Norman Powell pushed his Toronto Raptors to a win over the Atlanta Hawks in an interesting event played in Georgia last night. His 17 buckets in the final period were the key reason why the champs managed to deliver yet another win, 122-117.
Apart from four three-pointers, Norman Powell was also good on the defensive side of the floor, contributing a lot to his team. Since the year started, the 26-year old has become an irreplaceable part of Nick Nurse’s team, and developed into a very reliable shooter.
“I’m just taking the same shots I’ve been taking,” Norman Powell said. “I have confidence in my game, confidence in my shot.”
Toronto opened the game well, getting a 9-0 lead, which eventually became 12 points during the late part of the opening quarter, 34-22. However, they’ve allowed the young hosts to cut the deficit and to even gain an edge before going to the break, 60-57.
Led by a fantastic Trae Young, who dropped 42 points, the Hawks were ahead during the third period, but that wasn’t enough for them to break the guests from Canada. The Raptors made a 20-2 series, tightening up things on the defensive side of the court and not allowing the hosts to breathe.
“The second unit came in and did a great job,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “They took a big deficit to a really big lead. We needed it all at the end.”
Atlanta did make the final push, and looked as if they might threaten the rival, but the youngsters didn’t have the power to finish the job.
“We’ve done good on some games on finishing them, sometimes we’ve lost the lead,” said Young. “We show flashes, and we are really, really good… but there is time when we relax and let the team bank in,”
Besides 42 buckets, Young had 15 assists and also 6 boards, missing just three of his 21 shots from the free-throw line.
The next best thing in the Hawks team was John Collins with 17 points and 11 boards, along with three blocks. Two rookies, DeAndre Hunter and Cam Reddish, posted 13 each,
As for the Raptors, Fred VanVleet scored 20 points, last eight for the guests, and was the one who closed this event. FVV is back after an injury that separated him from the court for several games, and right now, Nurse finally has all of his players at disposal.
Pascal Siakam stopped at 18 buckets and 6 boards, Marc Gasol had 14, while Kyle Lowry added 10 with 7 assists. Terence Davis scored 12 in 19 minutes, doing his part of the job very well.
This was the fourth straight victory for the Raps, who now have 29 since the campaign kicked off along with 14 losses. Up next, they meet the Philadelphia 76ers at home before going to New York and San Antonio to face their legend DeMar DeRozan.
As for the Hawks (10-34). Lloyd Pierce’s team is awaiting the LA Clippers, before jumping to Oklahoma City to play against the fired-up Thunder. After that, they reach back to Georgia to meet the Washington Wizards.
