"When Hawks coach Larry Drew talks about Josh Smith's mistakes he's usually quick to add that he can live with them. That's because Smith's good plays almost always outweigh the errors by a wide margin.

Smith showed why his coach cuts him so much slack on Sunday at Toronto. The Hawks' energetic power forward delivered a triple-double to lift them to a 96-78 victory against the Raptors.

"It just seemed like he was all over the floor," Drew said. "When he plays like that and plays under control, he is such a force."

The Hawks won their third straight game, and Smith has played a key role in all of them. He led the team in scoring and rebounding against Washington, kept the Knicks away from the basket with his defense and then did it all against Toronto.

Smith finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. He had 12 points and nine rebounds at the beginning of the third quarter and quickly got another rebound by collecting his own blocked shot.

The final assist didn't come as easily. His teammates missed shots no fewer than four times after getting passes from Smith, starting with Josh Powell's layup attempt.

"Me and Josh Powell just had it in the locker room," Smith joked. "When he missed that layup, I was like, 'Man, I might not get it.'"

The suspense was over when Joe Johnson cut to the the basket, took a pass from Smith and made a layup with 4:30 to play. By then Atlanta was on its way to its seventh road victory in nine games.

"He came out with that sense of urgency, flying around, blocking shots, rebounding and finding guys," Johnson said. "When he is playing like that, we all play at a totally different level."

For the third straight game Atlanta's offense was sharp early. The Hawks made 11 of 20 shots in the first quarter, with seven of the baskets assisted, and led 27-23 after one period."