Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas
Oct 29, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas (17) defends against Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated Atlanta 109-102. Reuters

The Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks opened their 2014-2015 NBA Season on Wednesday and it was the team from Canada which had more offence in a high-scoring affair at the Air Canada Centre as the Raptors beat the Hawks, 109-102.

Both teams actually showed a balanced attack with all starters in the game finishing in double-figure scoring; the Raptors led by center Jonas Valanciunas (17 points) and forward Amir Johnson (16 points) and the Hawks led by 20 points each from point guard Jeff Teague and shooter Kyle Korver.

It was a close fight up until the first quarter when Toronto led 24-22 but the Raptors owned the middle quarters, outscoring the Hawks 62-49 in the middle quarters. The Raptors entered the final quarter with a 15 point lead only to see Atlanta cut the lead all the way down to four points, 103-99 on a Mike Scott three-pointer with 1:25 to go in the game. Scott finished with 20 points off the bench for the Hawks.

Kyle Lowry (11 points and 10 assists) and DeMar DeRozan (15 points, 11 rebounds and 6 steals) hit key free throws down the stretch to hold off the Hawks’ comeback attempt.

Curiously, the Hawks actually shot better than the Raptors both from the field (Atlanta’s 50.0% to Toronto’s 41.1%) and behind the arc (Atlanta’s 59.1% to Toronto’s 30.8%) but the Raptors had more success at the free throw line (27-of-33 FT to Atlanta’s 9-of-17 FT) and also had lesser turnovers (9 to 17).

Toronto aims for back-to-back wins to start the season on Saturday against the Orlando Magic and Atlanta wants to avoid two straight defeats to start the season when they face the Indiana Pacers on the same day.