10 things I noticed from Raptors-Nuggets | Getting Benched
Good job by Casey to throw in the towel and keep DeRozan and Lowry on the bench for most of the fourth. There’s another game tomorrow in Phoenix. Had to play it smart with their minutes.
Raptors record streak ends with blowout loss to Nuggets | Toronto Sun
Jokic set career bests with 27 points and 14 rebounds, Will Barton and Randy Foye combined for 36 points off of the bench as Toronto’s reserves were outplayed for the first time in a while, along with the starters.
“You can describe it any way you want to: It was a stinker,” Casey said.
“That was one of our worst performances of the year. we played like we we playing in mud. You can blame it on the altitude or whatever it was, we stunk.”
Denver had surprised the Raptors in Toronto earlier this season and Casey had warned beforehand that the team wouldn’t be a pushover and that the air in Denver is always a factor.
Toronto’s 15-point deficit after three quarters was its biggest of the season.
“It starts with me, it was my fault, I didn’t get them ready to play, but you have one of these a year, we shoot 37% they shoot 54%,” Casey said.
Runs like the one Toronto was on are extremely rare and so are performances like Monday’s. Toronto isn’t as good as it looked the past few weeks, nor is it anywhere near as poor as on Monday.
Denver Nuggets snap Raptors’ 11-game win streak | Toronto Star
“Coach described it best tonight. He said we should take this statsheet and wipe our asses with it,” Lowry said, laughing and apologizing. “That describes this night for us. Tip our hats to the Nuggets, they played well. They made shots and we didn’t.”
No pro sports team in Toronto had ever won more than 11 consecutive games and it became clear early in this game that these Raptors wouldn’t be the team to hit win No. 12.
“They came out aggressive and we came out lackadaisical a little bit,” Lowry said. “As I said, coach said it best. I’m not even worried about (the loss). It’s over with, I’m worried about (Tuesday).”
Takeaways: Streak snapped as Raptors fall flat vs. Nuggets | Sportsnet.ca
The Raptors were dominated in the paint.
Toronto was outscored by 22 points in the paint in first half, and only had 26 all game. The Nuggets finished with 60 and 17 fast-break points. The biggest factor inside was Nikola Jokic, who dropped 27 points on 12-of-18 shooting and 14 rebounds. Jock dominated his matchup with Jonas Valanciunas from the outset, scoring the Nuggets’ first 11 points. J.V., who was questionable to play with a sprained right thumb, was held to just 10 points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes.
Raptors Lose to the Nuggets, 112-93. The Streak Ends at 11 | Raptors HQ
Despite how tough this game was to watch as a Raptors fan, its hard to blame to Raptors for losing their first game in twelve tries. These things happen: teams sometimes run into a wall, and have bad games where nothing goes right, and to be clear, nothing went right today. For evidence, look no further than Lowry’s statline. Sure, his 10 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists are notably low, but he also missed 5 of his 8 free throws which is absurd. While the Raptors played poorly, Denver also shot lights out: any night where the bench duo of Will Barton-Randy Foye outscore Lowry and DeRozan is not going to be fun. Lets hope that the team forgets this loss, and is ready to begin a new winning streak tomorrow at Phoenix.
Recap: Denver Nuggets run Toronto Raptors out of Colorado, 112-93 | Denver Stiffs
The Nuggets needed a good game on both ends of the court to subdue the visiting Raptors and they got it. Denver held Toronto to 37% shooting while making 54% of their own buckets and notching 28 assists. The Nuggets dominated the boards 49-35 as Jonas Valanciunas could not fight through his injured thumb to compete in the second half, and James Johnson did not return from his sprained ankle. Denver did not let the free-throw adversity affect them, and they kept their poise (until that last minute with Miller) when it could have gotten chippy. The Nuggets played team basketball in a way that hints at how much fun future years might be. They forgot how to score in the third quarter but didn’t let up on Toronto, and they closed out the by winning the fourth quarter rather than letting the game get close. It was a complete effort.
Nikola Jokic stars in Nuggets’ blowout win over Toronto | The Denver Post
The Nuggets entered the fourth quarter with an 80-65 lead. Will Barton, who had just four points on 2-of-9 shooting through the first three quarters, scored eight points in the first 1:38 of the final period to ensure Denver would not have to worry about letting a big lead slip away. Barton finished with 20 points as the Nuggets’ lead in the fourth quarter grew to as large as 27 points.
