out there and play one-on-one basketball. We certainly don’t have enough talent to go out there and not play with effort. That was the frustrating part.”

The Hawks shot 44 percent (36 of 82) and went 12 of 23 on 3-pointers, with Teague hitting all four he attempted. Marvin Williams was 3 of 4 from long range. Atlanta also outrebounded New Orleans 42-36.

Joe Johnson and Ivan Johnson each scored nine points for the Hawks.

Teague left Atlanta’s previous game at Detroit on Friday with a sprained left ankle, but he returned to the starting lineup Sunday and had an immediate effect on the game.

Atlanta raced to a 12-2 lead with Marvin Williams and Teague each hitting 3s and Teague adding a 16-foot jumper. Teague then hit back-to-back 3s on his way to 11 first-quarter points and the Hawks took a 21-point lead barely 9 minutes into the game when Kirk Hinrich’s layup made it 27-6.

Green called Teague’s performance on the sore ankle “very impressive.”

“We’ve been constantly on him about just being aggressive and tonight he did that,” Green said. “He set the tone for us. He does a good job of getting guys involved and sometimes he has to be aggressive. We just want him to be able to do all of that and that’s a lot to ask, but he’s just getting better.”

The Hornets clawed back into the game with an 11-0 run in the second quarter during which Okafor scored five points and capped the surge with a three-point play on an inside basket to make it 33-26.

Williams’ second 3 of the game interrupted the spurt before Okafor scored inside and Gustavo Ayon hit a reverse layup to cut it to 36-30. Atlanta then built its lead back to double digits, closing out the half with a 6-1 mini-run capped by Johnson’s driving floater from the lane to make it 46-35.

Notes

Greivis Vasquez tied a career high with eight assists. … During New Orleans’ 11-0 run in the second quarter, Green hit a jumper at the shot-clock buzzer that was initially ruled good and overturned on replay. … The Hornets’ 21-point deficit in the first quarter was at that point the largest deficit for New Orleans this season until it got worse in the second half. … New Orleans and Atlanta meet only once in this lockout-shortened season. … The Hornets’ worst loss coming in was by 16 points at Sacramento.

About the Hawks: The Hawks defeated the Toronto Raptors 93-84 Monday in Atlanta as Johnson had a solid all-around game, finishing with a season-high 27 points, six assists, five rebounds, three blocks and two steals. … It was the Hawks’ third consecutive win and sixth in seven games, though the last three wins have come against teams with a combined 12-30 record. … Smith, who had 28 points and a season-high 15 rebounds in the victory over the Raptors, is averaging 22.3 points and shooting 60.3 percent from the field over the last seven games. … The Hawks are allowing an average of just 20.2 points in the first quarter this season and have held eight opponents to less than 20 points in the opening quarter. … Teague leads the NBA in steals with 31 and 22 have come in last eight games. The Hawks are 7-2 when he records two or more steals in a game. … All-Star center Al Horford tore his pectoral muscle Jan. 11 at Indiana and is expected to miss three to four months. … Atlanta’s opening night roster featured an average age of 29 years, 77 days, the second-oldest team in the NBA behind the Dallas Mavericks (30 years, 106 days).

About the Blazers: Portland ended a three-game losing streak Monday, defeating the New Orleans Hornets 84-77 in New Orleans. Aldridge scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, when the Blazers opened with a 17-4 run. … Felton had a season-high 12 assists, but also committed eight turnovers against the Hornets. Over the last four games, he’s made just 15 of 48 field goals (31.3 percent), including 2 of 16 three-pointers. He’s shooting 34.7 percent this season, the lowest among starting NBA guards. … Since learning Friday that negotiations on a contract extension hit a roadblock, Batum has rediscovered his game, totaling 48 points and 14 rebounds while shooting 58 percent from the field in two games. … Reserve guard Jamal Crawford played the last two seasons with the Hawks and averaged a team-high 21.5 points per game against the Blazers last season. … The Blazers rank 17th in the league in shooting (43.9 percent) and 19th in three-point shooting (32.0 percent). … The Blazers are 6-2 when they score 100 or more points and 2-3 when they allow at least 100 points. … The Blazers have held two opponents (Lakers, Hornets) without a three-point field goal this season and are allowing opponents to shoot just 27.8 percent from long range — the second-best mark in the NBA. … The Blazers, who will play their fourth game of a six-game trip against the Hawks, are 2-4 on the road this season.

