10 things I saw from Raptors-Wizards | Getting Benched
Injuries aside, that was a masterful showing from Lowry. He’s not forcing anything, he’s always reading the defense and just taking what’s available. Example from the fourth quarter: Wizards trapped on a high screen, and Lowry tosses a beautiful pass to Bismack Biyombo for the alley-oop. The next trip down, Wizards went under on the screen to block the roll man, and Lowry popped the three. That was part of a 7-0 run which doubled the Raptors’ lead which secured the win.
Raptors tie franchise record with ninth straight win | Toronto Star
It’s nice and it’s an accomplishment to be proud of, and it has allowed Toronto to create some separation with their grasp on second place in the Eastern Conference. The latest win moved them to within two games of No. 1 Cleveland.
Some day, they might think about it.
“I think we’ll all look back after the season is over and look at the individual accomplishments and team accomplishments and enjoy it when we’re not in it,” said Lowry, who led Toronto with 29 points before his departure.
“Right now, we’re too focused on our next opponent — that’s the New York Knicks — and just taking it game by game, day by day, hour by hour. I know everybody’s enjoying it, we’ll enjoy it later.”
Enjoy this ride Raptors fans, they don’t make them like this often | Sportsnet.ca
…nothing matters until the playoffs.’
Which is true. The Lowry-DeMar DeRozan Raptors may be putting together the best run in franchise history, but it will feel pretty empty if they fail to get out of the first round again.
But those kinds of worries are months away and you can count on Casey to leverage this group’s post-season failures to the hilt when the time comes.
It was interesting to listen to Casey allow just a little sunshine into what can be the dog days of the regular season, with the all-star break still shimmering in the distance and the urgency of the coming post-season still nearly 40 games in the distance.
“I’m not one of those guys [that can’t enjoy success],” said Casey. “I say, ‘enjoy this, enjoy this’ … you better enjoy this right now because tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us. So let’s enjoy some of the good times and some of the small victories we have – I would say that to all of us. Let’s enjoy this journey.
Gee Wiz, Raptors equal franchise record for wins | Toronto Sun
The Raptors were by no means at their best on this night, although Kyle Lowry was one of the few Raptors who seemed locked in from the get-go and finished with a team high 29 points, even with a bit of a premature exit.
It wasn’t really until the fourth quarter that the Raptors got fully re-engaged and put this one away with some lock-down defence and a much more effective offence.
Going into the fourth the lead was seven, but with about five minutes to go it was already up to a game-high 16, as the Wizards seemed to wilt.
“You here all this, ‘let’s see what they do in the playoffs’, ” Casey was saying before the game of the Raptors’ recent surge. “We better enjoy this right now because tomorrow’s not promised to any of us. So let’s enjoy some of the good times and some of the small victories we have. And I would say that to all of us. Let’s enjoy this journey.”
Again, maybe a little too much enjoying the moment early on in this one, but the Raptors turned it around nicely over the final quarter.
Game Rap: Raptors 106, Wizards 89 | Toronto Raptors
UNDERRATED RAPTORS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Cory Joseph added another solid performance off the bench, scoring 10 points in 25 minutes. Joseph shot 5-of-7 from the floor while adding two rebounds and six assists. The team was a +15 with Joseph on the floor.
Raptors blow out Wiz 106-89, but is Lowry okay? | Raptors HQ
Optimism, progress, consistency – it’s all present with this Raptors team right now. Losing Kyle Lowry for any extended period of time would surely stifle the positive vibes radiating from the team, but it appears – for now – that he’s escaped with something less serious than what it could have been.
Whether Lowry is in the lineup or not, it’s tough to shake the feeling that the Raptors have a great chance at making history against the Knicks on Thursday – on national TV in the U.S. no less. And damn it if it isn’t really cool to have that kind of belief in this team.
Raptors must be wary of hype during win streak: Griffin | Toronto Star
One of the Raptors players added for late-game grit is Canadian point guard Cory Joseph, signed as a free agent from San Antonio. Playing with a perennial Western Conference power under head coach Gregg Popovich, Joseph has observed and been a part of an improving Raptors second unit, which includes Patrick Patterson, Bismack Biyombo and Terrence Ross. It is that group that, in the past 11 games, has emerged as a cohesive and underrated force to be reckoned with.
“For sure, we’ve got a lot of talent,” Joseph said. “We’ve got a lot of good pieces that fit the puzzle that we’re trying to create. I feel like we definitely have a great second unit and a pretty deep team. Obviously we’ve got great players starting, but we’ve got a great second unit as well.”
Five takeaways: Raptors fans can breathe a sigh of relief | Sportsnet.ca
The more telling stat is their 20 straight wins when holding teams under 100 points.
Toronto gave up just 39 of Washington’s 89 points in the second half. As the game wore on they continued to close driving lanes, culminating in giving up just 19 points in the fourth quarter.
Toronto, based on perimeter personnel alone, will never reach a San Antonio Spurs- or Golden State Warriors-level efficiency defensively, but they can hold teams to a tidy 41 per cent shooting like they did tonight by being assignment correct.
One thing in the scouting report they executed was limit uncontested three pointers. Washington connected on just 4-of-15 from behind the arc.
Key Legislature: Wizards 89 at Raptors 106 — Dusted, Swept, Trashed by Toronto | Truth About It
And there was no hope—I mean, none—for the Wizards. With hundreds of seconds to play, NBA fans saw Ramon Sessions, Gary Neal, Kelly Oubre, Jarell Eddie, and Marcin Gortat on the floor.
