The Toronto Raptors (41 - 20) killed some of the surging Atlanta Hawks' (36 - 29) momentum with a 104 - 96 win on Thursday night. The high - performing Raptors continued to dominate on Thursday while taking on one of the Eastern Conference's tougher teams. The red - hot Raptors are on pace for the first 50 - win season in franchise history, now needing to go just 9 - 12 to round out the season to accomplish the feat. Toronto is a viable contender for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, sitting just two games back from the Cleveland Cavaliers. Thursday was a testimate to Toronto's strong team play, as six Raptors scored in double digits while the team shot 46 percent from the field. All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan took the reigns for the Raps, contributing a game - high 30 points on 11 - for - 20 shooting. DeRozan was the clear focal point for Toronto's offense, while fellow All-Star Kyle Lowry took on distribution, doling out seven dimes. Lowry also pitched in 19 points. He and DeRozan have joined Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum as one of just three backcourt duos in the association in which both players are averaging at least 20 points per game. The Hawks, meanwhile, had come into Thursday's matchup with five wins in their last six. No Hawk scored more than 20, as the team shot just 43 percent from the field. Al Horford led the team in scoring while fellow All-Stars Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap, and Kyle Korver all struggled to find their shooting stroke. Atlanta's loss furthers the down - to - the - wire battle that the Southeast Division has become, as the Heat, Hornets, and Hawks are all separated by just 2 games. The Hawks will host the Grizzlies on Saturday, while the Raptors will host the Heat.
["TeamStat(G,'Raptors') has 46 Percentage of field goals ,has 104 Losses ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Hawks') has 29 Percentage of field goals ,has 96 Losses ,has 36 Total points ."]