Raptors struck down by Thunder in battle of dynamic duos | Toronto Sun
t had the makings of a compelling matchup, but such backdrops are more meaningful when both teams come to play and not just one.
There would be stretches, but they were few and far between for the Raptors, who would lose 119-100 to OKC, which won its eighth straight.
Durant led all scorers by pouring in 34 points, while Westbrook added 26 points as he recorded yet another triple-double — his 16th of the season.
Thunder stars have high praise for Raptors | Toronto Sun
Durant believes that experience has given Toronto a boost.
“Usually after your first couple of years in the playoffs, you start to get a feel for who you are, what your standard is,” Durant said.
“Especially after they had a disappointing playoffs last year. They wanted to come in and make a statement from Day 1 and that’s what they’ve done. They’ve played at a high level all season.
“Playing against the good teams, you definitely want to come out and play a good brand of basketball.”
Good team. That’s now the Raptors.
Game Rap: Raptors 100, Thunder 119 | Toronto Raptors
LOWRY DEALING WITH SORE RIGHT ELBOW
Kyle Lowry had his shooting arm wrapped after the game and said that he had fluid drained from his right elbow. Lowry’s elbow has been bothering him since the team’s trip to London, with inflammation flaring up when he gets hit. He said he doesn’t think rest is something that will help the arm, but that he’s hopeful treatment and the decision to drain the fluid will.
Raptors get crushed by Durant, Westbrook and the Thunder, 119-100 | Raptors HQ
It feels like only last week (when he was Player of the Week), we were saying the same thing about Kyle Lowry. But, something is amiss. Lowry finished the game with 14 points on a woeful 4-of-14 shooting. He snagged only two boards, and made moves for a mere four assists. Worse still, as was confirmed after the game, Lowry had his elbow drained and is dealing with some inflammation. Related: the Raptors are much, much less good when Lowry is not peak-Lowry. Elite? Don’t even mention the word.
“That team made every big play, every big shot, you have to shake their hand,” said Casey. “In a lot of those situations we did make a mistake and they made us pay for it.” As a summary of the Raptors experience tonight against OKC, this one works.
Thunder thump the Raptors, 119-100 | Daily Thunder
You know how Westbrook said the Raptors better send a third guy? They could’ve sent the entire province of Ontario and it probably wouldn’t have mattered.
So, that fourth quarter run I mentioned. The Thunder’s bench didn’t really step up tonight, aside from Dion Waiters. Enes Kanter’s defense was actually his best trait in his 20 minutes of play. Generally. Kanter gave up too many offensive rebounds and just couldn’t find any space on offense. Bismack Biyombo really played some physical, intense defense on Kanter. Randy Foye missed a pull up dribble in shot, and had a kick to Waiters. Singler was a ghastly 0-4, missing an open corner three and getting blocked by Biyombo at the rim. Singler did have an assist to Waiters, but was terrible on defense against DeRozan.
But really, I wouldn’t rag on the Thunder bench too hard. The Raptors have some amazing scoring guards, and the Thunder needed to play a more defensively solvent lineup to succeed. The offense came generally pretty consistently, as the bench players didn’t get many shot attempts. KD did struggle during the rare stretch though.
Anyway, the Raptors were able to take what was a 23 point deficit to start the fourth quarter and whittle it down to 14 with about 8:14 to go. That’s pretty close to making it a basketball game. It should be no surprise then that Westbrook was off the floor, and Foye and Waiters were trying to run the offense. But when Westbrook and Adams were able to return, things generally stabilized.
Thunder Prevail Against Raptors, Win 119-100 | Thunderous Intentions
The game never really proved to be in danger for the Thunder until the 4th quarter when the Raptors managed to cut the lead to 13. What impressed me the most though was the team’s overall consistency at keeping to their sets and attacking in transition. It was evident that there was a rock solid gameplan and the team simply did not deviate from it.
Thunder at Toronto Raptors Game Recap – March 28, 2016 | Oklahoma City Thunder
“We did a pretty good job of being disciplined, staying down and not putting them to the line an enormous amount of times,” Donovan explained.