Series history: The Blazers have lost five in a row to the Hawks, including their last three appearances in Atlanta. The five-game winning streak is the longest current streak of any Blazers opponent. Three of the last five games between the teams in Atlanta have been decided in overtime. The all-time series is tied 49-49 but the Hawks hold a 32-17 edge in Atlanta. Aldridge averaged 20.5 points and 7.0 rebounds last season against Atlanta.

Injuries: Center Greg Oden (left knee) will not play and center Marcus Camby (sprained let ankle) is questionable for the Blazers. Guard Kirk Hinrich (left shoulder) and forward/center Al Horford (torn pectoral muscle) are out for the Hawks.

— Joe Freeman; follow him on Twitter

ATLANTA (AP) — Josh Smith believes the Atlanta Hawks can keep winning even though center Al Horford will miss the next three to four months with an injury.

“We have veteran guys who have been there and done that before,” Smith said. “All we need is to just keep flying under the radar.”

Smith scored 28 points and pulled down a season-high 15 rebounds and Joe Johnson added 27 points to help the Atlanta Hawks win their third straight game, 93-84 over the Toronto Raptors on Monday.

The Hawks are 3-0 since Horford tore his left pectoral muscle last week, and Smith is hardly concerned that Atlanta has yet to beat a strong opponent during that stretch. Charlotte, Minnesota and Toronto are a combined 11-29.

“We’ve played against some good teams here and some not-so-good teams, so we’ve just got to be able to be disciplined no matter who we’re playing against,” Smith said. “We have to be able to get out to a good start. The bench guys came in (Saturday) night and gave us a lift and the starters did the same thing today and everyone else followed.”

Leandro Barbosa had 22 points off the bench for Toronto, which has lost five straight.

Toronto was without center Andrea Bargnani, the NBA’s ninth-leading scorer, for the third straight game because of a strained left calf. Reserve guard James Johnson didn’t play because of a sprained right ankle.

The Raptors twice cut the lead to one late in the third quarter when Barbosa hit a pair of free throws and a runner, but Atlanta went on an 18-9 run that Jeff Teague ended with a free throw to make it 81-71 with 7:55 remaining.

Toronto never got closer than five after Ed Davis scored inside over Smith to make it 85-80 with 2:12 left.

Smith responded on the next possession by jumping from the right baseline and tipping in Johnson’s missed runner to give the Hawks an 87-80 lead.

“It sounds like a broken record, but I thought our guys competed,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “We’re truly missing our players, but that’s no excuse. There’s only so much you can ask for from certain players. That’s not their role.”

Jose Calderon had 13 points and 11 assists and Amir Johnson added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost seven of eight overall and dropped to 2-6 on the road.

The Hawks converted 17 Toronto turnovers into 22 points.

“I don’t want to make excuses, but we’re a young team and we have a new coach,” Calderon said. “Maybe we need some practice. Hopefully we can get on the same page. Sometimes we turn the ball over because we’re trying to do too much.”

Calderon likes that Casey wants the Raptors to run the floor with an up-tempo offense – an approach that could give Toronto a better chance to succeed when Bargnani and others return from injury.

“We just have to get used to this,” Calderon said. “We have to keep fighting. Everybody believes in what we’re doing, we just have to do it for 48 minutes. We’re competing. We’re not losing by 20 or 30 points.”

Teague, who gave Atlanta its biggest lead when his floating jumper made it 43-30 at the 3:55 mark of the second, is pleased that the Hawks are doing what comes natural and leaning on their two best scorers (Johnson and Smith) with Horford sidelined.

“It’s going to take team efforts every night,” Teague said. “We’ve played well the last few games, but coming in here (Wednesday), Portland is a really good team. They’ll play hard. We’ll just have to stay together.”

Atlanta improved to 10-4 overall, 6-1 at home.

ATLANTA – Josh Smith believes the Atlanta Hawks can keep winning even though centre Al Horford will miss the next three to four months with an injury.

“We have veteran guys who have been there and done that before,” Smith said. “All we need is to just keep flying under the radar.”

Smith scored 28 points and pulled down a season-high 15 rebounds and Joe Johnson added 27 points to help the Atlanta Hawks win their third straight game, 93-84 over the Toronto Raptors on Monday.

The Hawks are 3-0 since Horford tore his left pectoral muscle last week, and Smith is hardly concerned that Atlanta has yet to beat a strong opponent during that stretch. Charlotte, Minnesota and Toronto are a combined 11-29.

