Trent Jr. pours in team-high 31 to help Raptors end Hawks’ 7-game win streak | CBC Sports

By Chris Hughes On Feb 1, 2022

Gary Trent Jr. scored 31 points, Pascal Siakam added 23 and the Toronto Raptors snapped Atlanta’s seven-game winning streak with a 106-100 victory on Monday night.

Trent, who has scored at least 30 points in four straight games, hit three 3s in the closing minutes of the third quarter, including a buzzer-beater. Then he connected early in the fourth to put the Raptors up 85-77. He finished with a career-high nine 3s.

“Coming into this summer, they talked to me about getting my jumper — it was good, but getting it to great,” he said. “Getting a little quicker release. Just working, repetition. Believing in the coaching staff and what they’re telling me. Just getting better day by day, week by week, month by month.”

Fred VanVleet, who scored 16 and handed out 11 assists, got hot in the fourth, hitting consecutive 3s to push the lead to nine.

Kevin Huerter scored a team-high 26 points for the Hawks, who were without All-Star guard Trae Young. He was scratched with a right shoulder contusion, and ranks fifth in the NBA in scoring and third in assists.

Atlanta pulled within one on Onyeka Okongwu’s lay-in midway through the fourth and Bogdan Bogdanovich’s straightaway 3 with 1:52 remaining. Trent answered with a 3, and Bogdanovic made a corner 3 to make it 101-100.

WATCH | Trent Jr. leads Raptors past Hawks:

Trent Jr. leads Raptors to victory over Hawks

Toronto snapped Atlanta’s seven-game winning streak with a 106-100 victory, Gary Trent Jr. scores game-high 31 points. 0:36

OG Anunoby then shot a 3-pointer to put the Raptors up 104-100 with 20.1 seconds to go, and Toronto closed out the game.

“I thought their pressure bothered us,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said. “We didn’t really get anything clean. We made some shots and were able to stay close, but I thought they established a presence with their defensive pressure pretty much all night long. And defensively for us, I thought we were back on our heels and they were in attack mode.”

The Raptors were coming off arguably their biggest win of the season, a triple-overtime victory at Eastern Conference-leading Miami on Saturday. Coach Nick Nurse was mindful of the wear and tear on his starting five.

“I looked up and there was about 7 1/2 (minutes) to go and kind of wondered if that group could make it the rest of the way, but I thought they were all contributing in different ways and the defense was pretty good,” Nurse said. “There weren’t a lot of mistakes. It was really good defensive performance, I thought, by us in the second half.”

The Raptors erased an 11-point deficit when Scottie Barnes converted a three-point play to make it 63-61 midway through the third. It was Toronto’s first lead since it was 25-23.

Atlanta led 57-48 at halftime as Huerter scored 16 points, going 6 for 6 from the field and hitting three 3s.

WATCH | Are the Raptors playoff contenders?:

Are the Raptors playoff contenders? | North Courts

The resurgent Toronto Raptors have started 2022 with a bang, with 6 wins in 7 since new years eve. CBC’s Vivek Jacob and Jevohn Shepherd discuss whether the Raptors can reach a guaranteed playoff spot after a rocky start to the season. 5:51

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