Balanced attack leads Raptors
TORONTO Barely a quarter of the way into their season of sharing the ball more, the Toronto Raptors are having success.
Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan scored 20 points apiece in the Raptors’ 126-113 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, Toronto’s fourth consecutive win.
But more telling was the fact seven Raptors scored in double figures. And Toronto, which made a goal of amping up its ball movement this season, had 30 assists — the 10th time they’ve surpassed 25 assists this season, a feat they only achieved nine times all of last season.
“It makes it a lot easier, which makes it a lot more fun,” DeRozan said. “Everybody gets a chance to touch the ball, you don’t necessarily got to work so hard. Everybody gets a feel for the ball, everybody gets to make the next decision for your teammate, and with that, we still miss a lot of shots, but it’s something we’re still learning and something we’re still trying to get better at every time we practise, every time we play.”
Serge Ibaka finished with 19 points, rookie OG Anunoby tied his career high of 16 — including four three-pointers, C.J. Miles added 15, and Jakob Poeltl and Fred VanVleet scored 13 each.
Lowry had 10 assists on the night, while DeRozan had eight.
“When you’re making shots, it’s good, and the confidence we all have in each other to take shots and to give the opportunity to shoot the ball and we don’t care, it’s always good,” Lowry said. “As long as we keep the confidence going and make plays, we’re all going to look good, we’re always going to have the high-assist games.”
For the first time in Raptors history, the team allowed zero offensive rebounds.
Devin Booker had 19 points to top Jay Triano’s Suns (9-17), but left the game with a strained adductor (groin) with about three minutes left to play.