The defensive issues start on the perimeter, and occasionally with Lowry. The point guard has rightly been praised for his tremendous start to the season, with Casey beginning the campaign to get him on the all-star team on Monday. However, with the offensive burden increasing since DeMar DeRozan left the lineup because of a groin strain, Lowry has clearly had less energy left for the other end. As the Nuggets raced off to a 30-point first quarter, Lowry was left trailing Denver point guard Ty Lawson too often. He got caught up on screens twice, leading to Wilson Chandler hitting two three-pointers from the same spot in the corner. Chandler then hit a third in a row, although that one was not on Lowry. Lawson had seven assists in the first quarter alone. “We’re capable of locking in but it seems to be one area, whether it’s a tag, box out, just something that always breaks down in execution defensively. And that’s been our [identity],” Casey said. “In the first half as we had a specific rotation we were carrying out for the three-pointer corner shots. We made the wrong decisions. We worked on it yesterday, but it happens.”
The practice on Sunday was meant to restore some of that. As Dwane Casey explained before the game the changing roles both in the starting five and the second unit which no longer has Vasquez as it’s focal point, have played havoc with the defensive familiarity required for a five-man unit to operate effectively. It was apparent Monday night that the familiarity Casey was hoping to restore remains out of reach. Denver, which has plenty of defensive issues of their own, were more than happy to trade baskets with the Raptors as long as they would let them. Apparently that was going to be much of the game.
“A game like tonight I didn’t shoot the ball well, but my teammates made shots. We won the game as a team,” said Lowry, who nonetheless pulled off his fifth double-double of the season, ending up with 13 point and 13 assists. Arron Afflalo and Ty Lawson led the way for the Nuggets, with 25 and 22 points, respectively. Lawson, who’s been one of the few bright spots for the Nuggets this season, was frustrated at the missed opportunity. “This one we had in our hands and we just let it go,” said Lawson. The Nuggets had been within a minute of pulling off the victory, but a three-pointer from Patrick Patterson tied the game at 102-102 with 28.9 seconds to go in the fourth quarter.
Observations From Toronto’s Locker Room After Beating Denver 112-107 | Hoops Addict
Dwane Casey on Toronto’s three-point shooting tonight: “You have to continue to trust that they’re going to fall. Our guys have confidence in their shots.T-Ross was zero-for-whatever, and then he made that last one which was huge for us You have to continue to shoot it, and trust that they’re going to fall. I think that once we get in the rhythm of different lineups, different groups on the floor, I think we’ll get that rhythm offensively and defensively.”
Patterson, Raptors Claw Way to Win in OT vs. Nuggets | Raptors HQ
For the Raptors this year, this has been the team’s defining characteristic: they find unlikely ways to make plays and win. Well, usually. Against Cleveland on Friday, Toronto looked overmatched and outgunned. Everyone seemed to be struggling from the field. But that inner faith remains. Tonight it came from different sources. It came from Jonas Valanciunas as he powered the team on offense and defense in the first half. He had 18 points (on 8-of-11 shooting) along with 12 rebounds, while battling Timofey Mozgov down low. It came from Terrence Ross who hit a monster three of his own late in the game (this despite shooting 1-of-8 from three on the night). It came from Lou Williams’ insistence on shooting his way out of a slump. (Well, OK, two sub-par shooting games for the Mighty LOU is a slump.) It came as the defense ramped up as the game went along. “You have to continue with it and trust that they’re going to fall,” said Coach Dwane Casey after the game. “Our guys have confidence in their shots.”
Oh-For-The-Road: Nuggets Lose Heart Breaker To Toronto Raptors In Overtime, 112-107 | Denver Stiffs
On Monday, Dec. 8th, the Nuggets were in Toronto for the third installment of the Masai Ujiri Bowl falling, in a spirited effort, 112-107 to the Raptors in overtime. What hurts most about this loss is that the Nuggets held a three-point lead, 102-99, with thirty seconds left in this game, despite fouling to prevent the Raptors from attempting a game tying shot. Of course power forward Patrick Patterson hit his fifth three pointer (in seven attempts) with 28.4 seconds left to the tie the game off a penetration and dish play that had been killing the Nuggets all night – because of terrible defensive rotations. These were just two of the many areas that Brian Shaw failed as a head coach in this one.
The Nuggets played hard for four quarters, they played good basketball for one half and they completely ran out of gas for five minutes in overtime. Had Brian Shaw allowed his bench to play more and gotten his team up out of the gate, we’re likely talking about a Nuggets win as opposed to a loss.
The Denver Nuggets desperately needed a victory to end this weirdly scheduled road trip and to stop the three game losing streak, but they did not get it. They fought hard and hung tough for most of the game.
