The Raptors won a game they badly needed against the Mavericks with strong defense and some timely shotmaking.
The Toronto Raptors, coming off a losing road trip, were not in a position to donate a win to the Dallas Mavericks. Instead, the home team played perhaps its best game since Kyle Lowry went on the shelf. Despite receiving no points from Serge Ibaka, the Raptors took an early lead, defended well, and never allowed the visitors to rally.
DeMar DeRozan missed his first few shots, but not many after that. He provided a game-high 25 points on 17 shots, which included a 3-ball. The Raptors made 9 of 25 from beyond the arc, or 36%, which shouldn’t excite the pulse but does after their recent futility. Patrick Patterson, a man in serious need of regaining his stroke, hit 3 of 5.
Mavericks out of sorts?
I expected more from the Mavs. They are trying to mount a late charge for a playoff berth, but looked disjointed. Dirk Nowitzki flew into a rage on several occasions, and not at the referees. He took himself off the court after one tirade – who’s he mad at? In particular, Dallas had an opportunity early in Q4, when the Raptors’ offense cratered, to claw back into the match. Instead, they were even frostier, and didn’t make a bucket until almost 5 minutes had past. That cut the Raptors margin to 16, and was as close as the uninterested Mavs would come.
Following the recent pattern, Jonas Valanciunas received his share of interior passes early, and took advantage. Nowitzki was never a great defender, and at his age had little chance at slowing down our mobile centre. JV nearly had a double-double by halftime, and did achieve it in Q3. Completing the pattern, JV sat the entire last quarter.
Cory Joseph didn’t enjoy much burn either. I thought he was respectable, and hope he wasn’t being punished by coach Dwane Casey. Fred VanVleet and Delon Wright played almost as many minutes as our for-now #1 point guard. Delon is getting his points from inside and out, which I always like. As he’s wont to do, he overdribbled several times. Though that’s better than a turnover, he needs to release the ball more quickly.
DeRozan didn’t have that problem when the Mavs doubled him on the perimeter. He’s getting more comfortable in that ticklish situation, and is finding his mates with relative ease. The Raptors haven’t been taking advantage of the odd-man situations being created as a result, and last night, unfortunately, continued that trend.
Finding ways to help
While Ibaka’s scoring was non-existent, he’s a smart guy. Knowing his form was off, he concentrated on defense, blocking a pair of shots and grabbing 7 D-boards.
Norman Powell enjoyed this game. He’s yet another one whose stroke has been errant, but he poured in 19 points on 6 of 8 shooting, including a pair of treys. His two free throws with 20 seconds remaining brought a huge cheer from the sell-out (again) crowd, as hitting the century means free pizza slices today. Oh joy.
The Raptors face the OKC Thunder at the Air Canada Centre on Thursday.