Toronto Raptors’ James Johnson is ‘spicy and crazy’ and also good at defence | National Post
“We’re going to win this game. If there’s any other thing on my mind, any doubt in my mind, then I shouldn’t be the one who’s going to guard him,” Johnson said of his mindset. “I’m confident. I like to be in those kinds of situations.” Sure enough, the ball was swung to Harris in the corner, beyond the three-point arc. Johnson did not bite. Harris dribbled to the middle of the floor and faked. Still no bite. Harris rose up for a contested shot, and missed. Ball game. The Raptors won a game they did not deserve to by a score of 104-100. Johnson’s role is narrowly defined. He is there, primarily, for those moments. Even in games in which he does more, like on Tuesday — he had a team-high 10 rebounds in 22 minutes, and operated as the screen man for a few Kyle Lowry pick-and-rolls — your attention is drawn to that aspect of his job. And it’s crucial.
Raptors come back to beat Magic | Toronto Sun
For three quarters the undermanned Magic had the Raptors right where they wanted them. They were moving the ball and finding the open man and draining threes like they were a team of Kyle Korvers. Just when it seemed like the Raptors would finally pay the price for their early indifference with just the second loss in eight games, the Raptors bench arrived to save the night. Led by Lou Williams scoring , who continues to confirm his fourth-quarter credentials, and Patrick Patterson who looked particularly good himself in the fourth, the Raptors finally started seeing some shots drop. The defence, which had been so horrendous through the first half — Orlando had first- and second-quarter totals of 32 and 28 points — started to pick up in the third thanks in large part to Johnson, who had his most impactful game since re-joining the Raptors. Johnson was all over the court, defending his own man and helping when another member of the Magic got a step on one of his teammates. He also took over the rebounding duties almost single-handedly, finishing with a game-high 10 despite just 21 minutes of court time. Normally his contributions aren’t quite as obvious, but on this night there was no missing Johnson.
Raptors steal one from Magic at ACC | Toronto Star
Finally giving the Raptors a defensive presence, and sealing off Tobias Harris on the game’s pivotal possession, Johnson helped spark a shocking fourth-quarter comeback as Toronto beat the Orlando Magic 104-100 for its fifth straight home victory. Johnson had just six points but he grinded out an outstanding fourth quarter as Toronto out-scored the Magic 32-17 in the final 12 minutes to get to a franchise-best 7-1 on the season. “Spicy to me is a guy who is always going crazy, doing some stuff,” Vasquez said of Johnson. “But I’ll tell you this man, he reminds me a lot of Tony Allen when I was in Memphis. You need someone crazy in the locker room. He’s not afraid to fight for you or anything like that. He’ll die for the whole team, including you guys.” With the starters mainly shabby — Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas were entirely ineffective and DeMar DeRozan struggled through a tough night, getting hammered at every turn — it was up to the Raptor bench to salvage the night.
Lewenberg: Unheralded Johnson fuels Raptors comeback over Magic | TSN
When the second unit takes on the starters in the practice, the five reserves always wear white. The bench group embraces the competition. Individually they each know they could start on many teams around the league. Collectively they know they can give the starters a good run. “White Squad always gets it done,” Johnson boasted. “Pat celebrates by yelling ‘White Squad.’ And we all chime in with it.” On Tuesday, that unit changed the game. With all five reserves on the floor, Toronto opened the final quarter on an 11-0 run to erase the deficit and pull even with the Magic. Patterson scored nine of his 12 points in the frame, Lou Williams eight of his 14, giving the Raptors the spark the needed offensively. But Johnson was the unsung hero with his defence and rebounding.
