Against the Heat, Lowry had 19 points, eight assists, eight rebounds and seven steals. According to ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, it was the first time this season any player had recorded a four-by-seven game — meaning he had at least seven in four different statistical categories — this season. “I thought it was back to old Kyle, moving the ball,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “He made his shots. He made his threes. That was huge. It opens up the floor when you do that.”
The game was a touch Oakley: A little ugly, a touch nasty, a touch scrappy. The Raptors did something they haven’t done in weeks: They worked hard on defence. They worked together on defence. They moved the ball. They played like a team. For one game against a less than sterling Miami team, minus Chris Bosh, they looked like a team. The win matters more than anything else that happened. The win comes first, the rebuilding of the foundation comes after that. Casey knows what he’s up against. He talked about his team in a long conversation just before the all-star break, before the slump came, in concerned tones. He sounded like all coaches sound most days — concerned. And then, so much of what he said started to unfold before his and a discerning public’s eyes. Casey worried about the Raptors defence, worried about playing “too fast” on offence, worried about them not sharing the ball, worried about them not playing smart, worried about the nights when they were strong offensively they were weak defensively and on the nights they were strong defensively they were weak offensively. “We have to start putting that together,” he said. He has to sell that now while working on the in-season rebuild.
For one night the isolation-heavy offence was gone as the Raptors moved the ball freely and easily as they counted 26 assists on 34 made field goals. And while they weren’t the second-coming of Oakley’s old New York Knicks defensively, they did come out with purpose as they held the Heat — in a nip-and-tuck battle for the eighth seed in their first post-LeBron James season — to just 36.6 percent shooting in the first half before taking the foot off the gas somewhat in the second. “It felt good to go out there and play, share the ball, get out of this funk,” said DeMar DeRozan who offset a 3-of-12 shooting night by going 12-of-13 from the line and adding six assists. “We just needed to see it and get familiar with how we were playing and get back in a rhythm.” The win was the first against the Heat in five years and 16 games. The last win for Toronto over Miami was back when Sonny Weems and Hedo Turkoglo were Raptors.
“Everybody says the game has changed, instead of talking about the guys I got a chance to see ’em first hand. It was kind of bad. It’s kind of bad for guys on this level, from what I had to do, and watching them going through things, practice, game planning,” Oakley said. “Just mindset. The mind is not — you don’t have to be strong to play this game no more. “I don’t know what it is. They just roll you out there like a basketball. That’s why … you see the same teams in the finals or winning 55 games. Strong teams, strong-minded coach. Just the players, they don’t think it, they don’t know how to play together. So that’s one of things I see the weakness is: Communication, the guys don’t love the game. They play the game, but they don’t play with their heart.”
But on Friday, thanks in part to some credible defence and the occasionally shoddy efforts of the 29-36 Heat, the Raptors found some relief from the deluge while enlivening a crowd that hadn’t celebrated a home win in more than a month. Playing without starting centre Jonas Valanciunas, who was celebrating Thursday’s birth of he and wife Egle’s first-born son, Jonas Jr., Toronto rode an efficient performance by Lowry (19 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and a career-high seven steals in 36 minutes) to an easy victory. For a team that had been grumbling about selfish play of late, 26 assists on 34 field goals was a key stat. “The ball moved extremely well,” said Lowry. It moved, in other words, like Oakley, the quotable clotheshorse of the Vinsanity era who wore charcoal-grey pinstripes and looked trim enough to play. He’s always been a rambler, and these days he said he spends time “here and there — all over.” Las Vegas. Chicago. New York. And sometimes Toronto. He is still known to occasionally pop into the Raptors practice facility for a workout. “I never got fat,” he said. And he hasn’t lost his unique gift for chewing it.
Lowry leads Raps to bounce-back win over Heat | TSN
The last we saw of Lowry, he was coming off his most visibly frustrating night of the season. He had laced into his teammates during a second-quarter timeout as they trailed San Antonio by 20. The consensus from players and coaches since, is that it was a necessary, albeit rare, public display of emotion. Not just from Lowry, but for a young team with quiet leaders. Part of being a leader, perhaps the biggest part, is accountability and being able to look inward and correct your own behaviour or performance. On Tuesday, Lowry said he had to be better and on Friday he was. The point guard’s game management was a bit more subtle this time around, but no less important. Since returning from a three-game absence, he had been putting up empty numbers, scoring late in lost contests. On this night, he was nothing short of brilliant – his best game since December. Lowry was the quintessential floor general – communicating, directing traffic, making the extra pass, which for most of the evening seemed contagious. At one point, during a timeout in the second quarter, Lowry walked over to the coaching staff – huddling on their own before addressing the players – to offer his input.