The tone was set very early tonight, as the Thunder punched Toronto in the mouth right out of the gates with a 15-3 start to the game. He defense was ferocious, as Donovan’s group forced Toronto into 1-for-8 shooting and two turnovers to begin the game.
“We came out and responded well,” Durant said. We know we can’t ease into the game. We have to impose our will, especially on the road.”
“We tried to come out and make a statement from the beginning,” Durant added. “Everybody was locked in and it got us off to a good start and got us going.”
Westbrook’s 16th triple double prevents Toronto Raptors from win #50 | Raptors Cage
Defence: C-
The Thunder put up 119 points in regulation on 48% shooting. If the game-plan was to contain Russell Westbrook and Durant – the Raptors’ failed miserably. OKC’s continuous penetration allowed them to get clean look after clean look from beyond the arc. When a player Andre Roberson can get comfortable letting it fly from beyond the arc – something is wrong with the defensive scheme.
The Raptors failed to make adjustments to prevent the onslaught from the Thunder, and allowed their sloppy offensive possessions to hinder their ability to guard in transition. If the Raptors want to truly join the conversation of being one of the NBA’s elite’s they can’t be caught slipping in transition so often. A half-court alley-oop pass with two players on you in transition should never be completed. This happened twice for the Raptors in the same quarter. With the playoffs just a few weeks away the Raptors have some serious shaping up to do when it comes to protecting their own.
OKC Thunder 119: Raptors 100: Defense-less | Raptors Rapture
The Raptors have two fine players who occasionally are excellent. The Thunder have two players who are seldom less than brilliant. The play of Westbrook and Russell was a clear demonstration of what superstars can do. They combined for 60 points, 20 assists and 19 rebounds, or virtually a triple-double each.
Raptors must play it safe with banged up Lowry | TSN
While every player goes through slumps from time to time, Lowry’s poor shooting numbers have raised some questions, especially after he was held out of last week’s game in Boston to rest a sore elbow on his shooting arm.
As it turns out, Lowry originally hurt the elbow when Toronto faced the Magic in London on Jan. 14, and up until recently it hadn’t affected his play in any noticeable way. He shared Eastern Conference Player of the Month honours with teammate DeMar DeRozan in January and was actually even better during February and early in March before taking a hard fall in last Sunday’s game, also against Orlando, and tweaking his elbow, prompting the night off against the Celtics.
In three games since, he’s shot 11-for-46 (24 per cent) from the field, 5-for-26 (19 per cent) from three-point range and an alarming 13-for-24 (54 per cent) from the free throw line, where he’s an 80 per cent career shooter.
“It’s a concern and there’s a reason for that,” Dwane Casey said, later acknowledging the elbow ailment as that reason. “But everybody at this time of year is going through something. There’s other things he has to do, get to the rim, kick it out and do those things. He’ll be okay.”
Focus shifts from Raptors milestone to Lowry’s injured elbow | Sportsnet.ca
On Monday night at the Air Canada Centre, the focus was on the Raptors seeking their record-setting 50th regular season win against the mighty Oklahoma City Thunder.
That didn’t work out so well, as the Raptors got a first-hand introduction to what an elite team on a roll looks like.
The Raptors lost 119-100, but that paled in comparison to the possibility that Lowry’s elbow problems — and the accompanying shooting woes — could linger.
“It’s a concern,” said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey of Lowry’s shooting slump. “But everyone this time of the year is going through something … there’s a reason why his shooting is the way it is.”
Lowry’s elbow wasn’t why the Raptors lost — though he did shoot just 4-of-14 — but it could be a factor in a lost Raptors season.
