The Raptors trailed by eight points at the half. What followed was as good of a testament to Lowry’s value to the team as exists. To start the half, Lowry hit a 12-foot fade away jumper, a three-pointer and assisted on an Amir Johnson hook shot. After going without a field goal in their final 11 possessions of the first half, and looking generally flummoxed by a bigger Orlando team, they had three field goals in three possessions over the span of just 55 seconds to kick off the second half. It kick-started a dominant second half that the Raptors won 95-82. “He set the tone the first five minutes of the third quarter and that’s what you have to do if you’re serious about winning,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “And that’s what he did. “He came in and set the tone defensively. He set the tone offensively, being in attack mode and everybody kind of just followed suit. That’s what you have to have from your leaders.”
During Lowry’s superb third, he set up Landry Fields for his first made three since March of 2013, which nearly brought the house down. “That put extra pressure on me. It was a great move. It was like, ‘I’ve got to hit this now,” Fields said with a smile. “On the sideline, I look over and everybody on the bench is standing up (cheering). It also shows the kind of camaraderie and chemistry we have as a team.” Two major reasons why this record-setting start has taken place.
t was perhaps understandable that the Raptors were a step slow and a second behind to start the night. It’s not an excuse anyone was using, but playing a third game in four nights on the tail end of a back-to-back, after an overtime game Sunday and a flight back, took its toll. “We had every excuse in the world and that’s what I told them at halftime,” said Casey. “The second half we found our voice, our energy, our spirit and we held them to 13 and 17. . . . We found our defensive mojo in the second half.” They acted like total pros in the final two quarters. It was Lowry and the starters who got it going right after the break, before five backups put the game away in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.
You could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he debated whether or not to let it fly. The fifth-year vet hadn’t attempted a three-pointer in a game in over a year. He hadn’t made one since Mar. 22, 2013. “It was a spot and opportunity where it was just like, ‘Whatever, I’ll put it up there’,” he said after the game. “I just threw it up there and it went in. It was nice.” The first thing Fields did was look over to his teammates on the bench. They were standing. “On the sideline, I look over, and everybody on the bench is standing up,” he recalled. “It also shows the kind of camaraderie and chemistry we have as a team.” They were loving it and so were the fans – another sellout crowd. But no one appreciated the moment quite like Fields, who couldn’t hide the big smile on his face as he back-pedalled to get back on defence.
“It’s tough, but we’ve just got to learn how to be gritty, be tough and when teams try to make a run, we’ve got to stop them, just plain and simple,” Magic shooting guard Ben Gordon said. “We can’t come in here at halftime and get relaxed and start feeling good and being happy and cracking jokes, and then we come out there and we lay an egg, we just make ourselves look bad. “I think it’s just a mental issue with us. We’ve still got a young team. But if we want to make an impact here, we’re going to have to grow up fast and kind of mature through these type of situations.”
Reserves save Raptors in win over lowly Magic | The Globe and Mail
The Toronto Raptors rarely seize victories the easy way, and it’s impossible to predict which player will bring the latest heroics. For much of Monday night in Toronto, it felt like a big upset was brewing, like the Raptors might not find a way this time. After going without a field goal for the final six minutes of the first half and allowing the Orlando Magic to seize an eight-point lead, it looked as if Toronto might lose to the young Magic for the first time in nine meetings. But as the Eastern Conference-leading Raptors often do, they woke up down the stretch, largely thanks this time to reserves Patrick Patterson and Lou Williams, and escaped with a 95-82 win and improved to 19-6. Dwane Casey’s words before Monday’s game served as foreshadowing. The Raptors coach spoke of the last time Orlando visited the Air Canada Centre on Nov. 11. It just seemed like the sort of polite thing an Eastern Conference-leading team would say about a plucky, young opponent well down in the standings. The Magic had “ambushed” Toronto during their last visit with a 33-point first quarter he said; they were playing very well at the moment; they were a squad well ahead of other NBA teams who featured young talent; they could attack the Raptors off the dribble if they weren’t in the right defensive mindset.