“We’ve played against some good teams here and some not-so-good teams, so we’ve just got to be able to be disciplined no matter who we’re playing against,” Smith said. “We have to be able to get out to a good start. The bench guys came in (Saturday) night and gave us a lift and the starters did the same thing today and everyone else followed.”

Leandro Barbosa had 22 points off the bench for Toronto, which has lost five straight.

Toronto was without centre Andrea Bargnani, the NBA’s ninth-leading scorer, for the third straight game because of a strained left calf. Reserve guard James Johnson didn’t play because of a sprained right ankle.

The Raptors twice cut the lead to one late in the third quarter when Barbosa hit a pair of free throws and a runner, but Atlanta went on an 18-9 run that Jeff Teague ended with a free throw to make it 81-71 with 7:55 remaining.

Toronto never got closer than five after Ed Davis scored inside over Smith to make it 85-80 with 2:12 left.

Smith responded on the next possession by jumping from the right baseline and tipping in Johnson’s missed runner to give the Hawks an 87-80 lead.

“It sounds like a broken record, but I thought our guys competed,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “We’re truly missing our players, but that’s no excuse. There’s only so much you can ask for from certain players. That’s not their role.”

Jose Calderon had 13 points and 11 assists and Amir Johnson added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost seven of eight overall and dropped to 2-6 on the road.

The Hawks converted 17 Toronto turnovers into 22 points.

“I don’t want to make excuses, but we’re a young team and we have a new coach,” Calderon said. “Maybe we need some practice. Hopefully we can get on the same page. Sometimes we turn the ball over because we’re trying to do too much.”

Calderon likes that Casey wants the Raptors to run the floor with an up-tempo offence — an approach that could give Toronto a better chance to succeed when Bargnani and others return from injury.

“We just have to get used to this,” Calderon said. “We have to keep fighting. Everybody believes in what we’re doing, we just have to do it for 48 minutes. We’re competing. We’re not losing by 20 or 30 points.”

Teague, who gave Atlanta its biggest lead when his floating jumper made it 43-30 at the 3:55 mark of the second, is pleased that the Hawks are doing what comes natural and leaning on their two best scorers (Johnson and Smith) with Horford sidelined.

“It’s going to take team efforts every night,” Teague said. “We’ve played well the last few games, but coming in here (Wednesday), Portland is a really good team. They’ll play hard. We’ll just have to stay together.”

Atlanta improved to 10-4 overall, 6-1 at home.

Notes: The Hawks never trailed after Smith’s layup made it 13-11 at the 6:35 mark of the first. … Davis had 11 rebounds. … Johnson and Teague each had six assists. … Hawks G Tracy McGrady finished with no points and three assists in 8 minutes after missing the past three games with back spasms. … Atlanta has won five straight over the Raptors and seven in a row at home.

ATLANTA—There were two plays in the Raptors’ 93-84 loss to the Atlanta Hawks here Monday that DeMar DeRozan will watch and he will wince when he sees them and he will hear his coach in his ear saying, “Yeah, that’s what I mean.”

They were, in the school vernacular of the day, “learning opportunities” and the Raptors can only hope the young shooting guard emerges better off from the roughest patch of his NBA career.

The first came as DeRozan found himself with the ball and almost a clear path to the basket in transition. But instead of going hard to the rim, knowing that a pursuing Hawk was likely to catch him and hit him, DeRozan made a passive move, had the ball stripped, saw it bounce off his foot out of bounds and an easy basket was lost.

The second came late in the game, with the Raptors desperately trying to pull off a miracle. With the ball at the top of three-point circle, the athletically gifted young man launched arguably the worst three-pointer of his life. It missed the rim and almost the backboard, finishing low and left — definitely not one for the highlight reels.

Those are moments that can’t happen if DeRozan is to realize his potential and if the Raptors are going to snap out of the five-game losing streak they find themselves in heading to Boston for a Wednesday finale to this three-game road trip.

“I knew going into this year with him being one of our top players that teams were going to hone in and lock in and it wasn’t going to be easy,” coach Dwane Casey said after DeRozan went 5-for-17 from the field and finished with just 10 points. “He’s got to make more of an (effort) to get open. Don’t give in to a guy (getting) into him. Leandro (Barbosa), they do him the same way but he works until he gets open and that’s something DeMar is going to have to learn to do, and he will.”

It is not fair to single out DeRozan for too much blame on a night when the Raptors once again turned the ball over far too often (17 times leading to 22 Atlanta points), missed too many free throws (just 15-for-22 from the line) and struggled score in the fourth quarter without the offensive abilities of Andrea Bargnani (just 13 Toronto points in the final 12 minutes).

