Raptors bounce back from 16-point deficit, defeat Nets 104-99

The Toronto Raptors overcame a huge game from Brook Lopez and his Brooklyn Nets Tuesday night, escaping with a 104-99 win.

What a game.

The Toronto Raptors overcame a huge game from Brook Lopez and his Brooklyn Nets Tuesday night, escaping with a 104-99 win. DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 25 points, and Kyle Lowry chipped in 23 of his own as well as nine assists. With this win, the Raptors, now 42-20, sit just two games behind the Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers once again.

While the Nets aren’t a particularly good team — they’re 18-46, the fourth-worst record in the NBA — fans and media alike anticipated a struggle of some sort tonight, and they were right to. The Raptors’ inability to protect the rim led Lopez and Thaddeus Young to score a collective 24 points in the first half, giving the Nets a 16-point lead at the break. Jonas Valanciunas was tasked with guarding Lopez and failed miserably, biting on nearly every fake and allowing Lopez to get to the basket with ease, which prompted head coach Dwane Casey to look elsewhere for a Lopez stopper in the second half. Valanciunas was limited to 21 minutes against the Nets.

But Valanciunas wasn’t the only Raptor to struggle guarding the rim. Valanciunas, Jason Thompson, and Patrick Patterson allowed the Nets to shoot 61 percent at the rim, via NBA.com. The only Raptors big to defend well Tuesday night was Bismack Biyombo, who finished the game with 10 rebounds and two blocks while forcing the Nets to shoot 41.7 percent at the rim.

You might expect the Raptors to mitigate their defensive shortcomings with exceptional offense, and on most nights you’d be right. Unfortunately, Lowry and DeRozan combined for 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting and six turnovers in the first half, and the Raptors as a unit shot 40 percent from the field and 25 percent from behind the arc. We could attribute that to the Nets’ defense, but the reality is the Raptors weren’t working for their shots and settled for contested jumpers more often than not. The Nets baited them to shoot, and the Raptors obliged.

I don’t know what happened in the Raptors’ locker room at the half, but whatever it was, we need to find a way to harness it. The team came out on a mission, though the results were mixed early on. Energy and effort not seen in the first half became the norm, and the Raptors’ backcourt duo finally found their respective shots. A 20-9 run helped them get the 16-point deficit down to two points before the end of the third quarter, and the run would’ve been even better had Lopez not scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, effectively keeping the Nets in the game.

However, Patterson opened the fourth with a 3-pointer off a Lowry dish that gave the Raptors their first lead since the first quarter. Ross and Lowry hit a few treys shortly after and eventually stretched the Raptors’ lead to 10. Once again, the game probably would’ve been out of reach for the Nets had Lopez not been as keyed in as he was. Lopez recorded four of his seven blocks in the fourth quarter, each against a different Raptor. He also chipped in seven more points, bringing his total for the game to 35, just one point shy of his season high.

The Nets were able to bring the lead down to three points a couple times, but a missed jumper and turnover from Young ensured they never had an opportunity to take the lead, let alone tie the game. The Raptors held on and beat the Nets 104-99.

What can we take from this game? Not much.

While the Raptors continue to display an ability to get back into games they don’t initially take seriously, the Nets are a terrible team and this isn’t something we should expect to see regularly. The 16-point deficit at the half tied their season-worst, which came against the Golden State Warriors back in November. That isn’t to say the Raptors got lucky tonight, but they certainly shouldn’t bank on being able to recover from poor first half performances.

Luis Scola was given the night off and Thompson started in his place. This was essentially Thompson’s debut (he played about a minute against the Portland Trail Blazers a few days ago), and he showed off a well-rounded skill set that meshed well with what the Raptors try to do offensively. He finished the game with nine points, five rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and a steal, and even managed to hit the second 3-pointer in his seven-year career. He’s attempted a total of 29, in case you were wondering.

Every Raptor that played tonight recorded at least one assist, with seven players recording two or more. The Raptors aren’t known for passing with purpose early in possessions, but continue to show a willingness to make the extra pass late in the clock. In a weird way, it’s reminiscent of Sam Mitchell’s Raptors back in 2007. I still worry that teams can take the Raptors out of their game come playoff time, but seeing guys regularly make the right play when things matter is encouraging. They finished the game with 24 assists on 37 made field goals and seven secondary (or hockey, if you prefer) assists. Only three teams average better than seven secondary assists on the season: the Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, and Atlanta Hawks.

The only other concern was Lowry breaking 40 minutes played for the 14th time this season. He’s averaging 37 minutes per game this year, and has played less than 30 minutes just three times. Someone else needs to take some of the load off his shoulders. Let’s pray he’s not worn out in April.

The Raptors’ next game is at home against the Hawks.

I leave you with two videos:

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