Feisty Phoenix Bench Snaps 4-Game Win Streak

The Raptors showed up with three-quarters of a tank and it just wasn’t enough to get them to the finish line.

The Raptors showed up with three-quarters of a tank and it just wasn’t enough to get them to the finish line. The Raptors fell 102-107 on the second night of a back-to-back to an energetic Suns team last night in Toronto.

The starters did their part in the first half, outscoring the Phoenix starters 43-23 but the Suns’ bench dominated, outpacing Toronto’s second unit 30-6. The Suns’ bench was particularly potent in the second quarter when Mizra Teletovic drilled 4 threes — many of them completely uncontested — en route to 14 points in the quarter and back up big man Jon Leuer scored 10 points of his own.

Down four at the half it looked like this one was going to slip away from the rather lethargic Raptors in the third. Whereas covering the perimeter plagued the Raps in the second quarter, rebounding and second-chance points proved to be the team’s Achilles in the second half. Toronto was outrebounded 24-16 in the second half, surrendering 7 offensive rebounds to a mostly small-ball Suns unit in the process.

To the credit of Toronto they never stopped fighting. Down 11 in the fourth, the Raptor’s second unit finally came alive — scoring 17 of the team’s 30 points in the quarter (no thanks to Terrence Ross) — and helped the team claw back within five before the starters returned alongside Joseph with about five minutes to play. The last five minutes were a dogfight that saw the Raptors tie the game at 95 with four minutes to play. Despite generally doing a good job of taking care of the basketball throughout the game (11 turnovers), the Raps committed three costly turnovers in the final 2:35 that helped fuel the final necessary Phoenix surge. After hitting a free throw with 12 seconds to play to give the Suns a three point lead, Eric Bledsoe sealed the game when he ripped the ball from Luis Scola’s hands as he methodically attempted a three at the buzzer.

This wasn’t a horrible performance from the Raptors, it was more a matter of a fatigued group not being prepared mentally and physically to  win the hustle battles that ultimately decided the fate of this game.