But life as a basketball prodigy is not fair and until Bargnani gets back — and even after he does — DeRozan has to be better.

“Just gotta find my niche, that’s all,” said DeRozan. “(I’m) learning a lot of stuff, trying to get into the rhythm of stuff and once I find it, I think I’ll be fine.

“It’s just tough sometimes. We have to be able to execute and get easy shots for each other. A lot of times you find us taking a lot of difficult shots late in the shot clock, where we have to force shots up. That’s not good for none of us.”

As they have so often, the Raptors played well in some stretches with a zone defence that got them back in the game and enough offence — 22 points off the bench for Barbosa and 13 from each of Amir Johnson and Jose Calderon — to stay close.

But when it came time to win, they failed and the learning process drones on.

“I thought our zone was effective, I thought we did a good job in reading and recognizing and forcing them to shoot jump shots,” said Casey. “They made some big shots: Joe Johnson (27 points), that’s what he does, that’s what Josh Smith (28 points) does.

“We had some easy misses and that was the story of the game. They made their tough shots and we missed ours.”

ATLANTA (AP)—Josh Smith believes the Atlanta Hawks can keep winning even
though center Al Horford will miss the next three to four months with an injury.

“We have veteran guys who have been there and done that before,” Smith
said. “All we need is to just keep flying under the radar.”

Smith scored 28 points and pulled down a season-high 15 rebounds and Joe
Johnson added 27 points to help the Atlanta Hawks win their third straight game,
93-84 over the Toronto Raptors on Monday.

The Hawks are 3-0 since Horford tore his left pectoral muscle last week, and
Smith is hardly concerned that Atlanta has yet to beat a strong opponent during
that stretch. Charlotte, Minnesota and Toronto are a combined 11-29.

“We’ve played against some good teams here and some not-so-good teams, so
we’ve just got to be able to be disciplined no matter who we’re playing
against,” Smith said. “We have to be able to get out to a good start. The
bench guys came in (Saturday) night and gave us a lift and the starters did the
same thing today and everyone else followed.”

Leandro Barbosa had 22 points off the bench for Toronto, which has lost five
straight.

Toronto was without center Andrea Bargnani, the NBA’s ninth-leading scorer,
for the third straight game because of a strained left calf. Reserve guard James
Johnson didn’t play because of a sprained right ankle.

The Raptors twice cut the lead to one late in the third quarter when Barbosa
hit a pair of free throws and a runner, but Atlanta went on an 18-9 run that
Jeff Teague ended with a free throw to make it 81-71 with 7:55 remaining.

Toronto never got closer than five after Ed Davis scored inside over Smith
to make it 85-80 with 2:12 left.

Smith responded on the next possession by jumping from the right baseline
and tipping in Johnson’s missed runner to give the Hawks an 87-80 lead.

“It sounds like a broken record, but I thought our guys competed,” Raptors
coach Dwane Casey said. “We’re truly missing our players, but that’s no excuse.
There’s only so much you can ask for from certain players. That’s not their
role.”

Jose Calderon had 13 points and 11 assists and Amir Johnson added 13 points
and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost seven of eight overall and
dropped to 2-6 on the road.

The Hawks converted 17 Toronto turnovers into 22 points.

“I don’t want to make excuses, but we’re a young team and we have a new
coach,” Calderon said. “Maybe we need some practice. Hopefully we can get on
the same page. Sometimes we turn the ball over because we’re trying to do too
much.”

Calderon likes that Casey wants the Raptors to run the floor with an
up-tempo offense—an approach that could give Toronto a better chance to
succeed when Bargnani and others return from injury.

“We just have to get used to this,” Calderon said. “We have to keep
fighting. Everybody believes in what we’re doing, we just have to do it for 48
minutes. We’re competing. We’re not losing by 20 or 30 points.”

Teague, who gave Atlanta its biggest lead when his floating jumper made it
43-30 at the 3:55 mark of the second, is pleased that the Hawks are doing what
comes natural and leaning on their two best scorers (Johnson and Smith) with
Horford sidelined.

“It’s going to take team efforts every night,” Teague said. “We’ve played
well the last few games, but coming in here (Wednesday), Portland is a really
good team. They’ll play hard. We’ll just have to stay together.”

Atlanta improved to 10-4 overall, 6-1 at home.

