ATLANTA _ Despite a season-high of 26 points by Jeremy Lin, the Atlanta Hawks lost their ninth straight game Wednesday at State Farm Arena.
Lin's performance, although encouraging due to his injury riddled past, couldn't overcome the lack of offensive success by the Hawks' starters and inability to stop Kyle Lowry and center Jonas Valanciunas in the 124-108 loss.
In addition to Lin, the Hawks' bench considerably outperformed the starters throughout the game.
In the first quarter, the bench scored 16 points, while starters had eight. The bench finished the first half shooting 54.2 percent from the field while the starting group of Trae Young, Taurean Prince, Kent Bazemore, John Collins and Dewayne Dedmon shot 27.2 percent.
The Hawks' bench first showed signs it would carry the game as coach Lloyd Pierce slowly subbed in his bench early in the first quarter after the Hawks failed to score for the first four and a half minutes. The energy off the bench allowed the Hawks to turn a 15-point deficit into a two-point deficit after a 10-0 run to end the first quarter.
Once the Hawks starters slowly came back in the game in the second quarter, the Raptors' extended their lead from two points to hold a lead 55-44 at the half.
The starters didn't just struggle to get going offensively Wednesday in the early stages of the game, but they struggled deep in the second half. Prince, for example, entered the game averaging 16.2 points but did not make a shot until the third quarter. He finished 3-for-11 for 12 points. Collins, who totaled six points, also didn't make a shot until late in the third quarter off an assist by Young. Young was 2-for-7 for six points after notching 25 points and 17 assists against the Clippers Monday.
The Hawks' starting five also struggled defensively Wednesday against a Raptors team that entered the game sixth in the league in points per game (115.4) because of the absence of starting center Alex Len. Pierce told media before the game Len experienced back tightness Wednesday morning that progressed as the day went on and therefore, the Hawks needed to be creative with how they used their bigs.
Lowry totaled 21 points, 12 rebounds and 17 assists in the win while Valanciunas had a team-high of 24 points and 13 rebounds and Pascal Siakam totaled 22.
The Raptors (15-4) shot .533 from the field against the Hawks despite the absence of Norman Powell, O.G. Anunoby, C.J. Miles and notably Kawhi Leonard who leads the team with 24.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals.
Center Miles Plumlee stepped up as the game progressed, recording seven points on a few alley-oops.
Even though Dedmon, Plumlee and Collins were on the floor, the Hawks struggled in rebounds due to the different usage of bigs Wednesday. The Hawks totaled 34 rebounds compared to the Raptors' 55 in the Hawks' sixth loss at home this season.
Another self-inflicted wound the Hawks suffered Wednesday was that they got in foul trouble early in each half, allowing the Raptors to shoot 17-of-23 free throws.
The familiar narrative weaved throughout the game of the Hawks falling behind, coming back, but then losing steam as the game went on.
The Hawks return to State Farm Arena to host the Boston Celtics Friday at 7:30 p.m.
