The Raptors attempted to win their second game while resting an All-Star. They beat Orlando without DeMar DeRozan, but Kyle Lowry’s absence was too much.
The Toronto Raptors tried another scrambled lineup, this time against the Boston Celtics. While the first half was respectable enough, the offense fell through the ice and drowned in the second half. A strong defensive effort was wasted. I don’t know when an NBA game was won by a team which made 11 free throws (Toronto’s total) but I’d wager it’s been many years, if ever.
This dreary game was clear evidence, not that we needed any more, of how long and arduous the NBA season is. Both teams suffered through 24-second shot clock violations, dopey fouls (Marcus Smart chopped DeRozan with a tenth of a second left in Q3, and DD had barely crossed mid-court), travelling calls and air balls. So many mental mistakes are caused by fatigue.
Kyle Lowry sat this one out, although he dressed. Coach Dwane Casey displayed confidence in Cory Joseph, naming him as starter at the point. Unfortunately, Cory’s shot, like most Raptor tries on this night, went everywhere but in the hoop. He was a sad 4 of 16. CoJo had 4 assists and no turnovers.
The most maddening portion of this game occurred early in Q4. The Raptors were making a push, largely because the Celtics were missing everything they took. Of six free throws taken by Toronto, one went down. Despite that pitiful result, Toronto was within a point. Then Boston’s 6+ minutes stuck at 69 ended on a Smart layup, and the momentum was gone, not to return.
Boston defenders were doubling DeMar DeRozan almost every time he touched the ball. Had someone been making shots, DD would have been happy to pass out of the traps. Terrence Ross wasted a bunch of open looks, hitting one of six from beyond the arc.
Delon Wright played 20+ minutes, and potted a few nice buckets, but took a lot of off-balance shots. Zero assists as the point guard when Cory was sitting is hard to understand, although several passes were wasted by Raptors missing shots. Delon showed sound positioning and timing on the boards, pulling down 8. Oddly, he was the only Raptor to go positive, at plus-4.
Jonas Valanciunas re-entered the lineup at centre and displayed decent range, making a couple of mid-range jumpers. Bismack Biyombo played more minutes than our putative starter, and led his team with 13 rebounds. But surely we can expect some points in 27+ minutes on the floor.
Former Raptor Amir Johnson led all rebounders with 14, dished out 5 dimes, and hit all but one of his six shots. Tiny Isaiah Thomas torched the Raptors for 23 points, and the Celtics received secondary scoring from Evan Turner and Avery Bradley.
Our late-season pickup at power forward, Jason Thompson, had an impact with 10 boards. Luis Scola hit 3 long balls, but was otherwise invisible.
The Raptors learned they had officially backed into the playoffs when the Chicago Bulls were defeated by the Knicks(!). Our team has a day off before taking on Houston, then New Orleans on consecutive nights. Let’s hope nicked-up people like Patrick Patterson and Lowry are good to go.