Raptors quietly becoming talk of East — and only getting scarier | New York Post
“I’m not surprised but it’s been tough,” DeRozan said. “We’ve been without a key starter, DeMarre Carroll, for a while. We were without Jonas Valanciunas for five weeks with a broken hand. It’s been tough. We haven’t really had our full roster. We proved we’re a dominant team in the Eastern Conference. But nobody’s place is promised.”
DeRozan, averaging 23.4 points, ranks eight in scoring while Lowry, at 21.0, is 15th. There’s more, of course. Valanciunas (9.4 rebounds) can be a load inside. Bismack Biyombo (8.1 rebounds) anchors a terrific bench that has Cory Joseph behind Lowry. The Raptors are looking for wing help have had some feeler talks about the Nets’ Thaddeus Young.
But everything starts with the All-Stars.
“What Toronto has done is put the keys into two guys’ hands, DeRozan and Lowry, and those guys hold everybody accountable,” LeBron James said. “They have a great balance of scoring and defense and they’re playing at a high level.”
All-star game in Toronto without Lowry and DeRozan? It could have happened | Toronto Sun
DeRozan didn’t enter the dunk-off, likely a good call considering how ridiculous the highlight of the weekend was, but he made sure to put his stamp on his second all-star appearance. DeRozan showed there is life in his legs yet with some big-time jams.
His 360 came out of nowhere and his monster one-handed dunk was one of the best in a game filled with slams.
Considering DeRozan might have the dunk of the year in the NBA, his posterization of Utah’s Rudy Gobert, we probably shouldn’t have been surprised.
He and Lowry are looking forward to a big finish to the regular season after the disappointments of the past two seasons.
“We’re playing for something big, not just to win games. To get in the playoffs and make some noise,” DeRozan said.
Toronto Raptors: Can They Avoid a Second Half Slump? | Hoops Habit
Lowry and DeRozan have never been better and both have helped get the team to where they are today, but the lack of a consistent third scoring option for the Raptors still lingers.
They could have one in DeMarre Carroll, who has yet to make an impact on the team since he’s been hurt for the majority of the season or Jonas Valanciunas, who still remains an intriguing fit even after signing a contract extension last fall. Additionally, the days of making a deal are numbered but there’s still a possibility the Raptors could make a big trade before the deadline this Thursday.
Fortunately, the questions on the team’s defense have mostly disappeared due to how well it’s been this year and it will only be bolstered once Carroll returns.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Raptors approach the second half of the season. It could be a time for experimentation, to see what you have with your more unproven players. However, you could make a case for how that would be a bad idea for the Raptors as they have a chance to snatch the first seed away from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
We made it: Canada now firmly ingrained in NBA fabric | Sportsnet.ca
For Raptors fans it will be remembered as the weekend when the kind of alienation that fuels the potent We The North call to arms melted, if only briefly.
For the city, or the country, it was one of those full-circle moments. Forever it seemed the easy way to look at Canada (and Toronto) and dismiss basketball was simple: they like hockey there, there isn’t a huge college basketball infrastructure and there was no NBA team – and that was after there was an NBA team. By those measures basketball didn’t exist and in the eyes of the U.S., the epicentre of the sport, basketball here didn’t really exist.
It was never really true. Basketball has always mattered here, but it was a niche and there were limited ways for those who cared to express how deeply it mattered to them and be heard if they did.
That’s what makes We The North ring so true: it taps into that sense of alienation Canadian basketball fans have felt both within their own country and as Canadians facing the big brother to the south, largely oblivious to what’s happening up here.
While the two relished their roles as the weekend’s unofficial hosts, addressing the fans on behalf of the players before the opening tip, they were also more than happy to cede the spotlight to Kobe Bryant who will retire at the end of the season, making his 18th and final All-Star game appearance. Like Lowry, Bryant was born in Philadelphia and, of course, he played his entire professional career with the Los Angeles Lakers, DeRozan’s favourite team growing up in Southern California.
“Every time you get out there and get to play with these amazing athletes and players, it’s always fun,” said Lowry. “It’s entertaining. You always cherish the moment. You always just cherish the moments.”
These are certainly moments worth cherishing, considering where Lowry, DeRozan, and the Raptors were just a few years ago and where they are now.
Toronto Raptors Have Found A Star In DeMar DeRozan | Hoops Habit
He’s reduced the number of shots that have come from between 10 feet and the three-point line by 10.7 percent and increased his shots within 10 feet by nine percent as well as upped his three-point attempts. In addition to taking better shots and more threes, he’s also shooting a career high 33.7 percent from three. Better decision making has been a large contributing factor to this change, but his improved ball handling has made the biggest impact to his overall game. Not only has his improved handle allowed him to consistently get where he wants on the court, it’s allowed him to keep his head up with the ball and pass out of trouble before it’s too late. He’s averaging a career high 4.1 assists a game and his turnovers a game stayed steady at 2.3 despite taking on a larger scoring role and play-making role.
A career high 23.4 points per game for DeRozan is second only to James Harden when it comes to shooting guard scoring. For a player that’s always shouldered a considerable load, he’s finally found a way to do so efficiently and take the next step to join the league’s most deadly offensive threats. He’s maximized what he does well while masking his flaws and that’s one of the biggest reason the Toronto Raptors have separated themselves as the second-best team in the Eastern Conference.
Views from the three-point line: a trip to the Drake-centric NBA All-Star Celebrity Game | The Verge
Drake spent the weekend playing MC, host, and civic ambassador, and he cast a huge shadow over the celebrity game. He received the key to the city from Toronto mayor John Tory in a pre-game ceremony, after which he palled around with Tory and Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri. The ovation he received during pre-game introductions was an order of magnitude louder than anyone else’s, save the young Chinese-Canadian heartthrob Kris Wu. The legendary Atlanta organist Sir Foster played versions of his hit songs throughout the game, meaning you could watch him banter with referees and make substitutions while “Back to Back” played. He came up in every pre-game interview. Chauncey Billups liked his music but really liked Kendrick Lamar; Rick Fox already “knew Drizzy, being a Toronto kid,” and was excited to see him again; McGrady was looking forward to meeting him for the first time.
He also made a capable foil for Hart, who’s spent the last half-decade giving the celebrity game something every other All-Star Weekend event lacks: a story. He relished playing the villain, refusing to shake Drake’s hand before tipoff and repeatedly crowing about his four consecutive celebrity game MVP awards. When he left the bench in the second half and returned in uniform to lead a US charge, the energy in the arena was palpable, and it persisted even as Hart struggled to make a shot or affect the game in a meaningful way. It’s hard to believe, but there’s real history to the celebrity game: there are legends and repeat performers, running plotlines, and real competitiveness. It’s a glorified sideshow, but that doesn’t make taking a loss from the Property Brothers sting any less, and you can feel that urgency.
Report: Raptors kicked tires on Nets’ Young over All-Star Weekend | Sportsnet.ca
According to Fred Kerber of the New York Post, the Raptors and Nets talked “basic, non-specific terms” about a potential Young trade over NBA All-Star Weekend.
This report is buoyed by another from the New York Daily News’ Frank Isola, who says the Nets are willing to deal Young and lays out a scenario involving the Raptors’ Patrick Patterson, rookie Delon Wright and one of their four first-round picks over the next two drafts.
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