DeRozan finally wins in Sacramento, Raptors take 6th in a row

The starters have it together!

Raptors 102, Kings 87 | Box Score | Quick Reaction | Reaction Podcast

There’s something to be said for just getting it done.

During a stretch where the Toronto Raptors will play far more bad teams than good, there will be nights when they look completely unstoppable, because they’re the much better teams. There will be nights when they stumble, and only look unstoppable for the stretch it takes to recover, like they did Friday. And there will be games like Sunday afternoon, when the Raptors visited a Sacramento Kings team that has always – always – randomly had their number no matter how large the talent disparity in either direction, when the Raptors are take a more workmanlike approach to a game, winning because they should win, without a ton of flair or narrative.

So it was that they came about a 102-87 victory that they started and finished strong around some forgivably sleepy mid-game play. It wasn’t the bench providing a raucous comeback or an unexpected contributor changing the game or elite ball movement and high-volume shooting, or anything else the Nu-Raptors have done. It was just the Raptors doing what they do best, relying on their primary pieces, and beating down an inferior team.

It looks like there would be the customary Sacramento weirdness when the start of the game was delayed due to an uneven rim. The weirdness that followed, though, was the Raptors getting off to a blazing start at 12:30 local time in Sacramento, something they’ve rarely, if ever done. It was perhaps a good omen when Zach Randolph missed a pair of early free throws. Or that Jonas Valanciunas was forcing point guard turnovers. Or that the Kings were getting whistled for offensive goaltending. Whatever your bellwether, Toronto opened up a 13-0 run over the first three minutes, a stretch that included a nice Serge Ibaka drive (with a Valanciunas pseudo-screen), a very confident OG Anunoby transition three, and the usual DeMar DeRozan offensive work (he had five assists in the quarter)

The idea of a sleepy Sunday start was swatted out of mind like Ibaka chasing down errant passes with blocks, in other words. Anunoby had a great cut for a dunk, and a second would have sent the Kings running for a second early timeout had Anunoby not taken off from just a little too far, which drew a smile from the rookie. That didn’t turn momentum Sacramento’s way immediately, as DeRozan continued drawing fouls at will, Ibaka drilled a corner three, and the starters were a plus-13 by the time a first sub checked in. Toronto came back down to earth with the bench, in part because Sacramento finally started finding the net and in part because their defense started holding a block-party. C.J. Miles was rejected twice, Pascal Siakam was turned away by JaKarr Sampson, and a Jakob Poeltl offensive foul saw the Raptors up five at the end of the quarter despite the Kings having more turnovers than field goals, and after once leading by 15.

The Kings’ bench continued frustrating the Raptors’ second unit, trapping effectively on the side of the floor. A slow 10-6 mini-run over four minutes brought Sacramento back within one, and Siakam getting blocked at the rim sent Frank Mason the other way, drawing a foul against Fred VanVleet and giving the Kings their first lead of the game. Dwane Casey called on Kyle Lowry to stabilize things, and they immediately ran a Lowry-and-bench pet play to get Miles a three. Lowry came up lame on a play shortly after to provide a bit of a scare, only to stay in the game and then deliver a four-point play. Buddy Hield finally missed after six consecutive makes, and the Raptors pulled back away on a 12-3 run with threes from both Valanciunas (!) and Ibaka, the latter coming on a terrific dish from DeRozan.

Sacramento pushed back with extra effort on the offensive glass, only for the Raptors’ stars to keep them at arm’s length with a hearty shove back. DeRozan continued his terrific first-half playmaking and guarded Skal Labissiere in the post, and Lowry drew his league-leading 18th charge to slow the attack (he’s draw another later). The Raptors were back ahead eight by the break, with all five starters having turned in quality minutes and the group as a fivesome being a whopping plus-19. It’s not quite Sacramento-level strangeness since it’s happened more often of late

The second half opened with a delay, like the first, with officials needing to review some shoving on a jump-ball between DeRozan and Bogdan Bogdanovic. The extended break really gummed up the pace, and the Raptors relied almost exclusively on free throws for their offense for a few minutes. Lowry was forcing a little bit, so DeRozan picked up that slack, and Lowry looked for Valanciunas for a strong rim-run in transition to draw another foul. Sacramento’s hot 3-point shooting helped them hang around within striking distance, just not enough to get over the hump DeRozan was proving to be as a scorer and playmaker. DeRozan scored 13 in the quarter, and he and the bench had a 12-1 run late to put the Raptors back up double-digits heading into the fourth.

The first few minutes were all Sampson, who stuck a long two, drew a charge on Siakam, and forced a jump-ball against Norman Powell. Big a Sampson fan though I am, that was bound to slow down, and a Poeltl corner three (!!) put an end to a short Kings push-back. The bench bigs really picked up the defensive intensity from there, and Siakam found Miles twice inside the arc before taking a seat.

Poeltl got the initial close-out nod in place of Valanciunas, only for Casey to opt for VanVleet as an extra ball-handler in response to the offense stalling out and letting Sacramento creep back in. That settled things, with Lowry adding a bucket to his low-scoring-but-very-good night sandwiched around a DeRozan jumper and a DeRozan floater. The Kings wouldn’t go away, though. Randolph bullied his way to a put-back, and a careless out-of-timeout turnover for the Raptors kick-started De’Aaron Fox in transition, where he’s quite dangerous.  They ran out of time, a screen-the-screener action getting Ibaka an open three that represented the dagger.

All told, Ibaka has 20 points again, DeRozan scored 25 points quite efficiently and dished nine assists, and Lowry sputtered to 15 points but was a huge difference-maker with 12 rebounds and six assists. Valanciunas battled Randolph admirably, too, and every starter was at least a plus-17. The bench cracks are a little worrisome, and Lowry and DeRozan played 35 minutes each on the first leg of a back-to-back, if you find the need to pick nits; maybe the 93.1 defensive rating will soothe you, a mark that should see the Raptors back in the top 10 at both ends of the floor now. There was mostly good here.

Two Raptors centers hitting threes while Lowry and Miles struggled from outside, stoppages to start each half, a genuine JaKarr Sampson game, and the starters heavily outperforming the bench. This may have flowed mostly like a normal game. The devil, though, is in the details, and this mostly held true to the Raptors-in-Sacramento environment that’s been established. The big difference here, of course, was the Raptors winning, just the fourth time they’ve done so in 21 visits and the first time with DeRozan in the lineup.

Previous: Raptors Weekly Podcast – Where do we stand in the East?
Photo Credit: Hector Amezcua of Sacramento Bee

Photo Credit: Hector Amezcua of Sacramento Bee

Next: Morning Coffee – Mon, Dec 11