Lowry and the Raptors Feel the Beat and Top the Heat 102-92 | Raptors HQ
“Yeah, we just gotta see it,” said DeMar DeRozan after the game. “Once we just see it, you know, get back familiar, you know, how we were playing, we could gain a rhythm.” That’s how it went tonight as the Raptors played confidently and competently for most of the game’s 48 minutes. And DeRozan, for his part, appeared to be getting back into his previous groove. Yes, he shot 3-for-12 from the field, but his 12-for-13 from the free throw line, after a week’s worth of games where he barely touched the strip, felt positive. “Yeah, just doing it. You know I think sometimes they said when it rains it pours, we was in a shower for awhile.” But that was more the secondary concern. The primary concern was the Raptors stalwart Kyle Lowry. He’s been having a poor 2015 – despite the All-Star starting appearance. After missing three games, most fans were wondering when we’d see the old Lowry again; fearless, relentless, and deadly from anywhere on the floor. Tonight, an answer: Lowry had a line of 19 points, eight assists, eight rebounds and seven steals. He shot 7-for-12 from the field (and 5-for-8 from three). That is an All-Star line; that’s the Lowry we know.
Heat drops to 9th in East after loss to Raptors, faces Cavs next | Miami Herald Miami Herald
“We just couldn’t quite … we just couldn’t quite,” Wade said. “Whatever that next word is, we just couldn’t quite do it. It was one of these games where even when it felt like it was starting to go right we turned it over too much and gave them too many easy opportunities.” The Heat trailed by 21 points with 10:32 left in the game and cut the Raptors’ lead to 11 with two minutes to play. The rally was more a product of Toronto’s own turnovers, however, than anything the Heat accomplished. The Raptors had 17 turnovers in the victory. Raptors guard Kyle Lowry turned in the game’s best performance. He had 19 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and seven steals. DeMar DeRozan had 18 points on an off shooting night (3 of 12), and Lou Williams had 14 points off the bench despite going 4 of 12 from the field. In other words, the Raptors won ugly in what seemed like a repeat of the Heat’s frustrating road loss to the Washington Wizards last Friday. In that game, the Heat rallied from a 35-point deficit but lost by a point.
Miami Heat: Despite Dwyane Wade’s 25 points, Heat fall 102-92 to Toronto Raptors | Sun Sentinel
“We just couldn’t quite do it,” Wade said. “It was one of these games where a lot of things, even when if felt like things were starting to go right, we turned it over too much and gave up too many easy opportunities.” This time, the Raptors had an answer for every Heat surge. The closest Miami got was when Henry Walker scored a layup to make it 66-56 with 4:45 remaining in the third quarter. The Raptors responded with a 3-pointer by Terrence Ross on the next possession. Moments later, the lead was 18 after forward Patrick Patterson hit a jumpshot to make it 77-59.
ReHeat: Miami unable to contain Toronto with 102-92 loss | Hot Hot Hoops
Toronto went 85-68 with under nine minutes left and a sigh of defeat escaped my mouth. If there is a comeback coming, now would be the time. Miami must of heard me. The Heat went to their super small but energetic lineup and went on a 7-0 run led by two Dragic drives and the Heat trailed the Raptors 96-82 with under four minutes remaining. Wade then said it was his turn, going on a personal eight-point run as Miami trailed by 100-90 with a minute remaining. To no one’s surprise. the deficit proved too much as the Raptors closed out this one, winning 102-92.
Toronto Raptors steamroll Miami Heat, end skid at four | Raptors Cage
The Raptors had four strong defensive quarters and held the Miami Heat to 92 points on 44.3% shooting. The perimeter defense was especially stout as the Heat went 5-23 from downtown. They also swiped 12 steals from the opposition which led to 18 points off turnovers. Overall, this was one of the better performances in the past two weeks.
Heat’s Whiteside grateful for Olynyk’s advice | Toronto Star
Whiteside, who’s been one of the revelations of this NBA season, could have been a Raptor after playing with Toronto’s summer league team during the off-season. Toronto, he said, apparently wasn’t interested. “Nah, man. I was with their summer league team all summer. And I think they went with Greg Smith. I mean, Greg Stiemsma. Greg Stiemsma, they went with. That was their decision. Ain’t nothing I could do about it. I’m with the Heat.” The 7-footer has been averaging 10.9 points, 9.8 assists and more than two blocks per game since moving into the starting lineup this year. Stiemsma, meanwhile, has appeared in a handful of games, and scored just 14 points all season.
Photo by Turenne
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