“This team, what I’ve seen so far this year, we don’t do great dealing with adversity,” Dudley said after the loss to Boston. “I don’t know this year if we have any come-from-behind wins where we were down 10 or more—15. NBA teams are supposed to get a couple of those.”
True, true. Prophet, soothsayer, and the only true stretch 4 on the roster, who, on Tuesday night, wasn’t allowed even get 20 minutes of run. And Kelly Oubre? Five, barely meaningful minutes. Questionable rotations aside (and there have been so many over the years), and completely ignoring the return of the midrange-focused offense (only 15 3-point attempts) that has plagued the Wizards in this John Wall era, it’s nearly impossible to pinpoint exactly what’s wrong with the Wizards, as Kyle Weidie tweeted earlier this week.
But I do have one idea which might help. I’ll share it with you, since it’s been a while:
Fire. Randy. Wittman.
(The Wizards won’t.)
Wizards vs. Raptors final score: Toronto drops the Washington, 106-89 | Bullets Forever
Fourth quarter collapse: In a game that felt like the Wizards should be down 20, they found themselves within striking distance down by just 7, 77-70 entering the fourth quarter. Shots stopped falling for the Wizards as they didn’t knock down their first field goal of the quarter until Dudley hit a corner three at the 6:45 mark. Tired legs from a back-to-back, frustration from a struggling team, head scratching lineups, you name it. The Wizards hit just five field goals in the quarter (two coming in garbage time) as the Raptors blew the doors off early in the fourth quarter.
A photo posted by Toronto Raptors (@raptors) on
Washington Wizards Continue To Suck In Toronto | Wiz of Awes
Gary Neal can score points, so Wittman has decided to play him a lot.
But Gary Neal can’t defend a traffic cone.
Whenever Cory Joseph wanted a layup, he got it.
Raptors trying to enjoy record streak while keeping eye on prize | TSN
Casey, an advocate of balance, had this speech planned, if not rehearsed. For weeks, nay years, he’s stressed the fact that his team has no right to get ahead of themselves. He’s reminded the players, he’s reminded the media: “We haven’t done anything yet.” Frankly, he hasn’t had to. We haven’t forgotten and neither have they – this season is about, and has always been about, their fate in the playoffs, more specifically the first round, where they’ve been eliminated in each of the last two years.
“I think we’ll all look back after the season is over and look at the individual accomplishments and team accomplishments and enjoy it when we’re not in it,” Lowry said. “Right now, we’re too focused on our next opponent, that’s the New York Knicks and just taking it game-by-game, day-by-day, hour-by-hour.”
Tuesday’s win capped off a four-game season sweep of the Wizards. They held Washington under 92 points and 42 per cent shooting in each meeting. Does that help to ease the pain of what happened when these teams met last April? Not even a little bit. Nothing they do during the regular season will. Not a nine-game winning streak, not a 10-game winning streak, not an 11-game… you get it.
Post Game Report Card: Raptors push to nine straight over Wizards | Raptors Cage
During periods of play the Raptors defence was able to hold Washington down, and in the end stopped them from making that key run which could have turned the game. The team managed seven steals and three blocked shots while the Wizards only gave up 11 turnovers for the night. It was really poor shooting from downtown that kept the Wizards scoring nice and low, as they ended up going 21% from the perimeter. This is now the third straight game the Raptors have held opponents to below 100.
Quick Stat Hits: Reviewing the Raptors defence against specific plays | Raptors HQ
Let’s start somewhere the defence struggles. When defending pick and rolls, if the other team hits the big man rolling to the rim or popping for a jump shot, the Raptors give up 1.09 points per possession (PPP), second worst in the league. This is absolutely a system “issue,” as several big men on the team struggle here. Jonas Valanciunas performs quite poorly here — among players with at least 20 of these plays defended, he ranks 4th worst in the league with 1.28 PPP given up. Scola is not much better at 9th worst with 1.19 PPP given up. They sit at the 7th and 12th percentile respectively. Even a quicker defender who is known to shut down the paint has struggled a bit, with Biyombo sitting in the 46th percentile with a below average 0.93 PPP given up on these plays.
Seems like a problem. And the Raptors give up a roll man play about 6.6 percent of the time, 11th least in the league. But let’s take a look at the other primary way a pick and roll can end.
Dose: Hand Down, Man Down | Yahoo Sports
Terrence Ross is starting to impress again, scoring 15 points with two rebounds, one assist, one steal and three 3-pointers. He’s up to fifth-round value in his last six games, so he should be owned right now. Jonas Valanciunas has also been really good with 13 points, 12 boards and one block. Expect JV to have a big finish.
Midseason Grades: Atlantic Division | BBALLBREAKDOWN
The Toronto Raptors are on pace to set a franchise record in wins for the third straight season. That just about sums up how well things are going for the NBA’s lone franchise north of the border.
DeMar DeRozan is defying any reasonable preseason expectations, showing off a more well-rounded offensive skill set than ever before. Kyle Lowry has erupted to the tune of a career-high 20.7 points, 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 2.7 triples and 2.2 steals a night, earning his second straight spot on the Eastern Conference’s All-Star team. Jonas Valanciunas is setting per-36-minute highs in points (16.7), rebounds (12.4) and assists (1.2), justifying the four-year, $64 million extension he signed with Toronto in August.
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