Injury Update: Kyle Lowry on his banged up elbow | Raptors HQ
“I not gonna make excuses but it’s definitely something I don’t want to play with and I don’t like playing with. But it is what it is, at this time of year you just play through it … It just gets you when you can’t extend your elbow, your arm the complete way. But hopefully we got it taken care of … hopefully I won’t be playing and shooting as bad as I have the last three games.” – Kyle Lowry
Over those aforementioned three games, Lowry has averaged just 13.3 points, 6.7 assists and two rebounds while shooting just 23.9 percent from the field, 19.2 percent from distance and a bizarrely poor 54.2 percent from the line.
Silence surrounding Raptors’ Carroll is defeaning | Toronto Sun
Nothing is being said about Carroll’s status, no one saying anything for public consumption about his health and when Carroll will be back.
When there’s something to be said, according to the sporting mantra of every team, something will be said.
But the more silence prevails, the more one is led to believe that Carroll won’t be back anytime soon, regular season or post-season, which is a shame.
Shutting down Carroll makes sense on many levels because it’s clear something is amiss.
Carroll was nowhere to be found Monday night, the same night Casey announced during his pre-game availability that Terrence Ross would not play because of a sore thumb.
Carroll’s knee is much more problematic.
Toronto Raptors: What is Wrong With DeMarre Carroll? | Tip of the Tower
In fact, with the playoffs fast approaching, there appears to only be one major question mark surrounding the team.
This query centres around the health of DeMarre Carroll – more specifically, when exactly is he going to return? Just a couple of weeks ago, Josh Lewenberg of TSN reported the small forward was expected to be back by the end of March, but that appears to no longer be the case.
Instead, Carroll now seems no closer to returning, with concerns growing with every passing day, about the severity of his injury. Ongoing issues with his right knee led to arthroscopic surgery at the start of January, which there had previously been no hint of him needing.
Toronto Raptors: 3 Keys For Rest Of Season | Hoops Habit
The biggest acquisition of the summer for the Raptors was DeMarre Carroll. His season has been severely limited due to injuries, but his return is rumored to occur prior to the end of March. Carroll is arguably the third best player on the team and how much he can contribute could be a huge X-factor.
While Carroll’s game shouldn’t be one that’s too hard to integrate, given he is not a ball dominant player and mostly provides defense and floor spacing, his return means a change of role for guys who have been excelling lately like Norman Powell. Powell, Terrence Ross and others will need to adjust and try to maintain their effectiveness in a reduced role.
The coaching staff also will need to figure out the frontcourt rotation as they haven’t had a lot of time with Jason Thompson, Jonas Valanciunas, Patrick Patterson and Luis Scola. All four players deserve minutes and Carroll is also likely to see some time at power forward, so establishing a set rotation will be very important over the next few weeks.
Caboclo scores career-high 31 points in big Raptors 905 win | Sportsnet.ca
Bruno Caboclo scored an NBA Development League career-high 31 points in the Raptors 905 136-105 win over the Grand Rapids Drive Monday night.
The 2014 first-round pick broke out of a slump that saw him shoot under 40 per cent over his last seven games and under 35 per cent for his last four. Caboclo added five steals and seven rebounds to his line.
Bruno Caboclo Breaks Out With The Raptors 905 | Pro Bball Report
Bruno Caboclo recorded an NBA Development League career high 31 points en route to a 136-105 Raptors 905 win over the Grand Rapids Drive Monday night at the DeltaPlex Arena in Walker, Michigan. Caboclo led all scorers as he shot 12-20 from the field and knocked down 3 triples to go with his 7 rebounds and career best 5 steals.
Should Raptors build roster around Warriors’ small-ball model? | Raptors Rapture
Building a team with 65 wins in 72 games? No sweat – draft a skinny kid with chronic ankle problems from an unknown college, a one-way shooting guard, and an undersized tweener no one wanted. Surround them with complementary pieces. All done. The Warriors are a magnificent fluke, and a joy to watch.
For the Toronto Raptors and their fans, there’s no lesson here. What’s important is flexibility: the Raptors need to be able to compete against small-ball lineups, and against paint-clogging giant ones. We need floor-spacing shooters and tall men who can create and score near the hoop.
Never confuse a blip for a trend.
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