Raptors Declare “We the Fourth” in Comeback Win Over Magic | Raptors HQ
“Our resiliency, never back down, never surrender, no matter what the deficit is,” said Patrick Patterson, whose 12 points (on 4-for-5 shooting, including 3-for-3 from three), were crucial for the Raptors comeback. “We’re always going to fight hard, we’re always going to battle.” Patterson wasn’t the sole architect of the Raptors fourth quarter surge. Lou Williams exploded in the second half with 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting, all in 15 minutes. He carried the team until Kyle Lowry could come in and deliver his usual heady, angry play. In 36 minutes, Lowry put in 19 points (while shooting 50 percent from the field, and humiliating Luke Ridnour a few times) to go with six rebounds and seven assists. But the key, as Patterson confirmed, was getting stops. And for that, the hero for the Raptors was none other than James Johnson. “He was huge, he was really huge,” said Coach Dwane Casey. “I thought he came in and gave us a disposition, a presence defensively.”
Raptors 104, Magic 100: Toronto’s bench ends Orlando’s upset hopes | Orlando Pinstriped Post
The Orlando Magic dropped their second straight contest Tuesday, 104-100, to the Toronto Raptors, squandering a lead they took in the first quarter and built to as much as 11 on several occasions. Toronto’s second unit went on an 11-0 run against Orlando’s reserves in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, tying the score and setting the table for its starters to take command. Orlando got 23 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists from Tobias Harris and another 18 points, with five three-pointers, from Channing Frye in Frye’s best performance since joining the club as a free agent in July. But the Raptors’ hot start to the fourth quarter proved to be the difference in the game.
Orlando Magic collapse in fourth quarter and lose to Toronto Raptors 104-100 | Orlando Sentinel
In July, the Magic attempted to sign Patterson when Patterson was a restricted free agent. Orlando executives sought Patterson because of the long-range shooting he can provide from the power-forward spot, and Patterson displayed that skill Tuesday night, sinking all three of the 3-pointers he attempted. One of those treys provided the ninth, 10th and 11th points of Toronto’s fourth-quarter run and tied the score 83-83 with 9:50 to play. Vaughn immediately subbed Fournier, Harris and Vucevic back into the game for Aaron Gordon, Ben Gordon and Harkless. But the damage had been done.
Observations From Toronto’s Locker Room After Beating Orlando 104-100 | Hoops Addict
Dwane Casey: “We can’t be annoyed when teams come out and give us their best shot.”Greivis Vasquez and Terrence Ross appear to be in a battle to see who has the flashiest kicks. Both players had bright neon kicks in their lockers.Speaking of kicks, you probably can’t tell on TV that Vasquez takes a Sharpie to his shoes and writes motivational stuff on ‘em. Pretty cool, though.
Five-Star Review: You can’t stop the Toronto Raptors – CBSSports.com
Toronto let Magic big man Channing Frye get entirely too open too many times to start the game, and he piled up 16 points by halftime, making four of his five 3-point attempts. The Raptors entered the fourth quarter trailing by 11, then scored the first 11 points of the period en route to a 104-100 win. Orlando deserves credit for competing, moving the ball and finding good shots for Frye and Tobias Harris — who had a 23-13-5, by the way — but Toronto is too talented to keep messing around. At least in Toronto head coach Dwane Casey’s eyes. “Where we want to go as a team, we can’t be playing like that,” Casey said, indicating that his post-game speech to his team probably wasn’t positive. This was later confirmed. “[You] probably would have thought we lost,” guard Lou Williams said. “But he’s our coach. He expects a high standard from us. He expects us to play at a high level. And tonight was no different — he didn’t feel like we played a great game; he let us know it.”
Post Game: Toronto Raptors escape with big W over Magic | Raptors Cage
It will not bode well if the Raptors take 3 quarters off against tougher teams. It was simply a matter of intensity tonight, and when the Raptors needed to really turn it on defensively, they did. Sure, there were some calls that didn’t go there way, and the Magic hit some incredible shots, but for the most part, the Raptors defense sucked until the fourth quarter. If they played with that 4th quarter intensity to start the game, the result would have been similar to the past two contests against Washington and Philadelphia. Tobias Harris, Evan Fournier, Channing Frye, and Nikola Vucevic combined for 84 points. I don’t know what it was, but the Magic kept making the extra pass and finding these guys open. The Magic shot 48% from three – pretty indicative of how the night went.
