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Kyle Lowry, Kawhi Leonard reunite to lead Raptors past pesky Hawks

Rudi Schuller

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Kyle Lowry, Kawhi Leonard reunite to lead Raptors past pesky Hawks image

On a night when Vince Carter may have played his last NBA game in the city where he became famous, it was Toronto's current stars who stole the show.

Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry have not played together for the Raptors since Dec. 9, with Lowry missing 10 games over the past month due to a left thigh contusion and lower back pain. Additionally, Leonard, coming off an injury ravaged season, has had his workload limited by the Raptors throughout the first half of his inaugural campaign in Toronto, meaning the team's two best players have only featured together in half of the 42 games heading into Tuesday.

Despite their lack of playing time together, Leonard (31 points, 6 assists, 6 steals) and Lowry (16 points, 6 assists, 4 steals) were critical for the Raptors (31-12) in a hard-fought 104-101 victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks.

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The game started with Carter receiving a warm welcome in his 20th visit to Toronto as an opposing player, with the Scotiabank Arena crowd acknowledging that Tuesday may be the last time the veteran plays in the venue that acted as the backdrop for the now 41-year-old's budding super stardom at the beginning of his 21-season career.

While Carter was the focus in the early going, the Hawks took advantage of a sloppy Raptors team in the first half. Atlanta's lead swelled to nine points in the second quarter, and the visitors even held a small advantage midway through the third as Toronto turned the ball over with uncharacteristic frequency.

The Hawks hung around right until the end, but as the game wore on so did the influence of the Raptors' Big Two. Leonard, who extended his league-leading streak of games with 20 or more points to 17 on Tuesday, was an offensive dynamo as usual and had a near-even split of points scored in the first (15) and second (16) halves.

Lowry took a little longer to get into the game, as the rust of his long layoff was on display in the opening quarters. But in the second half the point guard shone, contributing 13 points and combining with Leonard on a number of key plays as the Raptors looked to hold off the pesky Hawks.

But for all the perennial All-Stars did offensively to help the Raptors, it was on the defensive end where they helped cement the game. With Toronto down by a point in the final minute, Leonard missed a 3-point attempt. The two-time defensive player of the year made up for it by stripping the ball from Hawks forward DeAndre' Bembry at the other end of the floor and starting a chain of events — which included a crucial Lowry pick at mid-court — that ended with Serge Ibaka scoring the game's winning basket.

Another big defensive play by Leonard moments later ensured that the Hawks remained on 101 points for the night, but Carter found himself with his hands on the ball with under a second left to play and Atlanta down by three. The man formerly known as "Air Canada" chucked up a desperation shot from distance that came mesmerizingly close to tying the score, but the night ultimately belonged to the Raptors' present rather than the team's past.

Rudi Schuller