Carroll was saying all this while standing a little taller than he normally does, as the Raptors have outfitted him with an apparatus for his right shoe that lifts his heel and adds arch support, all in the hopes of taking stress off the area affected by the plantar fasciitis.
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Jonas Valanciunas had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Toronto Raptors to a 100-81 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday. “The only thing that really matters to me is defense. Jonas is growing up”, Casey said. “Everybody wanted him to be this superstar when he first walked into the United States, and that’s hard to do in this league”.
DeMarre Carroll (foot) returned after a three-game absence and made 5-of-14 from the field for 11 points against the Pelicans on Friday, adding five rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block and one 3-pointer in 33 minutes. A 17-point first quarter and a 40-point first half weren’t pretty but the run-away-and-hide second half was predictable.
After the awful start, the Raptors stabilized – and then a few – hitting 8-of-12 three-point attempts after missing 8-of-9 earlier and the short-handed Pelicans could not hang around.
Notables in attendance at the ACC on Friday night included Bills QB Tyrod Taylor, who lobbed signed footballs into the crowd during a second quarter timeout, and Dikembe Mutombo, who was in Toronto ahead of his All Star 2016 fan initiative across Canada. That’s why I say, you know, ‘We go out and we play and we compete, but that’s not life, guys.’ What happened over there, that’s the real world. Outside of him and Holliday, the rest of the team shot just 23.9% (11-46).
With a solid defensive effort and outstanding play from point guard Jrue Holiday and shooting guard Eric Gordon, the Pelicans were tied with the Raptors at 40.
“It’s just a insane world”, Ajinca said, shortly after receiving reassurances that two of his cousins had been located and were OK. “You think you are safe and you are just walking down the street and the next thing that you know people just start shooting”. It is just insane. During the whole game, I was trying to get this out of my mind so I’d be able to stay focused.
The fourth quarter wasn’t much worse, as New Orleans clanked their way to a 21% shooting quarter.
It was all Raptors down the stretch.
“The first half we couldn’t get stops”, said Patrick Patterson, who had two three pointers in the fourth quarter and 10 points on the night.
Carroll, who has played through a number of ailments throughout his career, including during the playoffs while with Atlanta, said it was hard to sit on the sidelines.
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After the game, Carroll said that as he watched the ball go in he sensed a weight come off his shoulders, and the shoulders of his team as well. “My timing was off in the first half, but it felt great to be out there with my teammates”. Casey asked his 29-year-old forward how he was feeling whenever he came to the bench and Carroll gave him the same positive answer each time he asked.
