On the bad end of things on Friday: third-year players Terrence Ross and Jonas Valanciunas. The centre looked slow from the start, with Cavaliers big man Anderson Varejao tormenting him on both ends. Valanciunas earned just 20 minutes against the Cavaliers, with his fourth-quarter minutes swallowed whole by Patterson, Amir Johnson and even Chuck Hayes. At times, Casey has been rightly criticized for being too hesitant to feed Valanciunas crunch-time minutes, but he was totally justified in sitting him against the Cavaliers. He was Saskatchewan flat. Ross was another victim of a bad shooting night, coming off of a hot road trip in which he shot 20-for-35. He went just 2-for-9 against Cleveland. Again: It happens. The other end was more worrisome. He did not slow down James, because few slow down James. He was a step slow no matter who he was guarding. The Raptors’ biggest issue right now is containing dribble penetration, and they need Ross to be the best perimeter defender in their starting lineup to have a reasonable shot at improving without a lineup change.
“Looking back, yeah, I wish I would have stayed, because I didn’t expect myself to pan out to be that type of player that I turned into,” he said. “And to team that up with Vince and what we built there, if you listen to Kobe (Bryant), he said had I stayed here, we probably would have been playing the Lakers in a couple of championships. “Let me say this: If the organization was the way it was now back then, there’s no way I would have left.” Things were getting better by the time McGrady finished up here and he noticed, but it wasn’t enough to keep him around. “We built that my last year here when we made the playoffs, first team that made the playoffs in Raptors history. That was great. That’s when I started to realize that it was changing,” he said.
“We were just missing shots,” Lowry said. “I don’t think there’s anything we could have done differently. We will come in on Sunday, get our shots up and I’m sure the shots we missed tonight will fall on Monday. Yes, it looked like (the Cavs) moved the ball really well.” Irving outplayed Lowry on this night. Whenever he was on the floor, he was relentless in his defence on the Raptor. The floor leader, Lowry continued to hunt for shots throughout the game and seemed to take advantage of his rare opportunities. While Irving covered Lowry, Lowry did not cover him. Irving is quick and dynamic and can wear a defender down, and that task fell elsewhere. “It’s effort — effort on the defensive end, doing whatever it takes to win,” Irving said. “I think in order to be in NBA shape, in order to play for elite teams, you need everybody’s best shot. It’s a totally different level. How you prepare for it . . . I’m doing the best I can this season to try and be prepared every single day. I give total effort to give my team the best chance to win.”
Lewenberg: Injured DeRozan watches on as Raptors fall to Cavs | TSN
It’s not for a lack of leadership or interest on his part. It’s also not for a lack of suits. It’s simply too difficult for him. That’s been the biggest adjustment as he continues to recover from the first serious injury of his five-plus year career. “It’s definitely tough, just for me personally,” the Raptors’ leading scorer admitted before Friday’s game. “I’m used to being out there. It’s more just frustrating than anything, because I always want to be out there every single night with my teammates.” DeRozan had missed just 11 of a possible 394 games over his first five seasons and into his sixth. A self-made star, he has become known for his relentless work ethic, a player that has spent countless hours in the gym each day for the bulk of his life. Now, he’s got a bunch of time on his hands and, understandably, it’s driving him crazy. Where does he spend most of his time? “On the couch,” he responded. “If there’s no basketball game on I’m playing Madden. That’s been my day, every single day, just to keep my sanity.”
Raptors impress with successful Mandela tribute | Sportsnet.ca
“We need to bring together like-minded people who can bring about change. But not just lip service, because we’ve had enough lip-service,” said the former Laker legend. “… If we can do that then change will come. If it’s just talk and [the black community stays] suppressed and think that people don’t care about them, the same thing is going to happen. It’s important that these meetings take place and we can really bring about serious change because the distrust, the disconnect is bigger than what we see on TV.
LeBron James picked his spots throughout. He felt out the defense as he stuffed the stat sheet. James ended the game with 24 points, seven rebounds, a game-high 13 assists and three steals. Tristan Thompson was big off the bench. The Toronto native cleaned up the glass and converted around the basket. In 33 minutes he tallied season highs with 21 points and 14 boards. Kevin Love registered his fourth consecutive double double by providing 15 points and 13 rebounds. It was his team-high 10th double double of the year. Kyrie Irving chipped in with 15 points, four rebounds and six assists.
Kelly: Raptors are a team without a past, but have one hell of a present | The Globe and Mail
It says a great deal about the general confidence in this group that no one seems to be in any rush to get DeRozan back. He’ll be able to play when he’s able to play. In the interim, Toronto is still muscular enough to compete with the very best. This challenge will end up paying dividends later in the season, and into the playoffs. This is already a confident group. McGrady sees it, and it makes him nostalgic. Magic Johnson sees it, and he feels the opposite. This is a team without a past, but one hell of a present. The only montages necessary in the ACC these days are the nightly highlights.
