It’s becoming a trend for this Raptors squad: make a lot of mistakes and defend horribly for large stretches of games, then buckle down and simply build a wall. It has happened a few times lately (Washington struggled late, Milwaukee before that) and on Friday, after tying the game with about four minutes remaining, Charlotte simply could not break through. It was eight misses in a row and 10 straight Raptors points at the other end and lights out for a Hornets team that had seemed to be in control after three.
Toronto has won 14 straight games when opponents fail to score 100 points. That’s not a coincidence.
“Our defence was solid in the fourth quarter. First half, I didn’t recognize some of those straight-line drives they were making. They were going by us way too easy, but we shored it up down the stretch,” Dwane Casey said.
Two wins when shooting under 40% too.
“Defence travels, and it’s going to have to carry us until we get our offence straightened out,” said Dwane Casey.”
CENTRES OF ATTENTION
The whole Jonas Valanciunas/Bismack Biyombo thing appears to be a big deal at the moment. It shouldn’t be and most of the time Valanciunas should be playing a lot more minutes than Biyombo. This game was a rare exception. Biyombo was amped and was making a huge difference against his former team, while Valanciunas is still finding his way after a long layoff. Charlotte also wasn’t using a plodding, traditional centre.
It’s a nice problem for Dwane Casey to have but he can’t lean on Biyombo too much, Valanciunas is the far better player. If possible, giving Valanciunas a bit more time with the reserves might help that often punchless group. This could be done, perhaps, by bringing Biyombo in earlier than usual and returning Valanciunas from a rest quicker.
Valanciunas leads the team with six double-doubles despite his injury layoff.
Lowry has four but says he isn’t impressed.
Why?
“Because John Wall has eight straight!”
Lowry hurt his ankle after stepping on Kemba Walker and was limping a bit in the locker room but said it was just a tweak.
DEMAR THE PHILOSOPHER
DeMar DeRozan was asked about having one brilliant first half and one poor one. He got philosophical about it.
“I look at life like that for some reason,” DeRozan said.
“I really don’t worry about it or think about it. I just go out there and try to be aggressive, set the tone. I know my teammates will follow right behind and as long as they can carry it through it’s easier for me to live with not getting calls or not making shots.”
ROSS ROARS
Terrence Ross continues to show intriguing signs. Even when his shots weren’t falling early and when his shot selection was puzzling, Ross was engaged, active and having an impact. That’s often not the case when he isn’t scoring any points and is encouraging moving forward. Ross eventually found his offence too as did the struggling Patrick Patterson.
QUESTION
How is Charlotte not a playoff team at the moment. Sure, injuries have taken a major toll on Steve Clifford’s club, but in year’s past in the East, this team would be comfortably in a playoff position.
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Defence carrying Raptors, just the way Dwane Casey likes it; Valanciunas-Biyombo shouldn’t be a controversy; It’s Pat
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