The Raptors were a step slow all night as the Suns turned corners and went unimpeded to the basket. The 17 turnovers a couple of nights earlier in Oakland that were so egregious looked decent in comparison to the complete disregard the Raptors had for ball safety last night. By halftime, they had already turned it over 13 times, leading to 25 points and a first-half high for an opponent in points with 70. They finished the night with 21 turnovers which led to 30 points. It was not pretty in any shape or form and it resulted in the first three-game losing streak of the Raptors season. But this team has built itself a cushion knowing these times were ahead. So the post-game locker room was not the doom-and-gloom you might expect.
The Raptors were collectively dead from the neck up from the opening tip as they lost a third straight game for the first time since December, 2013. The Suns hung a 43-point second quarter on them to assume a 70-53 halftime lead and render the second half basically 24 minutes of inconsequential play. It was the second straight ugly first half for Toronto — the Warriors dropped 66 on them Friday in Oakland — and that’s a troubling habit developing. But not enough to cause the players too much angst. “We can’t worry about what happened two games ago or a game ago,” said Kyle Lowry. “Tonight we got our butt kicked, and we have a long homestand to go home to and prepare for and that’s what we should focus on.”
““I think we’re mentally flat. Some of the mistakes we’re making are just mental, flat mistakes. All of the yelling and screaming in the world is not going to change that. It’s just a byproduct of a long season, you’re going to have stretches like that in an 82 game season so there’s no room to panic or anything like that. We got to get back to Toronto and get back to the basics defensively. We’re going to start from scratch, we have to. But again, mentally we got to get rev back up again and turn it back on again and not let the grind of a NBA season grind us down.” – Head coach Dwane Casey, on a tough end to the trip for the Raptors
There were no lead changes after the first quarter. The Suns used their second-quarter surge as a knockout punch and then made sure their opponent never got up again. Phoenix has longed to show the killer instinct they know is necessary to become a surefire playoff team. Sunday night, against the second-best team from the East, they showed it. “We started the game with a vengeance and we finished with it,” Bledsoe said. “You couldn’t ask for a better game.”
Valanciunas finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, this after a career-high 27 points in the first meeting against Phoenix this season. I’ll probably repeat this over and over again, but in certain matchups — most of them, really — the Raptors need to get their big man involved early, and then stick with it throughout. Valanciunas is proving that he deserves the additional touches, and the team has to adjust accordingly to make sure we’re maximizing his minutes on the offensive end
Suns make statement against Raptors | Valley of the Suns
The Suns did a great job of getting out in transition, scoring a season-high 30 points off 21 forced turnovers and knocking out a season-high 15 steals, led by five from Isaiah Thomas. Phoenix blitzed Toronto in the second quarter when they scored a season-high 43 points in the quarter by shooting 78% from the field. The hot shooting gave the Suns a 17 point lead at the half, and never allowed Toronto to have a hint of hope. After the game, Hornacek was impressed by the way his team was able to keep the pedal to the medal all night and not allowing the Raptors back into the game. “Most times we’ll get up by 15, 16 and then kind of put it on cruise control for a little bit and let it get back down to eight or 10,” Hornacek said. ” And then we will go again, but they had the foot on the gas the whole night. If they play like that, we’re going to win a ton of games and have a chance.”
Final Score: Phoenix Suns Beat Toronto Raptors 125-109 | Bright Side Of The Sun
Raptors looking for a reason to give up on final game of long, 6 game road trip before heading back to Toronto…Suns are providing it.
Toronto Raptors get scorched by Suns to end road trip | Raptors Cage
With the exception of the team totalling 20 turnovers and Kyle Lowry going 6 for 17, the Raptors’ offence may have been the only positive for the team tonight…barely. Toronto shot 45.8% from the field and were able to get large scoring contributions from the second unit. Lou Williams and James Johnson both had good games. Johnson with his constant efficiency, and Williams with his uncanny ability to continually get to the line. The addition of DeRozan in the next few games should see a real shift in the dynamic of this team’s offence as they’ve been quite successful without him.
Toronto Raptors: Issues That Must Be Addressed | Hoops Habit
A problem that has plagued the Raps all season; albeit causing limited damage (so far), is not only taking what the defense gives them, but on many occasions they’ve allowed their counterparts to control the majority of the tempo. When Dwane Casey decided to go small in the second-quarter (sending Jonas Valanciunas to the bench), catching up to the game’s feverish pace was the right move. However, JV’s 11 total minutes played (with one personal foul) tells a story of an overall miscalculation. In-game adjustments are a battle of give and take. After you give in, at least make an attempt to take back control! …
Raptors still wish they could have drafted Tyler Ennis | Toronto Star
What’s going on here in Phoenix is that there is a logjam of better, more experienced point guards ahead of him. The Suns, who didn’t have any guards under long-term contracts when they drafted Ennis after one year at Syracuse, now employ a talented trio ahead of him. Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe start and they have Isaiah Thomas coming off the bench, leaving no room for Ennis as a fourth guard. That’s why the 20-year-old has yo-yoed between the NBA and the D League. In just six NBA games, he’s averaging 3.7 points and 1.7 assists per game; in a half-dozen D League contests, he averages more than 18 points per game. He may eventually find a way to stick with the Suns, but not until they can free up a roster spot and some playing time.
Is it Time to Sell Kyle Lowry in Fantasy Basketball? | Raptors HQ
Lowry had a 23.7% usage rate and attempted 13.8 field goals per game during the first 16 games with DeMar in the fold and those numbers have skyrocketed to 29.2% and 17.8 respectively in the 17 games that the Raptors have played without DeRozan. Those are huge bumps that are almost certainly going to normalize once DD rejoins the Raps and they have to lean a little less on Lowry. It might not be right away, but betting on at least a slight Lowry regression would be pretty safe at this point. Of course, Kyle should still maintain the solid early-round value he was posting prior to DeRozan’s injury, so you shouldn’t be selling him just for the sake of it. You should be targeting first-round assets and nothing less, considering that’s exactly what Lowry has been for you for the past month or so.
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