Recap: Raptors fight back to beat Magic | Raptors Watch
The Raptors were having the same struggles they had in Miami before they nearly came back and won that game (somehow): Lack of ball movement and bad defense. They pressed onward though, and when the fourth quarter rolled around, the Raptors were a different animal. Led by Patterson and Lou Williams (who had a combined 17 points to start the fourth quarter), the Raptors went on an 11-0 run and erased Orlando’s 11-point lead in two minutes. Two minutes was all it took for the 11-point cushion to vanish.
Raptors Teach Magic Fourth Quarter Lessons in 104-100 Win | Pro Bball Report
DeMar DeRozan had a rough night, shooting 4-15 from the field and scoring 16 points. Kyle Lowry did his best to hold the starting unit together as he scored 19 points on 16 shots and collected 6 rebounds and 7 dimes. Terrence Ross had a nice shooting night, hitting 4 three-pointers and scoring 17 points. However, the accolades in this game belong to the second unit. Lou Williams was huge, scoring 14 points in 15.6 minutes. Patrick Patterson played big minutes because of his defense and was 3-3 from deep and 4-5 from the field for 12 points. James Johnson was all over the place, dishing to open teammates, playing defense, grabbing 10 boards and slamming home a go ahead dunk with less than 3 minutes left in the game.
B.S. Report: Zach Lowe – Raptors Talk at 41min
Grantland’s Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons take a look at the problems with the L.A. Clippers, marvel at Gregg Popovich and the Spurs, and ask whether the Raptors could make the Finals.
Finding Perfect Rotation for the Toronto Raptors | Bleacher Report
The second unit, which was considered a weakness last season after averaging the fourth-fewest points (26.1, per Hoopsstats.com) in the NBA, has stepped up in a major way. The additions of Lou Williams (10.9 points) and James Johnson (6.9 points and 3.6 rebounds) are a huge reason why it now ranks fifth in points (36.0, after seven games) and eighth in efficiency (40.0). While several members of the bench have experience as starters earlier in their careers, the players understand their roles and why it’s important to remain sharp.
Scott Stinson: Believe the standings, the Raptors are no fluke | canada.com
More significantly, the Raptors know that the hot start is not indicative of a team that is playing flawless basketball. Tuesday’s game was a perfect capsule of what has occasionally plagued them this year: they allowed the Magic to rain three-pointers — they hit 12 on 25 attempts — and were trailing by nine points at both the half and three-quarter marks. Stiff defence in the end and typically brilliant play from Kyle Lowry in the fourth allowed the Raptors to escape with a 104-100 victory and push their record to 7-1. “We are making a lot of mistakes at both ends of the floor, but the good thing is, we are finding a way to win, which is progress for us,” said Casey. “Last year, two years ago, we would have kicked those games in a heartbeat. But our guys have developed and learned how to find a way … to get on to the good end of the scoreboard.”
Five early overachieving teams in NBA season | Comcast SportsNet
The Raptors were expected to be among the better teams in the Eastern Conference, but they are looking to do more than just that. Kyle Lowry continues to display the kind of leadership this franchise has never had, not even during Vince Carter’s glory days. And the role players on this team are not only talented, but they have the pain of losing in the first round last season as added incentive to play at the highest of levels, all the time. But what really separates them from a lot of teams here in the early going, is how they have been able to impact the game at both ends of the floor. Toronto’s averaging more than 107 points per game this season which is tops in the NBA. Defensively, they’re just as tough as they were a year ago. They are limiting foes to 95.9 points which is positions them eighth in the league in scoring defense.
Toronto Raptors: Masai Ujiri to Target Kevin Durant in Free Agency | Tip of the Tower
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, general manager Masai Ujiri will be doing everything within his power to make this dream become a reality. The Fox Sports and Yahoo Sports NBA Insider was making an appearance on a Tuesday segment of TSN Drive with Dave Naylor: “I wouldn’t be shocked if Masai goes really hard at Kevin Durant in a couple of years and gets in the mix. “I’m not saying they’re going to get him, but I think he’s unafraid in that way to pursue the really great player and sell them on the situation…You can win here, chase championships and have all the big endorsements and outside things available to you. I think that’s a big part of Masai’s plan.”
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