Pascal Siakam scored 21 of his 33 points in the first quarter Friday night and the Toronto Raptors went on to defeat the visiting Atlanta Hawks 125-114.
Siakam shot 11 of 16 from the field in matching his season-best in points and added nine rebounds and four assists as the Raptors extended their winning streak to five games.
Fred VanVleet added 26 points and 11 assists for the Raptors, who also defeated the Hawks on Monday in Atlanta.
Gary Trent Jr. contributed 19 points, Scottie Barnes had 16, Chris Boucher scored 11 and Precious Achiuwa scored 10 points off the bench.
Trae Young had 22 points and 13 assists for the Hawks, who lost for only the second time in their past 10 games. De’Andre Hunter and John Collins each scored 23 points for Atlanta and Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 18.
The Raptors, who led by as many as 18 points during the first quarter, took a 10-point advantage into the fourth quarter.
Toronto’s lead reached 14 with 8:08 to play in the fourth when Siakam made a six-footer. The lead reached 16 points after Barnes made two free throws. Atlanta cut the lead to five points when Collins made a dunk with 4:11 to play.
Young’s 20-footer cut the lead to three, capping a 12-0 Atlanta run. Trent made a 3-pointer with 1:56 to play to increase the lead to eight points. Barnes hit a 3-pointer to make the lead 11.
Toronto led 39-28 after one quarter.
Atlanta started the second quarter on an 11-2 surge. The Raptors countered with a 12-3 run to lead by 11 with 5:34 left in the second quarter. The lead was trimmed to two with 2:24 remaining on Hunter’s layup. Toronto led 60-59 at halftime.
Toronto led by eight after Trent’s 3-pointer with 4:52 to play in the third quarter. VanVleet’s 3-pointer increased the lead to 12. Toronto led 96-86 after three quarters.
–Field Level Media