Game Rap: Raptors 95 Magic 82 | Toronto Raptors
After a second-quarter stumble, the Raptors managed to correct course with 24 minutes of solid defence in the second half to earn the double-digit win on Monday. The use of “stumble” might be somewhat kind. The Raptors found themselves on the wrong end of a 16-2 run before halftime and went the final 6:51 of the half without a field goal. It was one of those nights where “down by eight at halftime” felt somewhat fortunate. But Toronto showed some impressive resolve on the defensive end out of the break to claw their way back into the game before running away with it in the fourth. Up 74-72 with 9:28 to play in that final frame, the Raptors reeled off 12 straight points to push their lead to 14 with six minutes to go and the Magic wouldn’t get back in it. “We get in late on a back-to-back, overtime game, we had every excuse in the world but in the second half we found our energy, our spirit, and we held them to 13 and 17 (points respectively) and that team is going to be good,” said head coach Dwane Casey post-game. “We found our defensive mojo in the second half and, like I told them at half time, they had every professional excuse in the first half and we used it.”
Grades: Toronto Raptors 95, Orlando Magic 82 | Magic Basketball
With DeMar DeRozan out (torn left adductor longus tendon), the Drakes have leaned on Lowry heavily and tonight was no exception. Trailing 52-44 at the half, Toronto outscored Orlando 51-30 in the second half to come away with an easy victory. To put it simply, the Drakes took their collective game to a level the Magic couldn’t match.
Deja vu: Orlando Magic fall late to Toronto Raptors 95-82 | Orlando Magic Daily
The biggest reason for Orlando’s loss was bench differential however their were a multitude of reasons for Orlando’s meltdown. Let’s start with the lack of ball movement. Four out of Orlando’s first five possessions coming out of the half consisted of two passes or fewer. The Magic completely quit sharing the ball and the Raptors were able to lock them down on the perimeter thanks to their plus defenders Kyle Lowry and Terrance Ross. In addition to Orlando’s lack of ball movement, the team also turned the ball over way too many times in the second half. The Magic committed 12 of their 19 turnovers in the second half including eight in the fourth quarter. For the Magic to take the next step they have to consistently hold onto and move the ball on offense.
Raptors smother Magic in the second half, rally for 95-82 win | Orlando Pinstriped Post
The offense had absolutely no flow, and they couldn’t put back-to-back stops together for almost the entire period. The Magic struggled with turnovers for the second straight quarter, making sloppy plays and coughing it up to the swarming Raptors defense seven times. Toronto held the Magic to just 30 points in the second half on a frigid 13-of-35 from the field, coupled with 12 turnovers, leading to 16 Raptor points. Toronto was led by Williams, who finished with a game high 18 off the bench. Lowry, who got things going in the second half, finished with 17 points and eight assists. Big men Amir Johnson and Patrick Patterson rounded out Raptors in double figures, finishing with 11 and 10 respectively.
Raptors Shake Off Back-to-Back Daze, Repel Magic in the Second Half for 95-82 Win | Raptors HQ
Hey, just between you and me, let’s admit this was a weird game. The Raptors ultimately beat Orlando 95-82, but for most of the game it felt like a bizarre run of circumstances were all working at the same time.
#WeTheSecondHalf | Raptors Watch
Lots of concerns all-around for Greivis Vasquez tonight who’s performance was the epitome of his struggles this season. He had a team worst +/- of -10 and shot just 2/9 from the field. But forget all those numbers – it happens. The root of the problem is his decision-making and lacakdaisakal play. You can excuse bad-shooting nights, but not when the bad-shooting is caused by bad shot-selection. Long-range pull-ups with plenty of time left on the clock is not going to get you back into the grove. Defensively, Vasquez was caught napping several times letting his man blow by him due to delayed reactions and nonchalant individual defense.
