It's the wins like these which make the losses to bad teams so tough to take. In front of a tiny crowd in Atlanta, the Raptors won for only the second time on the road this season and the first in 13(!) meetings with Atlanta. Star shooting guard Steve Smith returned for the Hawks after missing 6 games with an injury, but he looked rusty and never was a factor.
Atlanta jumped out to an 11-2 lead keyed by some fast breaks, but the Raptors quickly went on a 12-0 run to take the lead. Dee Brown hit a 3-pointer to end the first quarter with the Raptors up 25-20. The Raptors stayed in front through the second and third quarters, but their margin had dropped from as much as 15 points to 6 at the end of the third. However, the Raptors played a very strong fourth quarter, keyed by some post offence from John Wallace and some incredibly pesky defence. The Raptors forced 23 turnovers, led by Doug Christie's 8 steals. They outscored Atlanta 31-8 in points off turnovers and built the lead up to a game-high 17 points. Atlanta scored the last 8 points of the game, but it was too little, too late. The Hawks were booed for the last five minutes of the game as the crowd reacted to an unexpected Raptor victory.
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