Defence carrying Raptors, just the way Dwane Casey likes it;...
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...
View ArticleNo doubt now that Raptors have rival in Chicago Bulls; Carroll’s health is...
Well, at least the Raptors have a rival. The Chicago Bulls certainly are that, having run off seven straight victories over Toronto since the last day of 2013, including two comeback wins over the past...
View ArticleDeMarre Carroll situation a major concern for Raptors; At full strength,...
CLEVELAND — Game stories can be tricky when there is a tight, file at the buzzer. Through three quarters I had a nice piece going about how the Raptors should be credited for fighting hard under tough...
View ArticleRaptors find defensive footing – but it was just the lowly Nets; Valanciunas...
Dwane Casey will take a sputtering offence but locked in defence rather than the other way around any day of the week. The Raptors had a couple of games recently where the offence was way off, but the...
View ArticleDeRozan and Lowry put a bow on their all-star case in Raptors win over Wizards
WASHINGTON — The Raptors have had many terrible starts against the Wizards over the past year. In the playoffs, it spelled certain doom. But on Friday night at a sparsely filled Verizon Center, the...
View ArticleGregarious group of Raptors enjoyed big win
WASHINGTON — I’m sure it has been, but can’t recall the Raptors locker room ever being as happy a place as it was following Friday’s impressive win over Washington. Kyle Lowry, in particular, after...
View ArticleInability to win easily could come back to bite Raptors; Ross shows heart;...
Can anybody put a finger on what makes these Raptors make life so difficult on each other pretty much every time out on the court? The team ranks right up at the top in terms of close games played and...
View ArticleRaptors fans should appreciate what has happened past few years – even though...
How about those Raptors. They didn’t miss a beat while I was on vacation did they? The Points Per Game blog returns today, after its first absence of the season owing to my being out of the country and...
View ArticleDespite great record, Casey still worried about Raptors three-point defence;...
The Raptors are rolling, with six straight wins and an increasingly more secure hold on a top three spot in the East, as well as an ironclad grip on homecourt advantage at the moment. Still, Dwane...
View ArticleLong winning streak makes for a happy Raptors room; James Johnson matures;...
It’s funny what a lot of winning does. The Raptors locker room was a joyous place following Friday’s victory over Miami. And why not? It’s only the third time the franchise has won seven in a row and...
View ArticleRaptors bench has people talking; Valanciunas is Mr. Consistency; Doc and CP3...
Dwane Casey thought it was going to be a rough night with about two minutes remaining in the opening quarter against the Clippers on Sunday. His team was getting clobbered – mostly due to the...
View ArticleRaptors return favour with sweep of Wizards but playoff success all that...
To paraphrase (poorly) the original Star Wars trilogy: This wasn’t the sweep the Raptors were looking for. No, the four-game playoff wipeout Washington hung on the Raptors would have been far...
View ArticleRaptors streak should be appreciated; DeRozan a model teammate; Chuckster’s...
You can downplay Toronto’s winning streak if you want. It’s come mostly against mediocre to bad teams, some missing their top players and mostly at home. But we aren’t buying that line of thinking....
View ArticlePotential Raptors winning streak stoppers loom and Biyombo’s future will be...
The Raptors don’t really hate to make life easy on themselves, it just seems that way. The players don’t fail to put away teams once a big lead has been earned on purpose, it just happens. NBA teams...
View ArticleRaptors have fared worse in Denver but can’t make that performance a habit;...
DENVER — It wasn’t a 39-point humiliation that greased the wheels for Sam Mitchell’s exit days later, but it was one of the worst Raptors performances ever in a city where the franchise tends to...
View ArticleJames Johnson injury leaves Raptors thin at small forward
PHOENIX — Toronto is now down its top two small forwards. James Johnson hopped into the Raptors locker room on Tuesday evening, still on the crutches he left the arena in Denver with the night before...
View ArticlePatterson still a huge contributor even when he isn’t scoring; Stack a nice...
PHOENIX — Patrick Patterson shot 1-for-6 against the Suns on Tuesday, yet, he was one of the best players on the floor. Not possible, right? Well, wrong. The game changed once Patterson and Bismack...
View ArticleValanciunas, Biyombo and Powell coming for our jobs? Powell finding his way...
PORTLAND — You’ve probably seen Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan kidding around while either all-star is interviewed, it’s been happening quite a bit lately, but the duo seems positively grown up compared...
View ArticleValanciunas seems to have Drummond’s number; Raptors know about “winning...
One thing that impresses about this Raptors group is that they have a good sense of the moment. They know when they need to turn things up, when the game has entered “winning time.” That can hurt them...
View ArticleNo way around it: Raptors must separate Valanciunas-Scola combination; With...
We need to talk about Luis – as in Scola, and the power forward situation. He was a game-worst -16 against Minnesota, particularly dreadful early in the first and in the game-changing third. Feeling...
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