The Toronto Raptors have now won three straight games, thanks to a 108-95 victory last night at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia. The Raptors are now 11-0 against the 76ers since the start of the 2013-2014 season (the most wins in the league against the Sixers in that timeframe), and have improved to a record of 24-15 this season, good for third place in the tough Eastern Conference that only seems to be getting tougher. The Haws beat the Bulls, and the Heat lost to the Jazz last night leading to the Raptors jumping to third place in the conference, for which standings change drastically on a nightly basis.
After a tough start to this 5-game road trip with a loss in Cleveland and a devastating loss to the Bulls at the ACC the night prior, the Raptors have now secured three solid road victories against the Nets, Wizards and Sixers. While those teams are clearly struggling and likely to be outside of the playoff picture, it’s still a good sign for Dwane Casey’s squad which now heads into a relatively easier stretch of their schedule. It’s time for the Raptors to capitalize and take care of business. After those disappointing losses earlier in the season against the likes of Orlando, New York, Utah and Sacramento (twice), no game can be taken for granted and every win in the 82-game regular season is equally important.
With a record of 4-34 going into last night (a record that actually seems respectable now for this Sixers squad), the Raptors were the obvious favourites coming into this matchup. Having said that, as the Raptors look to take the next step and become an elite Eastern Conference team, Coach Casey has stressed the fact that games like this should help build winning habits, develop consistency with defensive effort, and help continue to build confidence for both the starters and bench on offense. And to the Raptors credit, last night was all business.
After letting the Sixers get off to a 12-0 start and going 0-7 to start from the field themselves, the Raptors from that point onward went on to outscore the Sixers 57-32 for the remainder of the half to go into halftime with a 57-44 lead. And they never looked back, completing the game with a 13-point victory. The Sixers dropped to an abysmal 2-14 at home, while the Raptors improved to an impressive 13-9 on the road. The Sixers were led by Ish Smith, who dropped a career-high 28 points, including 19 in the third quarter.
Notables of the Night
– Backcourt Continues to Impress: The Raptors shot 55% from the field, led by the hometown Philly product Kyle Lowry who scored 25, grabbed 6 boards and dished out 5 helpers. DeMar DeRozan continued his efficient shooting and balanced play going 9-17 from the field for 19 points, to compliment his 7 rebounds and 5 assists. 4 of those points came off of a ridiculous back-to-back dunking display by DeRozan who cocked it back and threw it down on Jahlil Okafor, only to follow it up with a graceful Vince Carter-esque alley-oop reverse jam. Just nasty. The Raptors clearly have 2 all-stars on their roster – starters or not.
– JV finding his groove: Jonas Valanciunas posted his second impressive game in the past 3, with 17 points on 7/10 from the field, to go with 9 rebounds and 2 assists. JV continues to show confidence with his jumper, his pump fake (believe it or not), and rebounding ability. If the Raps can get strong contributions from JV on a nightly basis inside with interior scoring and effective pick-and-rolls with Lowry, it adds a completely different dynamic for this Raptors squad, as Bismack Biyombo can also assume his natural role of providing relentless energy off of the bench while JV can provide the consistent punch in the starting lineup.
– Ross and Patterson Contribute: In what has been a enigmatic season for Terrence Ross to the say the least, and a quite terrible season for Patrick Patterson, taking on the Sixers last night seemed like the confidence booster that both of these critical bench pieces needed. Ross scored 16 points, went 6-10 from the field, and was active on defense. Patterson, whose three-point stroke had a resurgence, went 3-5 from the field and 3-4 from 3, to tally 11 points to go with 2 boards and 2 assists. If the Raptors can get a big night even from one of Patterson or Ross on a nightly basis, it alleviates the bench scoring issues for the Raptors this season and makes it easier for Dwane Casey to balance minutes and avoid reverting to Kyle and DeMar early in second and third quarters to stop opposing team runs. Casey cannot continue to rely only on Lowry and DeRozan to bail the Raptors out during their scoring lulls.
Lookahead
The Raptors will look to make it 4 in a row, as they head across the pond to take on the Orlando Magic at the O2 Arena in London, England on Thursday (3 pm EST tip time). The game will be considered a home game for the Magic, and the Raptors, who are not new to these London games, will look to overcome jetlag and other travel challenges to take care of this Orlando Magic team, who beat them in Florida early this season. The Raptors then kick off a 7-game homestand (ties longest in team history) to round out the month of January, which starts off against the Nets on Monday, followed by matchups against the Celtics, Heat, Clippers, Wizards, Knicks and Pistons. The Raptors will look to go as far as they can without DeMarre Carroll, who continues to recover from a knee contusion and an arthoscopic knee procedure this past week. The Raptors will need to win as many games as possible to hold the fort until Carroll’s return to advance and stay strong in the Eastern Conference standings.
