TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan had a game-high 30 points as the Toronto Raptors continued their winning ways at home with a 104-96 victory over the Atlanta Hawks at Air Canada Centre on Thursday.
DeRozan went 11 for 20 from the field and added five rebounds.
The Raptors (43-20) have won 14 of their last 15 at home and took both meetings with the Atlanta Hawks this season.
Kyle Lowry added 19 points and seven assists while Terrence Ross chipped in with 12 points off the bench.
Lowry went coast-to-coast for a layup after picking off Jeff Teague’s pass to give Toronto its largest lead at 101-89 with 3:32 remaining and the Raptors never looked back.
Atlanta (36-29) had its three-win streak snapped and concluded their five-game road trip 2-3.
The Hawks were led by Al Horford’s 20 points while Kent Bazemore added 13 points and eight rebounds.
Toronto is two games back of Cleveland for top spot in the Eastern Conference while Atlanta sits fifth. 2 1/2 games clear of ninth-place Detroit.
The Raptors took an 82-75 lead into the fourth quarter as DeRozan led the way with 11 of Toronto’s 30 third quarter points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field.
Horford led the Hawks with 12 third-quarter points as Atlanta was held to 42 percent shooting through three periods.
Toronto held Atlanta to 40 percent shooting through two quarters and took a 52-48 lead into the break.
DeRozan led all Raptors with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
Lowry added 12 points and four assists, but left the game with 4:30 remaining. According to the team, Lowry left to stretch with the training staff. He returned for the start of the second half.
Tim Hardaway Jr. paced the Hawks with nine points off the bench as Atlanta scored 10 points on 11 Raptors first-half turnovers.
NOTES: F Bruno Caboclo, C Lucas Nogueira and G Delon Wright were recalled from the Raptors 905 of the NBA Development League before tipoff. … F Luis Scola returned to the Raptors’ starting lineup after sitting out Tuesday to rest. … G Norman Powell started his second consecutive game in place of F James Johnson. … Hawks F Mike Scott left the club for personal reasons. … The Raptors and Hawks have two more meetings this season. … Atlanta returns home to open a two-game homestand on Saturday against the Memphis Grizzlies. … Toronto continues its seven-game homestand on Saturday when the Miami Heat visit.