Recap: Tristan Thompson Dunks On Soul of Toronto, Raptors Lose 105-91 | Raptors HQ
“We got some stops and seems like we were doing a good job of keeping [Thompson] off there,” said coach Dwane Casey. “And all at once he’d come up with the ball.” It was a concerning trend to be sure. The Cavaliers ultimately out-rebounded the Raptors 48-40. The Raptors, for their part, did try to make a game of it. As has become the norm, Kyle Lowry muscled his way to a 22 point, nine assist performance. He shot 7-for-18 and, despite some lapses in judgment, did keep the Raptors close until the last half of the fourth quarter. Eventually, the defensive breakdowns got to be too much and the lead never quite shrunk back below six. Sadly, after last Friday’s Dallas game, this marks the second monster Amir Johnson game to be added to the loss column. Amir was everywhere tonight with 27 points (on 11-of-15 shooting) and seven rebounds (five offensive). He even chipped in four assists. His pick-and-roll game with Lowry was unstoppable. It was the play the Raps should have been looking for far more often against a Cavs team not known for its defensive prowess.
Consistent throughout, though, was LeBron James. He was phenomenal. 24 points, 13 assists, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. He was a calming force and showed his best chemistry with Tristan Thompson that we’ve seen thus far. When he plays like this, it’s going to be really difficult to beat the Cavaliers. What Tristan Thompson did was really remarkable, though. He missed defensive rebounding opportunities in the first half, and there were reasonable questions being raised. He was bad in New York last night. When Anderson Varejao left the game early in the 3rd quarter with foul trouble though, you knew the team would call on Thompson. You didn’t know how he’d respond. He was active defensively, though he’s still learning on that end. 21 points on 13 shots, 14 rebounds, two assists and zero turnovers doesn’t lie. He had the team’s best on/off court metric and if you saw the fourth quarter you know why.
Recap: Cavs 105, Raptors 91 (or, visions of Aught 9) | Cavs: The Blog
I expected the Cavs to have their lunch money stolen tonight. Instead, they delivered an impressive win against a solid (and hungry) team. This is a huge win. I know Toronto is a better team than they showed tonight (losing DeRozan has put Kyle Lowry into a high-usage situation that he’s not as effective in) but the Cavs didn’t play that hot either – they should continue to get better and better. If they can be a league average defensive team and a top-3 offensive team they can go places.
Recap: Cavs get their revenge at the ACC | Raptors Watch
From the get-go, it was clear Cleveland was looking forward to this game ever since they were humiliated by the Raptors a couple weeks ago. The Cavs came out strong and exchanged baskets with the Raptors, who were only getting contributions from Amir and Kyle. Amir had 12 of his 27 points in the opening frame.
5-Star Review: Cavs invade and take the North | CBSSports.com
The Raptors have made themselves out to be Eastern Conference contenders this season, but have now dropped games at home to the Bulls, the Mavericks, and the Cavaliers. The Cavs were on a back to back, and even without DeMar DeRozan, this was set up to be an opportunity for the Raptors to put their best foot forward. Instead, the Cavaliers put their foot somewhere else.
Observations From Toronto’s Locker Room After they Lost 105-91 To Cleveland | Hoops Addict
The scene outside the Cavaliers locker room was pretty chaotic. A bunch of media folks and fans were waiting for LeBron James and Charles Barkley had a huge group waiting to chat with him. I remember growing up Barkley proclaiming that athletes weren’t role models, so it was great to hear Barkley tell a young kid: “Do well in school, kid.”
Post Game: Toronto Raptors fail to slow down LeBron, Cavs | Raptors Cage
Again, allowing 105 points is not good whatsoever. 30 points in the first quarter and 29 points in the last quarter isn’t going to allow you to win games. The struggles defensively are now becoming a serious concern. However, LeBron James is pretty good, and managed 24 points, 13 assists, and 7 rebounds. Hometown favorite Tristan Thompson also had a great game, scoring 21 points with 14 boards.
Amar’e: Atlantic Division still ‘wide open’ | ESPN New York
They have played only 20 games but are already 12 games under .500. Still, Amar’e Stoudemire views the Atlantic Division as “wide open” at this point. “With Toronto and [DeMar] DeRozan being hurt now, you never know how that team is going to end up. Brooklyn’s not playing great. The division is still open,” Stoudemire said after the Knicks’ loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers Thursday night. “We’ve just got to turn this thing around.”
Five-Star Review: Eastern Conference First Quarter Report | CBSSports.com
How about those Dinos, huh? The East’s top team had all of your intangible clichés in the first quarter of the season. “Found a way to win,” “just won,” “played together,” etc. The Raptors were outstanding on both sides of the ball before DeMar DeRozan’s leg injury. They had an easy schedule. They spent more time at home than a nanny cam. They lacked a signature win until beating the Suns, again, at home. (The win over Memphis came with five Grizzlies out with a stomach virus.) But they still got the job done, and with the top of the East more open than in year’s past, the Raptors are as good of a pick as any to win the Leastern.
