Raptors 113, Magic 114 | Box Score | Quick Reaction | Reaction Podcast
The Toronto Raptors took their foot off the gas in the second quarter, and the Magic took full advantage of a porous defence to take a 114-113 decision Sunday night.
For the Raptors, the end of January, and perhaps even the All-Star break, can’t come soon enough. Losers of six of their last seven, they are now 7-9 for the month, and mired in a defensive slump reminiscent of that cringe-worthy finish to the 2014-15 season.
For the first time all season, the Raptors finally had their best roster at their disposal. DeMar DeRozan returned after a three-game absence, and Sullinger was back with the team after a night in Mississauga.
The feel-good vibes spilled over onto the court early, as another Patterson start helped the Raptors use some crisp ball movement, particularly from DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas, to jump out to a 36-27 first quarter lead. Jonas made a couple of passes that he may have learned from watching Lucas Nogueira, swinging the ball to the corner off the roll. He found Patterson and Joseph in the corner for two threes to cap off what was an excellent opening few minutes for the Raptors.
There was a nice moment with a couple of minutes to go in the first quarter, when your father Bismack Biyombo checking into the game to a fairly loud ovation. You can now add him to the list of former Raptors that have returned victorious to the ACC. His replacement, Lucas Nogueira, had a message for him as soon as he checked in, rejecting his first shot at the rim. That was about as well as things went for Bebe, but more on that later.
The first quarter appeared to make the Raptors complacent, as they played the game on autopilot for what seemed like the remainder of the game. With under six minutes remaining in the second quarter and the Raptors leading 49-39, the Magic went on an unfathomable 21-2 run to end the quarter. A lineup of Joseph-DeRozan-Carroll-Siakam-JV was a -13 over a 3:57 stretch, and it’s not hard to see why. Based on current form, that’s a lineup with virtually no three-point shooting, a combo of bigs that have struggled to mesh defensively in the starting lineup, and a DeMarre Carroll being overly aggressive despite being unable to hit a shot to save his life.
The combination of Norman Powell’s play in the absence of DeRozan and the struggles of Carroll tonight made it all the more confounding as to how Casey could only find 13 minutes of court time for him.
The second half saw Dwane Casey try an array of different lineups to get the Raptors back in the game, with all 12 players used by the time it was all said and done.
Back to Nogueira, who found a way to commit five fouls in just 12 minutes of action. There were a couple of tough calls against him early, especially when considering the referees let a lot of other plays go. His fifth foul came with under four minutes remaining in the third quarter, going over the back of Nikola Vucevic for a rebound. The Raptors had cut the lead to three at 76-73 at that point, and forced Casey to turn to Sullinger.
Casey also turned to Fred VanVleet in response to what was a horrible night for Cory Joseph, who had arguably his worst defensive game of the season. D.J. Augustin had his way with him, hitting two three-pointers early in the fourth to force Casey’s hand. Augustin finished with 21 points on just 10 shots. More hot shooting helped the Magic lead bulge to as many as 15, and that was enough of a cushion to quell a late Raptors push.
Lowry had his shooting stroke going all game, finishing with a game-high 33 points that included six three-pointers. His partner in crime struggled from the field, making just six of his 18 field goal attempts. DeRozan looked a little less decisive than normal, but still managed 11 trips to the free-throw line for his 22 points. The quickness in decision making should hopefully improve as his ankle feels more comfortable. The biggest positive is that he played 36 minutes, and so should be back in his regular flow in no time.
Dwane Casey and his staff will likely spend a lot of time watching film from that disastrous close to the second quarter, but the overall defence needs to be addressed after ceding shots at a 52.3% clip. They have a defensive efficiency of 108.6 this month per NBA.com/Stats, 4.1 points per 100 possessions worse than their rating coming into the new year. On the season, the Lakers are dead-last at 110.2.
Injuries have played their part, and the absence of Patrick Patterson has illustrated just how important he is to the team’s cohesion. Trying to work Jared Sullinger back has presented more challenges than solutions thus far, but it’s a process the coaching staff has to undertake in order to find their best rotation. If Joseph continues to struggle, Delon Wright’s excellent start in the D-League has been encouraging enough to envision stealing some minutes from the former Spur.
In some ways, the Raptors are essentially starting their season over by finally having the roster they intended to begin with available to them. What makes things difficult at this time of the year is that they’re no longer at the beginning of the season. The expectations of last year’s two-seed in the conference are that they should be in midseason form. As a result, there’s not much patience from the outside for a team that is now ironing out what are usually early season wrinkles such as a new starting lineup sorting out ideal bench rotations.
Mired in this losing rut, if they can keep away from the noise in the background and focus on the task at hand, there’s plenty of time to set things right. Whether it’s the matter of an impending matchup with their Atlantic rival Celtics to get the blood boiling, or an All-Star break that should help them recharge and refresh, over a third of the season remains to live up to their lofty expectations.