Notes: The Hawks never trailed after Smith’s layup made it 13-11 at the 6:35
mark of the first. … Davis had 11 rebounds. … Johnson and Teague each had
six assists. … Hawks G Tracy McGrady finished with no points and three assists
in 8 minutes after missing the past three games with back spasms. … Atlanta
has won five straight over the Raptors and seven in a row at home.

ATLANTA Josh Smith believes the Atlanta Hawks can keep winning even though centre Al Horford will miss the next three to four months with an injury.

“We have veteran guys who have been there and done that before,” Smith said. “All we need is to just keep flying under the radar.”

Smith scored 28 points and pulled down a season-high 15 rebounds and Joe Johnson added 27 points to help the Atlanta Hawks win their third straight game, 93-84 over the Toronto Raptors on Monday.

The Hawks are 3-0 since Horford tore his left pectoral muscle last week, and Smith is hardly concerned that Atlanta has yet to beat a strong opponent during that stretch. Charlotte, Minnesota and Toronto are a combined 11-29.

“We’ve played against some good teams here and some not-so-good teams, so we’ve just got to be able to be disciplined no matter who we’re playing against,” Smith said. “We have to be able to get out to a good start. The bench guys came in (Saturday) night and gave us a lift and the starters did the same thing today and everyone else followed.”

Leandro Barbosa had 22 points off the bench for Toronto, which has lost five straight.

Toronto was without centre Andrea Bargnani, the NBA’s ninth-leading scorer, for the third straight game because of a strained left calf. Reserve guard James Johnson didn’t play because of a sprained right ankle.

The Raptors twice cut the lead to one late in the third quarter when Barbosa hit a pair of free throws and a runner, but Atlanta went on an 18-9 run that Jeff Teague ended with a free throw to make it 81-71 with 7:55 remaining.

Toronto never got closer than five after Ed Davis scored inside over Smith to make it 85-80 with 2:12 left.

Smith responded on the next possession by jumping from the right baseline and tipping in Johnson’s missed runner to give the Hawks an 87-80 lead.

“It sounds like a broken record, but I thought our guys competed,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “We’re truly missing our players, but that’s no excuse. There’s only so much you can ask for from certain players. That’s not their role.”

Jose Calderon had 13 points and 11 assists and Amir Johnson added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost seven of eight overall and dropped to 2-6 on the road.

The Hawks converted 17 Toronto turnovers into 22 points.

“I don’t want to make excuses, but we’re a young team and we have a new coach,” Calderon said. “Maybe we need some practice. Hopefully we can get on the same page. Sometimes we turn the ball over because we’re trying to do too much.”

Calderon likes that Casey wants the Raptors to run the floor with an uptempo offence — an approach that could give Toronto a better chance to succeed when Bargnani and others return from injury.

“We just have to get used to this,” Calderon said. “We have to keep fighting. Everybody believes in what we’re doing, we just have to do it for 48 minutes. We’re competing. We’re not losing by 20 or 30 points.”

Teague, who gave Atlanta its biggest lead when his floating jumper made it 43-30 at the 3:55 mark of the second, is pleased that the Hawks are doing what comes natural and leaning on their two best scorers (Johnson and Smith) with Horford sidelined.

“It’s going to take team efforts every night,” Teague said. “We’ve played well the last few games, but coming in here (Wednesday), Portland is a really good team. They’ll play hard. We’ll just have to stay together.”

Atlanta improved to 10-4 overall, 6-1 at home.

NOTES: The Hawks never trailed after Smith’s layup made it 13-11 at the 6:35 mark of the first. … Davis had 11 rebounds. … Johnson and Teague each had six assists. … Hawks G Tracy McGrady finished with no points and three assists in eight minutes after missing the past three games with back spasms. … Atlanta has won five straight over the Raptors and seven in a row at home.

The Associated Press

Read More: Joe Johnson (G – ATL), Josh Smith (F – ATL), Jose Calderon (G – TOR), Amir Johnson (C – TOR), Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors

After starting slowly, the Atlanta Hawks recovered to take a 26-18 first quarter lead over the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors jumped out to an early 11-5 lead before the Hawks went on a run to close the quarter.

Josh Smith hit consecutive field goal attempts in the first quarter for a fast 12 points. Joe Johnson has been really aggressive early with eight points, two assists and two steals. The Hawks hit 50 percent of its shots and got to the free throw line eight times in the quarter where they hit seven.

Jose Calderon leads the Raptors with six points and four assists. Amir Johnson had three points and two rebounds before two personal fouls sent him to the bench. Toronto turned the ball over seven times in the first quarter.

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