The Nuggets were staunch defensively for much of the night while defeating Toronto, which hadn’t lost since Jan. 4, for the second time this season. The first win against the Raptor’s snapped an eight-game losing streak.
Toronto Raptors crushed by Nuggets, winning streak over | Raptors Cage
You simply cannot let Denver score 112 points. The interior defense was unacceptable. JV and Bismack Biyombo did not get it done, as Nikola Jokic torched them for 27 points. Will Barton also poured in 20 off the bench. Denver shot a sky high 54% from the field.
Raptors’ Dwane Casey named NBA coach of the month | Toronto Star
Casey said the nod was “a great honour for our staff, for the organization.”
“My whole thing is when you’re not worried about who gets the credit, everybody wins,” he said.
Will camaraderie be a blessing or curse for Raptors? | TSN
Although they’ve probably been playing it up for the cameras a tad lately, their friendship is sincere and they’re not alone. For years the Raptors have prided themselves on the continuity and camaraderie between their best players and, this season more than ever, there seems to be a harmonious vibe around the entire roster.
“We do everything together,” DeRozan said. “We talk about everything, all the guys on the team. We joke around when we’re on the road. We try to take advantage of it, have fun and try not be so uptight and think about basketball 24/7. With that, we go out there and have fun with each other and try to pull out a win every single night.”
“The guys on this team — from the superstars, Lowry and DeRozan — all the way down to the guys who don’t play that much, [Lucas Nogueira] and Bruno [Caboclo], we all respect one another,” said reserve forward Patrick Patterson. “Everyone cares about each other; everyone wants to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. We all just truly and generally enjoy each other’s company.”
Of course, winning will do that, but it’s not unlike the question of the chicken and egg. What came first? Does winning breed chemistry or does chemistry breed winning?
Raptors’ Casey, Nuggets’ Malone well aware no NBA coach is safe | Toronto Star
“You’re always sad for any coach in college or the pros to lose their position,” said Raptors coach Dwane Casey, who was named the Eastern Conference coach of the month on Monday, after his team went 12-2 in January. “But it’s part of our job description.
“You sign a piece of paper and the only thing that’s not on there is the date you’re going to be let go.”
Coaching has always been a dependably fickle job. Casey’s enjoying the success his Raptors have had this year, with their franchise-record-setting win streak of 11 games and two of his players taking part in next weekend’s all-star game in Toronto, but he knows how quickly the coin can flip. He was fired by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2007 in his second season in charge.
It wasn’t that long ago people were wondering if Casey was the right coach for the Raptors after they were swept out of the playoffs last year.
Friendly Bounce Power Rankings: The Toronto Raptors climb | Friendly Bounce
3. Toronto Raptors (LW: 4): 10-0 in the last 10 games is great and almost every game they play is entertaining in some way. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan‘s friendship is the only thing in the league right now that is as great as the Warriors.
Raptors by the numbers: 11 stats from the 11-game winning streak | Eh Game
88 – Bench units in the NBA are expected to hold leads, not extend them. Over the 150 minutes that Cory Joseph, Ross, Patterson, and Bismack Biyombo have shared the court, the Raptors have outscored their opponents by 88 points. Primarily playing alongside Lowry, they’ve been Toronto’s most effective foursome.
Two Trades That Will Push The Clippers And Raptors Into Conference Contention | The Sports Quotient
The Raptors are in the prototypical spot to make a win now move. Toronto is likely getting the best production they will ever see from Kyle Lowry and their other backcourt star, DeMar DeRozan, who is on the last year of his deal and is due for a huge pay raise.
The one glaring hole in this Raptors roster has been the power forward position. Having Patrick Patterson and Luis Scola play the majority of the power forward minutes just isn’t gonna cut it in a conference that runs through Cleveland.
While acquiring Ryan Anderson isn’t going to improve anything on the defensive side of the floor, his elite shooting from the big man position could take this Toronto Raptors offense to new heights. Just
Raptors-Phoenix Suns: Tuesday game preview | Toronto Star
Key matchup:Tyson Chandler vs. Jonas Valanciunas.
A lack of experience jumps off of the page when you look at the Suns roster. Chandler, 33, will know what it takes to slow down a team like the Raptors. His numbers aren’t overwhelming, but he’ll make life tough for Valanciunas and is always a threat in the paint to any Raptors that puts his head down and goes to the hoop. Managing him in the paint will be Valanciunas’ top task.
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