A Toronto Raptors lead which had ballooned to 22 points as the third quarter ended was slipping away. The Air Canada Centre had gone deathly quiet. Terrence Ross had made a pair of floaters early in Q4, after which the scoreboard was stuck on “Toronto – 93”. The Atlanta Hawks’ second unit scored 14 unanswered points, and Raptors coach Dwane Casey had no choice. He re-inserted Norman Powell and DeMar DeRozan, who scored the Raptors first points in almost 6 minutes with a pair of free throws.
Kyle Lowry’s floater was the Raptors first field goal in nearly 7 minutes, and it seemed to light a spark.