Updates with new lead.
Advertisement
Toronto’s mascot held aloft a flag that read “BENCH BROSKIS” and sprinted the length of the court to celebrate a trey that put the Raptors up by 12, and helped seal an important 114-106 win in this first-round National Basketball Association playoff series.
Not that they’re overly excited about it. Serge Ibaka was the unlikely scoring leader for the Raptors with 23 points while pulling down 12 rebounds. Kyle Lowry had hit just one of his three field-goal attempts. “Worry about Game 2”.
Thompson found his shot and scored 27 points, making 11 of 13 shots.
That’s when things could have changed, drastically, and the Raptors as now constructed might never have existed.
But in the Spring of 2015 when the Raptors were swept aside by the Washington Wizards, when Paul Pierce told the world the Raptors didn’t have “it” and then proceeded to shoot the lights out against a Toronto club that had no faith in each other, limited faith in their coach and limited history of success to fall back on to bolster them through the storm.
“We’re not satisfied”, Casey said. “We still hold the power to change our minds, but as long as those guys are producing, why should we change our rotation?”
When it was over, it was Wizards coach Scott Brooks who was answering questions about how to slow down the potent Toronto offence.
And things didn’t immediately improve once the game got rolling. Their lack of trust in each other and the system is evident, especially in games determined by one or two possessions.
“Their bench was great”, Wall said. Mike Scott and Marcin Gorat added a combined 26 points. It is a Game 1, so of course Toronto is losing at halftime. On home court, we’re supposed to win. “Brush it off and move forword”. The Toronto point guard hit two free throws and assisted on a Miles’ 3-pointer to cap a 7-0 spurt for the Raptors. “We know what works for us, what got us here, and what’s going to take us even further”. Delon Wright came off the bench to chip in 18 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter.
Casey said that his team has struggled in the past when Lowry and DeRozan were swamped by opposing defences, and they weren’t able to figure out a way past such problems. “He was cool as a cucumber”. And yes, Lowry and DeRozan shot poorly in the first half: 1-for-3 for the four-time All-Star point guard, 1-for-5 for the four-time All-Star shooting guard, seven points between them. “It’s definitely a pick your poison, but we just have to do it better”, Brooks said. “You don’t think your big will get a foul on the jump ball”. “For some reason we didn’t lock in those first few minutes”. That led Toronto to a 86-85 lead after the third, and they pulled away partway through the fourth for a relatively comfortable win.
DeRozan totaled 17 points and six assists. Otto Porter started despite sitting out Wednesday’s season finale because of a strained right calf. Each team scored 20 points off their opponents miscues.
Raptors: Lowry played despite flu-like symptoms. If Washington is going to upset Toronto in this series, it might have to consider changing its overall approach. DeRozan and Lowry would finish the game with 15 assists between them.
Advertisement
The backup guard suffered a bruised shoulder in Wednesday’s regular-season finale in Miami.
