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The Toronto Raptors still can't find their way out of a slump. On Sunday, the Raptors suffered a 136-107 loss at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
That's the 10th loss in a row for the Raptors, who made it harder for the team to win by shooting themselves in the foot with numerous turnovers. In fact, Toronto's loss to Trae Young and company set a new brutal franchise record.
“Raptors set franchise record for turnovers in a home game with 31,” Sportsnet Stats posted on X (formerly Twitter) following Toronto's defeat.
Toronto had major trouble with ball security right out of the gates in the game, as the Raptors picked up 10 player turnovers in the first quarter, with the Hawks recording 10 steals in the period. Atlanta finished the game with 22 steals, setting a new team season-high, which was at 16 prior to the meeting with the Raptors. In addition, the Hawks converted Toronto's turnovers into 30 points.
Turnovers, turnovers and turnovers lead to Raptors loss
In terms of turnovers, Raptors forward Scottie Barnes was the biggest culprit in the game, as he lost possession of the ball eight times. He concluded the game with a game-worst minus-34, with no other Toronto player having a worse plus/minus than minus-25. Also having a bad night with the ball was Ochai Agbaji who had five turnovers while Jakob Poeltl and Kelly Olynyk had four turnovers each. Only two Raptors who saw action against the Hawks did not record at least a turnover, with Jamison Battle and Garrett Temple avoiding being part of the mess on that front.
Ball security has been a big issue for the struggling Raptors, and this loss to the Hawks simply highlighted that problem more. So far in the 2024-25 NBA regular season, Toronto is 27th in the league with 16.3 turnovers per 100 possessions and 27th as well with 16.7 turnovers per contest. Barnes and RJ Barrett, who dominate the touches for the Raptors, are averaging 3.7 and 3.4 turnovers per game, respectively.
The loss to Atlanta dropped the Raps to 7-25 and failed to give them some momentum heading into what should be another tough game this coming Tuesday against the reigning NBA champions Boston Celtics at TD Garden.
