ATLANTA - Portland reserve point guard Tim Frazier had played 49 minutes all season. He played all 47 minutes and change in Monday's game against the Atlanta Hawks.
That's how shorthanded the Trail Blazers were, and it showed.
The Hawks used a balanced attack and strong bench production to wear down Portland in a 106-97 win at Philips Arena. Atlanta (18-12) has won four in a row.
Backup point guard Dennis Schroder led six Hawks in double figures with 18 points, despite having a tooth knocked out in a collision while diving for a loose ball. Starting point guard Jeff Teague added 13 points and handed out eight assists.
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"We had some toughness tonight," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "Dennis just puts (his tooth) in his sock and is ready to go. He wants to play more. I liked the way we competed and played for most of the night. I thought guys were getting hits and getting loose balls. I thought the competitiveness and the toughness, you could feel it tonight."
Frazier started in place of injured All-Star point guard Damian Lillard, who missed the first game of his NBA career with plantar fasciitis in his left heel.
Lillard started the first 275 games of his four-year career, before sitting out Monday's game. To make things even tougher for the Blazers (11-19), shooting guard C.J. McCollum also missed the game, after tweaking both ankles in the fourth quarter of Portland's loss at Miami on Sunday. Lillard and McCollum are Portland's top two scorers.
Frazier finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, but also committed five of Portland's 19 turnovers. Atlanta converted the Blazers' turnovers into 19 points.
"He brought energy," Portland coach Terry Stotts said of Frazier. "He ran the offense and was good defensively. There were times where he had the ball in his hands where there were some turnovers and he got caught in the crowd a couple of times. But it's hard playing 48 minutes against Schroder and Teague, two guards that are tough matchups at both ends of the court."
Frazier said he was happy to get the opportunity, but wasn't pleased with the outcome.
"We lost, so obviously I didn't do enough," Frazier said.
Guard Allen Crabbe led the Blazers with 19 points, and forward Maurice Harkless added 14 points off the bench for Portland.
Schroder hit a deep 3-pointer to beat the third-quarter buzzer and put the Hawks up 77-59. He hit three of four 3-point attempts on the night.
Portland cut the deficit to 99-90 on a 3-pointer from forward Al-Farouq Aminu with 2:13 left in the fourth quarter, but Atlanta ended any comeback hopes with some free throws down the stretch. The Blazers fell to 5-13 on the road.
Forward Thabo Sefolosha provided an early spark off the bench for the Hawks. He led a fast break and delivered a nifty no-look pass to guard Kent Bazemore for a dunk, hit a 3-pointer from the wing and converted a traditional three-point play that put Atlanta up 24-16.
The Hawks led 55-43 at halftime, behind 10 points from Sefolosha. Atlanta turned it over only twice in the first half.
Sefolosha finished with 13 points, leading Atlanta's bench, which outscored Portland's reserves 54-39.
"We have a lot of guys coming off that bench ready," said Bazemore, who finished with 12 points. "That's the beauty of this team. When they put the team together before the season, our depth was going to be our calling card. It's starting to come to fruition for us. It feels good."
The Hawks won despite being outrebounded 50-31.
"Rebounding is a funny stat," Stotts said. "I usually look at the shooting percentages and things like that. If you miss more shots, the other team has a chance at more rebounds."
NOTES: Atlanta PG Jeff Teague moved past Bob Pettit into sixth on the Hawks' all-time assist leader list. ... Portland PG Damian Lillard, who had started in the first 275 games of his career, sat out Monday with plantar fasciitis in his left heel. Lillard aggravated the injury in Sunday's loss to Miami. Lillard is only NBA player to begin his starting his team's first 275 games, according to Elias Sports Bureau. ... The Trail Blazers also were missing G C.J. McCollum, who tweaked both ankles in the fourth quarter against the Heat on Sunday. Backup PG Tim Frazier made his fourth NBA start in place of Lillard. ... Hawks F Paul Millsap entered Monday's game as the only player in the NBA averaging at least 18.9 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. ... The Hawks recalled G Edy Tavares from a two-game D-League assignment.
