A disturbing trend is emerging with the Toronto Raptors, who fell to 4-2 on the road with an overtime loss against the Lakers on Sunday. They have lost in Miami and Los Angeles, games that the team’s global brand ambassador, Drake, attended. They have won in Orlando, Boston, Cleveland and Atlanta, with Drake nowhere to be seen. Keep Drake in Canada. It is the only solution.
In a move most Raptors fans saw coming a week ago, the NBA named Dwane Casey the Eastern Conference coach of the month for November. Casey’s Raptors were an Eastern Conference best 13-4 in the month. Two of those losses have come in the past two games. On Sunday night in Los Angeles the Raptors dropped their first game to an opponent that didn’t boast a winning record, losing 129-122 in overtime to the Lakers.
So after being congratulated on the award and trying to wave away any more compliments that he didn’t really want, Casey put the whole thing in perspective. “I’d rather win Friday night or last night,” he said. And with that he was pretty much done talking about it. Sure, when the cameras arrived a little later, he gave the necessary sound byte, but anyone who has spent any time with him knows where he stands. “I’m sure he doesn’t really care, it’s all about how we’re going to play defence tomorrow and stuff like that,” second-year Raptor Greivis Vasquez said.
Lewenberg: Casey earns deserved praise after Raptors hot start | TSN
Casey last won the award following an 8-6 December last season, becoming the first Raptors’ bench boss to win Coach of the Month twice. If you’re looking forward to his acceptance speech, a heads up, it will be brief and unassuming. “I don’t give a crap,” he had said after winning the award last year. “I mean, it’s not about me. It’s about that team in there, in that locker room. I’m going to be in coaching for a long time so it’s not about me, it’s about those guys.” The 57-year-old Casey has always taken individual acknowledgement – either for himself or one of his players – as an indication that collectively everyone is doing their job the way they’re supposed to.
Weekly Rap: Moral victories not enough anymore | Sportsnet.ca
The DeRozan injury will also provide Terrence Ross another opportunity to take that next step as a player. The best way the 23-year-old can accomplish this is to improve his consistency on the offensive end and continue to play solid defence. Despite Kobe Bryant’s excellent game (and this move), Ross played the future-Hall of Famer very well. Over the next few games the Washington product will get a chance to guard a few more of the league’s top wing players in the Sacramento Kings’ Rudy Gay, the Utah Jazz’s Gordon Hayward and four-time league MVP LeBron James. All are tough assignments, but there’s no better way for Ross to heat up than to be tossed into the fire.
Raptors’ Dwane Casey named Eastern Conference coach of the month | Toronto Star
While the accolade is nice, it really doesn’t mean a lot. What concerns Casey the most is finding a way to stop a mini-slide by the Raptors, the conference-leading team that’s now lost two in a row. That’s hardly a streak that should cause major concern but it’s worth pointing out that the Raptors haven’t lost three successive games in almost a calendar year. And heading into a matchup with the Kings here Tuesday night, that’s a streak they’d like to keep intact.
Raps’ Casey, Grizz’s Joerger named Coaches of the Month | NBA.com
Casey led the Raptors to the Eastern Conference’s best record (13-4, .765) for games played in October/November. Toronto compiled a five-game winning streak from Nov. 4-11, during which it won games by an average margin of 14 points. Following a loss to the Chicago Bulls on Nov. 13, the Raptors reeled off six consecutive wins from Nov. 15-26, by an average margin of 16 points. Toronto’s +9.6 points per game differential ranked second in the league to the Golden State Warriors’ +10.6.
