The drought is over, Raptors fans. Toronto was the only franchise in the league without a 50 win season, until March 30th, 2016. Last night the Raptors took down the Atlanta Hawks 105-97 in Toronto so the home fans could witness win #50. It sure feels good if you are a supporter of the Raptors.
In the second half of the game, the Hawks trimmed what was a 13 point Raptors halftime lead to 5 with 8:54 remaining in the 3rd. Dwayne Casey called a timeout, and from this point on the game could have went down two different paths. The Raptors could have allowed the Hawks back into the game, or the Raptors could gain some separation again. Toronto chose to go on a massive 31-14 run to end the quarter. Norman Powell was the man who saved the game. In the 3rd quarter he started to get comfortable. He nailed a few 3 pointers off Lowry assists, and even threw down a transition dunk that would push the Toronto lead to 19 at the time. You cannot ask for much more out of the 46th pick in the draft. Norman has stepped up this month, and watching this game, you forget that this Toronto team is also missing defensive specialist DeMarre Carroll. If he can get healthy the team can be even more lethal.
In the fourth quarter, the Raptors held on to the lead until the final four minutes, where the Hawks drained a bunch of 3s and ended up only losing by 8. The game did not feel like an 8 point game. Once Toronto went on their run, it felt like they could do no wrong and they had ultimate control of the game. Jonas Valanciunas also contributed, he was given the ball in the paint a ton and was able to finish strong. Jonas had 19 points on 9-13 shooting. Terrence Ross contributed to the win as well. In the fourth quarter he made a pair of mid-range floaters and also looked good shooting the ball even though they were not all going down. We also got to see the usual Demar DeRozan performance, going for 26 points, 5 boards, and 6 assists. Kyle Lowry did not have the best shooting performance (4-19) but still had 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 11 assists.
For the Raptors, they looked real good tonight. If the Hawks are supposed to be the 3rd best team in the East, then Toronto is in great shape. It was also important that they gave fans the treat of seeing the first 50 win season. Every season Dwayne Casey has coached, the team has improved. Then again, 50 wins is great in the regular season but Toronto wants to see 4 wins in the postseason to actually call the season a success.
