Finally, Toronto’s bizarre half-decade of horror in Charlotte has come to an end. The team annihilated the Hornets Wednesday in a game that was never close. Charlotte normally struggles to score, but this was ridiculous. Just 15 points in the opening quarter, 74 in all (and only excellent 10-for-22 shooting from outside for a team that usually is awful from deep allowed Charlotte to even crack 70 points).
- A few Raptors located their missing jumpers (Greivis Vasquez seems to be coming on now from three-point range, Terrence Ross went 3-for-5, and Patrick Patterson and Lou Williams combined to go 5-for-13). This team lives and dies with its three-point shooting, so having a few players warm up with the playoffs so close is a good sign.
- Dwane Casey is no fan of eccentric hair-dos. He said as much when James Johnson showed up with red hair, just as he had said in the past when Amir Johnson showed up to practice with a couple of funky ‘dos. But as long as the players produce, Casey will get past his old-school objections. Amir certainly did when he had those hairstyles (you could make a case he was Casey’s best overall player for the first two years of his Toronto coaching tenure) and James Johnson was excellent against the Hornets, aside from a few mistakes. He only grabbed seven rebounds, not the 15 Casey wanted (in a true homage to Dennis Rodman) put Johnson definitely provided a spark.
- Look, the Hornets are missing a ton of talent (and they don’t have that much offensive skill to start with) but this was still an impressive Raptors performance. The Raptors have been searching for more efforts like this, ones where they attack right off the jump and send a strong message that life is going to be tough for their opponent. Too often, they waltz through the opening quarter, take a few punches, then rally. Was part of the change a result of Tyler Hansbrough starting as opposed to Amir? There could be something to that. Amir often eases his way into games (like the team itself) and improves as it goes on. Hansbrough only knows one speed – full tilt – and sets the tone immediately. Hansbrough has been tremendous the past two games. I’ve long argued for Patterson and James Johnson both starting, but maybe Hansbrough should start, knocks some heads, then give way for Johnson (when he returns to health) after about five minutes? Might make some sense.
- Yet again DeMar DeRozan had a miserable shooting night against the Hornets – he just can’t get the space he needs against good defenders Gerald Henderson and Jeffrey Taylor – but he at least got to the line seven times (making six of them) and grabbing seven rebounds.
- For now, Toronto is back in third place in the East (if Chicago and Toronto finish tied, as they were before Chicago’s game in Miami Thursday night) Toronto gets third because it is the division winner while Chicago is in second in the Central behind Cleveland.
More later, off to Orlando.