The Toronto Raptors finished out 2024 similarly to how the team has fared all year — with a resounding loss. Toronto fell for the 10th game in a row, this time 136-107 against the visiting Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night.
Eager to rebound from allowing the most points in franchise history on Boxing Day in Memphis, the Raptors defended a bit better and showed more fight, but were way too careless, turning the ball over nearly at will and once again simply could not hit three-point shots.
With Trae Young (34 points) and DeAndre Hunter (22) cooking for the Hawks, the result never seemed much in doubt as Toronto fell to 7-25 on merit. Only two teams head into 2025 with fewer wins than this group. Scottie Barnes led the Raptors with 19 points, RJ Barrett added 17, but neither played particularly good games, nor did most of their teammates.
The night actually started with good news though, with the Raptors saying pre-game that wing Bruce Brown would make his season debut following a series of false starts. Brown had not played in 7.5 months when an off-season of rest did not get his ailing knee back to 100%.
Brown underwent surgery on the eve of training camp and had been working on reconditioning for more than a month, with a return expected to be imminent. Instead, as Brown explained on Saturday, it took far longer than expected for him to feel confident enough to suit up due to residual soreness, but the day finally came on Sunday.
Brown looked sharp, throwing down a hammer dunk, playing strong defence and sending Gradey Dick in for a jam too at one point. Brown had eight points by halftime and finished with 12 off the bench.
Toronto also welcomed back Jakob Poeltl, who had missed four games. The team is 4-33 without its starting centre over the last two seasons, but his timing seemed off as fouls piled up. Rookies Ja’Kobe Walter and Jamal Shead also played after missing one and two games, respectively. That gave Toronto as full a house as it has had for most of the season, even with backup point guard Davion Mitchell joining starter Immanuel Quickley on the sidelines.
The Hawks played without Dyson Daniels, plus scoring guard Bogdan Bogdanovic and veteran big man Larry Nance Jr., who had played Saturday. The team shot 40% from three against Miami despite Young’s 2-for-9 performance.
Toronto had six turnovers in the first three minutes of the game, keeping control of the ball on only one of the first seven possessions and 10 in the quarter. The Raptors finished with 31 turnovers, one off the franchise record. And it could have been even worse had Daniels, the NBA steals and deflections leader, been able to play. Atlanta is finding its form, with four straight wins. In a weird scheduling quirk, the Hawks will head from Toronto to Denver and then Los Angeles and beyond.
Toronto next plays at Boston in an early tip Tuesday prior to New Year’s Eve, before hosting Brooklyn to kick off the New Year.
Toronto went 20-62 since last January 1, one of the worst records in a calendar year since the franchise’s inception.
@WolstatSun