TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points, Jonas Valanciunas added 19 points and nine rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors earned their franchise-record 50th victory of the season Wednesday night, 105-97 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
DeRozan added six assists and five rebounds, while Kyle Lowry finished with 17 points, 11 assists and six rebounds as Toronto (50-24) won for just the second time in five games.
Toronto became the final franchise in the NBA to reach 50 in a season.
Jeff Teague had 18 points for the Hawks (45-31), whose four-game winning streak was snapped.
Tim Hardaway Jr. added 15 points and Paul Millsap had seven points and nine rebounds for Atlanta, which has won 14 of its last 18 games.
The Raptors took the lead for good early in the first quarter and led by as many as 24 points late in the third before Atlanta scored 14 straight in the fourth period to make a game of it.
Hardaway Jr. had eight points over that stretch, including a pair of 3-pointers.
But with the Toronto lead down to 93-84, the Raptors reeled off six straight points to re-establish some breathing room.
The Raptors led 89-67 going into the fourth quarter on the strength of a 31-14 run over the final nine minutes of the third.
After the Hawks opened the second half by scoring 12 of the first 16 points, Toronto took over.
The Raptors hit four 3s in the third quarter, including a pair by rookie guard Norman Powell, who had 10 points in the period.
Toronto had widened its lead to 54-41 at halftime as Lowry and DeRozan combined for 18 points in the second quarter alone, just three shy of the total scored by all Hawks in the period.
After missing his first six shots, Lowry hit back-to-back 3s on his way to 11 points in the quarter. DeRozan also hit a pair of 3s as the Raptors went 7 for 14 from beyond the arc in the half.
Teague was 5 for 9 for 10 points in the first half for the Hawks, who shot just two free throws through two quarters compared to 12 attempts for Toronto.
TIP-INS
Hawks: Atlanta turned the ball over 18 times, leading to 25 Toronto points, compared to 11 turnovers by the Raptors for 12 Hawks points. . Atlanta hit 14 of 33 from 3-point range, compared to 11 of 23 for Toronto.
Raptors: Forward Luis Scola sat out with a sore right knee and Jason Thompson got the start in his place. . Powell has scored in double figures in four straight games.
UP NEXT
Hawks: Host Cleveland on Friday night.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/3/381763/raptors-beat-hawks-105-97-to-notch-first-50-win-season