Podcast Alert: Talking Raptors With Blake Murphy | Raptors HQ
Kelly: DeRozan’s injury is a blessing, full stop | The Globe and Mail
The East was scary bad last year. The Hawks got in with 38 wins. It’s worse now. Forty-five victories would’ve got you the Atlantic Division, and that’s worse this season by several amplifications. If Toronto plays .450 basketball from here until April, it wins the Atlantic and takes home court into the first round of the playoffs. If the Raptors get beyond that, we’re into unmapped territory. So why worry? The regular season should still be a lot of fun, but it doesn’t really matter any more. Its only function is as preparation for the postseason. Everything has to be viewed through that lens. DeRozan is young and tough, but he’s already got a lot of hard miles on him. He’s led the team in minutes played – and by huge margins – for the past four seasons. He spends the off-season working out like he’s got exercise-based OCD. The salutary results have shown in his game, but there’s been no pause built in for rest. This coming month might be the most sedentary in DeRozan’s life since infancy.
The NBAs Last High School Class | RealGM
Lou Williams was available for practically nothing last summer, when the Raptors acquired him and Lucas Noguiera for the price of John Salmons. After tearing his ACL in 2013, a slow recovery had made Williams expendable. He had never developed into anything beyond a scorer, so he had a hard time impacting the game without his typical burst. He has been reborn in Toronto, where he has a chance to be 6th man of the year, if they win enough games. Amir Johnson is the longest-tenured member of the Raptors, one of the leaders of the team with the best record in the East. He wound up in Toronto after spending four years as an understudy to Ben and Rasheed Wallace in Detroit, a situation similar to what happened to Jermaine O’Neal in Portland. Johnson isn’t on that level, but he’s just now coming into his own, a 27-year old two-way big man who should be able to start well into the foreseeable future.
Toronto Raptors at Sacramento Kings: Tuesday NBA game preview | Toronto Star
DeMarcus Cousins missed two games with a virus but is expected back for Tuesday night. . . . Mississauga’s rookie Nik Stauskas has had an up and down season for the Kings, coming into the game off a Sunday outing where he missed all four shots (including three 3-pointers) he attempted. . . . Ex-Raptor Rudy Gay is averaging just over 20 points per game and is shooting 46 per cent from the field. . . . Ex-Raptor Reggie Evans had 20 rebounds and 17 points in Sacramento’s loss to Memphis on Sunday.
Preview of Tuesday’s Kings game against the Toronto Raptors | The Sacramento Bee
Even without injured All-Star DeMar DeRozan, Toronto has plenty of guards to throw at the Kings. Starters Kyle Lowry and Greivis Vasquez and reserve Lou Williams could present problems.
NBA Preview – Toronto Raptors at Sacramento Kings – Dec 02, 2014 | CBSSports.com
Sacramento had taken four straight and six of seven from Toronto before suffering a 99-87 road loss March 7. Cousins is averaging 26.3 points and 12.5 boards in the last four meetings. The Raptors own a 2-15 record in Sacramento and have dropped their last four visits while allowing 110.0 points per game, but they’re averaging an NBA-best 113.0 on the road. Rudy Gay is averaging 22.3 points at home while shooting 50.0 percent, up from his road mark of 42.2. He totaled 39 points and shot 40.0 percent (12 of 30) in last season’s two-game series against the Raptors after they traded him to Sacramento on Dec. 9.
Raptors-Kings Preview | FOX Sports
The Kings (9-8) are on the verge of a season-worst fourth consecutive loss after falling 97-85 to Memphis on Sunday. Reggie Evans had 17 points and 20 rebounds as Sacramento was held to under 90 points for the second time in three games. Cousins, who’s missed the last two with an illness, is listed as questionable for Tuesday. He was averaging 27.3 points on 54.9 percent shooting and 15.7 rebounds over a three-game stretch before getting sick. “He’s feeling better,” coach Mike Malone said of Cousins, averaging what would be career bests of 23.5 points and 12.6 rebounds. “He’s still running a couple more tests to see where he is at. Optimistically, he’ll be back with us (Tuesday) with a chance to play (Tuesday) night.”
Preview: Kings (9-8) vs. Raptors (13-4) | Sacramento Kings
Ben McLemore made 7-of-13 shots to finish Sunday’s game second on the team with 18 points. He added one three-pointer, two rebounds, two assists and one steal in a team-high 41 minutes of action. No. 23 has now scored in double-figures in 11 of the last 13 games, including the last six straight.
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