Memphis game just what doctor ordered for Raptors; Valanciunas and Joseph playing best basketball of season?

Sunday’s game against Memphis was exactly what the doctor ordered for Toronto for many reasons.
There was the obvious – the team did not want to lose three in a row for the first time in three months.
The more subtle – Memphis plays the game the way it will be played in the playoffs, so any test like this, even if April and May are a ways off, is good for this club.
And the encouraging – After a dip in play in January, Cory Joseph has been excellent; Jonas Valanciunas can’t be stopped on offence right now (unfortunately, his teammates still don’t get the ball to him nearly enough, preferring to launch tougher looks).
Most notably, Valanciunas impacted the game by catching a nice pass from Lowry and converting when being fouled, then kicking the ball out to Lowry for a three to create some separation from the Grizzlies.
Sure, Memphis was missing Marc Gasol, which changes everything, and was working new players into the lineup, but that’s still a well-coached group with talent and fight and the Raptors answered every charge the Grizzlies mounted.
Joseph didn’t register an assist for only the fourth time this season, but his defence was great, he hit big shots (a pair of threes), got to the hoop whenever he wanted and has now handed out 12 assists vs. only four turnovers over his past four games.
FUNNY MOMENT
Joseph was asked about being run over by Vince Carter, his childhood idol, and laughed it off, saying he knew there weren’t any ill intentions.
“I watched Vince growing up, that’s what I told him. I knos he’s not trying to hurt me, it’s just a hard foul,” Joseph said.
At that point, DeMar DeRozan, who had been lurking behind Joseph as he did his media scrum, chimed in: “You watched me growing up too.”
Joseph shot back with a mild dig in jest: “Yeah, yeah, when I was a kid, I watched both of these old guys.”
All DeRozan could do was laugh.
WISHING HIM WELL
Memphis coach Dave Joerger was around Kyle Lowry in his early days in Memphis and remains a fan. I asked him whether he is surprised at all by Lowry’s ascension and he took it in a bit of a defensive way (it was not a shot at the organization for dealing him away years ago at all), but was honest.
“No, he’s a good dude, good friend. A friend of all of ours in the locker room,” Joerger said.
“It was a tough deal, we draft point guards two years in a row, I think Mike (Conley, the No. 3 overall pick a year after Lowry went in the 20s, then got hurt as a rookie) or Kyle would be the player that they are (now) if they were both there in Memphis on the same team. It’s a great opportunity for Kyle, he’s done great everywhere he’s been, did great in Houston as well, I’m really happy for him and his family.”
At least Memphis held onto Conley, who is also a heck of a player. Houston had both Lowry, who has a good shot at making an All-NBA team this year and Goran Dragic, who once made the All-NBA third team, but gave them away for little, though the team suckered Oklahoma City into surrendering James Harden in part because of the pick acquired for Lowry. But that’s more the Thunder making a massive mistake than Houston playing its cards right.
AROUND THE RIM
The Raptors only registered 12 assists, one of the lower totals of the season, but the ball actually was moving better than it has in many contests. Just a lot of missed shots. Valanciunas, in particular, was making great reads out of the post, but shots weren’t going down.
Have been over the benefits of a Patrick Patterson for Luis Scola switch many times now, so won’t do it again, but Dwane Casey is resistant to the idea, mainly because he loves the way the bench has played. What that means is Raptors will need to work way out of a lot of first and third quarter holes if the status quo is maintained.
Memphis shot 3-for-20 from three. That will help the numbers for the Raptors, a bottom-four NBA team at defending three-pointers heading in (it moved them to sixth-worst).
Remember when Toronto wasn’t that good at home? The team is now 19-6 at the ACC. One of Masai Ujiri’s keys when he took over, was building the Raptors to the point where home was a fortress. That time is getting closer.
Lowry has registered at least seven assists in five straight games.