With Lowry’s all-star spot already locked up, DeRozan has apparently chose to make it impossible for East coaches to leave him off the roster.
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The Raptors guard poured in 33 points Friday night as Toronto extended its winning streak to seven games with a 101-81 victory over the injury-riddled Miami Heat. DeMar DeRozan is leading that offensive charge and totaled 64 points on 25-of-50 shooting in the last two games.
Johnson ended up with only four points on 2-7 shooting despite playing most of the game. They are also trying to hold off the Washington Wizards who are slowly climbing the group as they rebound from their slow start to the season.
“We have lost our defensive mojo a little bit”, Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “This is where we develop collective character”.
“The second half I thought we played the way we were supposed to play, we played with some intensity”, Casey said. Just give him the ball and get out of the way. He’s got an opportunity to get into the paint. “That’s something he’s added”. Tons of it. But soon the time will come to turn promise into reality.
There was some symmetry to the night. They led 62-56 at halftime. Thomas has shown the ability to score at will at times but he is not yet in a position where he knows what to do to score when it matters most.
NOTES: The Raptors continue their seven-game home stand against the Miami Heat on Friday. His nine field goals made in the half were a career high. The win moves Toronto to 28-15 on the season.
“At this point I don’t think I’ve got time to wait around to feel great”, he said.
“We just want to make sure he’s not taking steps back”.
Lowry responded with a 3-pointer.
“Well, it’s both of them”.
The Raptors led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter before the Heat cut the lead to nine in the fourth quarter. He finished with 26, drawing a regular chorus of boos throughout the night. That means it’s Bosh and a crew of bench players, and even some of those bench pieces may be sidelined – Josh McRoberts (knee) and Chris Andersen (knee) are out, and Beno Udrih (neck) is questionable and unlikely to play. Goran Dragic (calf) dressed but did not play. A ton of Heat players are questionable or out. Sadly when the second ballots came back, it seemed as if Lowry’s chances to start in the All-Star Game were diminished.
“We’re not feeling sorry for ourselves”, he added. It’s really disappointing. Because we’ve got to the point where we should be able to execute simple things and we’re not doing that at all.
In contrast, Irving won’t be active at All-Star weekend now due to the fact he’s only played 14 games this season and his numbers in those games are not All-Star worthy.
Miami was completely unable to generate consistent stops, with Toronto hitting a barrage of threes in the first half and outside of Wade, Bosh, and an invigorated Udonis Haslem, Miami didn’t get much production.
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Canadian actress Rachel McAdams, nominated for best supporting actress at next month’s Oscars for her role in “Spotlight”, sat courtside and was serenaded by the Toronto mascot, the Raptor, in the first quarter. From there, Mavs guard Wesley Matthews missed a 3-pointer, but at the other end, Thunder forward Serge Ibaka was called for a moving screen.