Post Game Report Card: Raptors rout Magic 95-82 | Raptors Cage
The Raptors held their opponent to under 100 points which is worthy of a “B”. 100 is the magic (no pun intended) number since Toronto is now 11-0 when they limit opponents under the century mark. Orlando was led by small forward Tobias Harris with 18 points and center Nikola Vucevic who scored 13 points. Fields, nicknamed “steady eddie” by broadcaster Jack Armstrong, was particularly noticeable on the defensive end by clogging passing lanes and assisting with strong help defense. The Raptors were also opportunistic and forced multiple steals, amassing 13 turnovers which led to 17 points.
Raptors’ Jonas Valanciunas noted in weekly awards | Toronto Sun
Dwane Casey was the Eastern Conference coach of the month for November, Kyle Lowry and Lou Williams have won player of the week and DeMar DeRozan has been an honourable mention and now Jonas Valanciunas has also been a runner-up. John Wall won player of the week, announced Monday, but Valanciunas and Atlanta’s Al Horford also were nominated. Valanciunas led all East players in rebounding with 13.5 per game over the four game span and added 13.5 points and a block, while shooting 55.6% from the field.
Valanciunas-Vucevic matchup never reached its potential | Sportsnet.ca
Just a few short years ago, Valanciunas was the prized prospect of the two, chosen fifth overall – 11 spots higher than Vucevic – in the 2011 draft. It made sense – Vucevic, despite his 7-foot frame, hadn’t exactly turned the NCAA on its head in his three years at USC. Valanciunas, on the other hand, was dominating the global youth stage and turning Lithuania basketball into a rising power. He was a winner with massive upside; Vucevic was a project. But they both represented the same thing: potential pillars at a once-great position suddenly thinning on overall talent. Today, Vucevic is both the more polished and promising player, a future all-star at the position even – and averaging 33 minutes per game over the past three seasons has certainly helped. In contrast, Valanciunas, who’s shown plenty of flashes, continues to find a consistent role while starting for the East’s best team. Despite the changing minutes and lack of crunch time action, Vucevic still sees Valanciunas as a player to measure himself against. “He’s going to become a very good one,” Vucevic says, “and he’s still very young, how old is he, 22? So for a big man especially that’s very young. You have to really concentrate on trying to keep him off the boards, especially on our end because he’s a very good offensive rebounder. His post-game is always improving, too, so it forces you to focus on him more and more.”
The Raptors’ deep bench is one of the NBA’s best. | SportsonEarth.com
The second unit has been playing a key part in keeping the offense humming. Williams is an early Sixth Man of the Year candidate, averaging 14.6 points in 22.5 minutes per game. He plays a similar role as Jamal Crawford in Los Angeles, coming off the bench with the ability to create shots by himself and taking over games as he did earlier this season when he scored 36 points to help the Raptors erase an 18-point deficit in a victory at Cleveland. Vasquez led the league in total assists just two seasons ago. He can run point for the second unit but has proven to be efficient with the starters as well. Last season, when Vasquez and Lowry were on the floor together, they outscored opponents 111.1 to 96.2 per 100 possessions in 490 minutes together. Patterson has developed into the ideal stretch four off the bench. On the season, he’s shooting 46.4 percent from three on 3.4 attempts per game, which puts him seventh among the league leaders in three-point percentage. “On any given night. It could be me, it could be Lou [Williams], it could be James [Johnson], it could be any of one of us,” Vasquez said about the bench, which ranks sixth in the league with 38.7 points per game. “We’re always hungry and looking to put our two cents on the game.”
Karl: Casey ‘one of the best coaches’ in NBA – Sportsnet.ca
The one thing I’ll say about Dwane is that he was a professional sponge. He was always searching for more information, for the “whys”, “whats” and “hows” of professional basketball, and he’s proven over the years that it’s helped him become one of the best coaches in the NBA.
I can haz yo linkz??! rapsfan@raptorsrepublic.com
