Raptors 117 – Portland Trail Blazers 115: DeRozan at the line
By Brian Boake
Despite a brilliant individual game by Portland’s star guard, the Raptors gutted out their 41st win.
In a game over-refereed to a ludicrous degree, the Toronto Raptors used an endless series of trips to the foul line to keep the visiting Portland Trail Blazers at bay. The fourth quarter was scary close to a disaster, as Damien Lillard (is he the second-best pure shooter in the NBA?) was all but unstoppable. He scored 22(!) of his 50(!!), and his mates added 16, but they could never quite overcome the hefty lead Toronto had built up over 36 minutes.
DeMar DeRozan took full advantage of the whistle-happy men (and woman) in stripes, making 24 straight free throws to set a new NBA record. He had a chance for 25, but deliberately missed with .9 of a second to play, so Portland would be forced to rebound rather than have a chance to call a timeout. The tactic worked, and the Raptors escaped with their twelveth straight home victory.
Everyone in possession of a clue about hoops knew this game would be decided by the guards. Kyle Lowry was more than DeRozan’s Robin; our point guard had 28 points, which included half of the team’s six 3-balls. DeRozan, who started at small forward, didn’t enjoy a memorable jump shooting night, but seven baskets added to his crazy free throw count totals 38. Norman Powell (! – I’m using up my quota of exclaimation points) got the start at shooting guard, and contributed 10, including 2 of 3 from beyond the arc.
For the other guys, Portland’s Robin was C.J. McCollum, who missed only one of five from deep on his way to 24. Our trio: 76. Theirs (including Gerald Henderson): 83. Who needs big men?
Actually, the Raptors did. Jonas Valanciunas and Bismack Biyombo missed only one shot each. JV had a double-double of 17 and 10, and was the game’s plus/minus “winner” at plus_18. Biz had 9 points and 4 boards, though he was minus_14. He racked up 5 fouls, and Lillard had no qualms about driving right at him.
With both team’s backcourts doing so much shooting instead of passing, it’s little surprise the game’s assist totals were low. The Raptors actually had more turnovers (13) than dimes (12), while the Blazers were positive, at least, with 14 assists against 11 turnovers.
Just out of curiosity, I had a look at the other 9 NBA games of last night to see how many fouls were called. Knicks-Celtics: 32, Hornets-Pacers: 43, Suns-Magic: 47, Heat-76ers: 46…and so on. The zany (incompetent?) trio of zebras at the Air Canada Centre called 65 fouls. As a result, the game lacked flow throughout.
James Johnson was bumped from the starting five, and from this game’s rotation. He never got off the bench, and I’d be surprised to see a great deal of him from now on except in mop-up situations. Luis Scola had another night to forget, going pointless. He did make the scoresheet – with four fouls.
Terrence Ross could not shake free of Henderson’s defensive blanket, and made one lonely hoop.
Let’s hope the Raptors make a better defensive effort on Sunday. James Harden leads his Houston Rockets to town. The Beard is certainly capable of a huge night. Will we see Norman starting once again?