Toronto Raptors: Whose stock is up/down, including Kyle Lowry’s resurgence
The Toronto Raptors bounced back from two tough losses by defeating Golden State and L.A. to start their four-game road trip. How did each player fare individually?
February 8th, 2004. The last time the Toronto Raptors won on the road against Golden State. A win on Wednesday night would bring an end to that abysmal run, but with Kawhi Leonard sidelined by a bruised hip for the second night in a row, it looked like that record might stand for another year. Ugh.
It seemed unlikely that the Raptors would be able to walk into the Oracle Arena, square off against a fully healthy Golden State team, and claim the victory. Even by the most narrow of margins, it seemed beyond the realms of possibility. If Doctor Strange went into the future to look at the millions of scenarios which could take place, he would find just one in which the Raptors would win.
That scenario is the 2018-19 Toronto Raptors. The only scenario that matters is this one.
Toronto played lockdown defense and made enough runs to hold off Golden State on Wednesday night, Fred defended Curry at an elite-level, and Kyle Lowry continued to play aggressive, fiery basketball. The slump which plagued Lowry looks to be over, more on that later though.
MOOSE WATCH IS BACK. This is not a drill. I repeat, THIS IS NOT A DRILL
Moose stepped up to the plate once JV left the game with, what is now being reported as, a dislocated thumb. And boy did he remind everyone how good he is in the post. Monroe had five points and five boards in a short seven-minute stint, and with JV out for the foreseeable future, Moose gives Nick Nurse another option to play at center, even if more small-ball line-ups would be welcomed.
The Raptors played the Clippers the night before, and it was a welcome chance to see the bench step up, Fred started in place of the resting Kawhi Leonard and delivered a game-high 14 assists while six other Raptors finished in double-digit points. A great way to end a poor run of form, the Raptors shook off their demons and bounced back with two blowouts.
In other news, the Raptors lost grueling games against the Bucks and the Nets. Two games they could have won, but poorly executed sequences at the end of games cost them dearly.
The Raptors still have an NBA-best 23-7 record and sit three and a half games ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers.
What about the players though? How did they fare?
Let’s find out.