Post Game Report Card: Toronto Raptors eke past Nuggets | Raptors Cage
The Raptors’ perimeter defense is easily the most frustrating aspect of this team’s performance up to this point in the season. Too often are the opposition’s guards allowed to penetrate the paint, resulting in close looks at the rim and wide open perimeter shots due to scrambling rotations by the defence. Ty Lawson was marvelous , racking up 22 points and 12 assists. He routinely exploited the Raptors defense, only slowing down during the latter stages of the fourth quarter, and in overtime. Remember, the Nuggets were without four key rotation players tonight, and they had just played a game in Atlanta the night before. Aside from the displays of incompetence, the most frustrating thing about this team is that they show flashes of being the top 10 defensive team from last season. The Nuggets couldn’t do anything for most of the second quarter, and that defensive sequence at the end of the fourth that resulted in a 24 second violation was brilliant; the rotations were on point and the Nuggets couldn’t get into the lane. It just hasn’t been there for the Raptors on a consistent basis. Dwane Casey, who’s been stressing the need for improved defense, should strongly consider replacing Greivis Vasquez with James Johnson in the starting lineup. As great as the Venezuelan Vasquez is offensively when he gets going, he’s too slow defensively and allows too much penetration.
Recap: Raptors nearly die by the 3; beat Nuggets | Raptors Watch
Neither team was playing defense. It was simply a game of ‘I can score more than you’.
Lewenberg: Lowry captures Player of the Week honours for East | TSN
Lowry has taken his game, already trending in an All-Star direction, to a new level in the absence of the injured DeMar DeRozan. Leading Toronto to a 2-1 record last week, he averaged an NBA-best 29.3 points on 49 per cent shooting to go along with 8.7 assists. In the four games that DeRozan – out indefinitely with a torn groin tendon – has missed, Lowry’s scoring average has increased by over 10 points per contest (from 18.6 to 29.3), while shooting a similar percentage and recording more assists. “I’m just going out there and doing my job,” Lowry had said after the game in Utah. “I know I have to score a little bit more and be more aggressive. I can do it with DeMar but as a point guard I like to get my teammates involved. Right now I have to be a little more assertive.”
Raptors’ Kyle Lowry honoured, but head coach pushes for bigger prize | Toronto Sun
“It’s pretty cool,” Lowry said of the acknowledgements coming from the league office. “It just shows how hard we are working. Our team has been a good team and we are winning and winning brings a lot more attention to an organization.” Lowry has been the Raptors’ engine all season, but has taken on a much more prominent scoring role while DeMar DeRozan is recovering from a torn left adductor longus tendon.
Gay trade solidified Raptors for present & future | Sportsnet.ca
But anniversaries are more than about looking back. They are the perfect time to look forward. The Raptors are 57-27 in the 84 games since the franchise-altering deal, one that was really aimed at beginning a rebuilding process. It was only a sudden change of heart by the New York Knicks that prevented franchise cornerstone Kyle Lowry from following him out the door last December. But now that the Raptors have a suddenly slim one-game lead in the race for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, the question facing Ujiri is what next? There is plenty of flexibility.
Toronto’s Start To The Season May Be Fools Gold | Hoops Addict
“Guys are making those shots,” Casey told me when I asked if the low number of assists was one of the issues he was worried about. “You want to share the ball and move the ball, especially when your shot’s not falling, but right now we are making shots. So it’s hard to say, ‘hey, move the ball’ and guys take a dribble, pull up and make a play. That’s what has been happening for us. Now, we do need to continue our emphasis on moving the ball. Play on the weak side. Multiple pick-and-rolls. Multiple passes. That’s what is hard about those games that we have won, because we did that without really moving the ball and without having a big commitment to the defensive end. There were spurts of defence but not the way we are going to have to play in order to continue to improve.”
Tipoff: Raptors at Cavaliers | Toronto Sun
Could easily go LeBron vs. TRoss on this one, but Irving has been so strong of late, we’ll go this way. Over the past five games, Irving is averaging 24.4 points a night but more importantly is paying more than scant attention to the other end and making his rival work as well. Irving’s speed is a tough match for Lowry but the Toronto point guard is getting plenty of practice at it lately with consecutive games against Irving, Ty Lawson, and now Irving again. Lowry hasn’t been bad himself, of course coming off his second career player of the week honour.
NBA Preview – Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers – Dec 09, 2014 | CBSSports.com
Toronto may find it difficult to sustain the offense against the Cavs (12-7), who limited the Raptors to a season-low point total on just 40.7 percent shooting en route to a 105-91 road win Friday. Amir Johnson had a season-high 27 points and Lowry had 22, but Patterson and Williams combined for only 11. Since allowing 102.7 points and a 47.7 field-goal percentage during a 5-7 start, Cleveland has given up 90.3 on 42.6 percent during the win streak following a 110-88 victory at Brooklyn on Monday in the finale of a three-game trip. “For the most part, for us as a team, I loved our approach, I loved our mindset,” LeBron James said when asked of the swing. “We had a bunker mentality coming into this road trip – understanding how important it was – and we took care of business.”
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