Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young drives to the basket against the Toronto Raptors' Fred VanVleet during the first half of Thursday night's game in Atlanta.ATLANTA - The Toronto Raptors have a new big man coming to help them make their push for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
In the meantime, they won Thursday night by playing small.
Pascal Siakam scored 33 points, Fred VanVleet added 30 and the Raptors rallied after trailing by 17 points in the first half to beat the Atlanta Hawks 119-101 Thursday night.
The totals were each player's best in the NBA.
Toronto, which pulled within 1 1/2 games of Eastern Conference leader Milwaukee, acquired center Marc Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies before Thursday's trade deadline for C.J. Miles, Jonas Valanciunas and Delon Wright plus a second-round pick in the 2024 draft. The team should learn today when to expect Gasol's arrival.
"There are a lot of positives that come with a guy like Gasol, and I think most of them come with being battle-tested," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. "He's got a hell of a career under his belt."
The Raptors were short-handed after trading four players in two deals. Toronto also traded center Greg Monroe to the Brooklyn Nets for cash considerations.
Toronto used only nine players and relied heavily on Siakam, who also had 13 rebounds, and VanVleet with All-Star Kawhi Leonard resting a sore knee.
For the Hawks, Taurean Price and rookie Trae Young each had 19 points.
Atlanta led 66-49 in the second quarter.
"I give them credit, man, they came out guns a-blazing," Nurse said of the Hawks.
After their big deficit, the Raptors used an 11-0 run to launch their comeback. Danny Green, who had 12 points, sank three free throws to cap the run.
Toronto kept the momentum in the third quarter and led 88-85 entering the final period. The Raptors opened the fourth quarter with a 13-3 run to extend the lead in their third straight win.
The Hawks scored 68 points in the first half but only 33 after halftime.
Atlanta's modest two-game winning streak ended. It has not won more than three straight games this season.
"We thought it was going to come easy for us in the second half, and it didn't," said Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce, who added, "Finish has been a key word for us all year. I thought we were complacent."
Toronto's Kyle Lowry had 13 points despite going 3-of-13 from the field. He had 13 assists.
Atlanta's John Collins had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
With his sixth point of the game, the Hawks' Vince Carter tied Jerry West for 21st on the NBA's career scoring list (25,192 points). Carter finished the game with nine points.
The Hawks plan to release two players acquired in separate deals, Jabari Bird and Shelvin Mack. Atlanta traded Tyler Dorsey to Memphis for Mack and acquired Bird and cash from the Boston Celtics for a conditional second-round pick in the 2020 draft. The Hawks were forced to waive guard Daniel Hamilton, who had averaged 3.0 points in 19 games, to accommodate the trades.