Raptors spoil strong Alexander-Walker homecoming by crushing Hawks

Defence was optional Saturday night in Toronto as the Raptors and Atlanta Hawks played the first of two over a three-day stretch here.

Toronto led by only a point after three quarters and it felt like the first team to actually stop its opponent would win, and that’s what came to pass. The Hawks were held to 11 in the fourth quarter, and Toronto ran away with a 134-117 victory.

Brandon Ingram was dominant from the opening tip, missing only one of his first six shots, and finished with 29 points. RJ Barrett matched that total and Scottie Barnes added 20 as Toronto shot 53.3% from the field.

Toronto native Nickeil Alexander-Walker led all with 31, while Jalen Johnson had 30.

Some takeaways from an offence-filled affair:

MAMU REBOUNDS

Sandro Mamukelashvili has been a stellar free agent signing by the Raptors, but there have been a few blips, none moreso than his dud in Toronto’s previous game. The Raptors ended 2025 with a loss to Denver, and Mamukelashvili missed all five of his shot attempts in 12 minutes.

He was eager to rally and did just that, with not only one of his best games of the season, but maybe also of his entire time in the NBA. Mamukelashvili’s career-best eighth assist came on a nice pass to Scottie Barnes for a dunk early in the fourth quarter. Toronto had been up by only five points until Mamukelashvili grabbed a rebound which led to a three-pointer, then blocked a shot which led to a fast break basket before he found Barnes on the break. All of a sudden, Toronto was ahead by 12, its biggest of the game, and the Raptors never looked back.

Mamukelashvili ended with 13 points and 12 rebounds to go with all the assists.

“I am very hard on myself because I really want to win and I want to be that player who helps the team win,” Mamukelashvili said after the game. “So it was definitely tough. especially going into New Year’s, but I was gonna tell myself, ‘I’m gonna leave that in the 2025. I’m going to 2026 with a kind of a clear mindset,'” he said.

“Yesterday, going in the gym at night, making sure I get some extra shots up. Everybody goes through the slumps and just understanding, I’ve been working with, like, really mental coach, gave me three words and reset like that. So just trying to keep up with that and make sure, like, I stayed with, um, mentally, um, present in the moment, and I feel like that’s helping me a lot.”

ALEXANDER-WALKER FOR MIP?

It’s hard to stand out when your cousin is either the best or second-best player on the planet, but Alexander-Walker’s breakout season continued at home Saturday. Alexander-Walker has had some solid seasons since being drafted 17th overall in 2019, but didn’t really solidify himself until his third stop, Minnesota, over the previous three years. But even there (and with the Canadian national team) he blossomed primarily as a key reserve who could play strong defence and also hit outside shots. With Atlanta, where he signed as a free agent, the Toronto native has been much more than that.

Alexander-Walker came in averaging 20.4 points per game, more than double his career average, and has been a key reason why Atlanta has thrived without former franchise star Trae Young, who has been hurt a lot, including on Saturday.

Hawks head coach Quin Synder briefly coached Alexander-Walker when both were with the Utah Jazz, and saw enough to help push for him this summer (it also helped that Atlanta’s general manager Onsi Saleh grew up in Edmonton and has kept close tabs on him).

“Nickeil and I weren’t together for a long time (in Utah), but we don’t have to be with a player for a long time to get a feel for who they are and what they can do,” Snyder said.

“Since the time that we were in Utah together, I’ve watched him a lot and seen how he’s evolved, defensively, shooting the ball. And I think there was an instinct that he had, where he could continue to be more aggressive in other parts of his game. And that’s been something for myself that you want to instil and really encourage … One of the biggest things he’s given us is a voice, both on and off the court, a level of professionalism that he brings, a work ethic, all those quote-unquote intangibles that make him a special player,” Snyder said.

“With Nickeil for a young team with young players, I think he’s really a person that people want to play with, that’s going to teach you and help you grow … He has the ability to relate to a lot of people in different situations. He’s been a part of winning teams.”

While cousin Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could win a second straight MVP award, Alexander-Walker has a real shot at winning most improved player, that is unless his teammate Johnson doesn’t win the award himself.

Alexander-Walker became just the fifth Canadian to score at least 30 points in Toronto against the Raptors. His cousin is the only one to do it twice, Shaedon Sharpe, Barrett (while with New York), and Rick Fox are the others.

“It was really fun,” Alexander-Walker said of his big game. “I think I was talking about it earlier, just being in this position in my career, get to play in front of my family and my friends and like right now, at the end of the game, it’s tough because when you look at it from a holistic standpoint of when I retire, I’m going to be able to say this is what I’ve done, but where we are in the season the importance and what I want for the team, and with the team’s goal is it’s like, I think kind of it’s tough because … it just sucks because we didn’t win tonight.”

AROUND THE RIM

The teams meet again Monday, with Atlanta possibly having any of Young, Kristaps Porzingis or Luke Kennard back in the lineup. Raptors starting centre Jakob Poeltl continues to progress, according to the team, but is not expected to return by Monday … Snyder and Raptors counterpart Darko Rajakovic are friends and once co-authored a paper on the history of the pick-and-roll. “We both really loved the game in kind of its purest essence, and we were both really at beginning stages of our careers in coaching,” was how Snyder described how that happened. “We just hit it off.”

@WolstatSun