Raptors’ starters cut down the Nets
Somewhere between a win in Memphis and a return to the friendly confines of the Air Canada Centre after three more games out west, the Toronto Raptors’ second unit lost its mojo.
Fortunately, that loss coincided with Toronto’s starting five finding its own and, even with the reserves continuing to struggle, one unit operating on all cylinders was enough to do the expected and take care of a game but overmatched Brooklyn Nets squad.
The 120- 87 final was a point off the largest margin of victory by the Raptors this season and was boosted by a fourth quarter in which coach Dwane Casey got plenty of jump from the least used players on his bench.
Playing into the lack of cohesion for that second unit early on last night was the absence of C. J. Miles, out with left shoulder soreness and the return of Delon Wright, who hasn’t played since dislocating his shoulder Nov. 15 in New Orleans.
Both the return of Wright and the loss of Miles meant some adjustment, but the issues the reserves were having started before any of that happened. It’s only been a week since we were singing the second unit’s praises. And that unit had been good for a long while before that, so it would be premature to get too worked up about a minislump.
“Everybody’s ( been) making a big deal about the second unit now, but for me and our coaching staff, we expected it,” Casey said of the up and down nature of a group of mostly young players. “It’s hard for young players to come in this league, especially on the road, to play at a high level and be as efficient as they’ve been. They’ve been playing at a high level. It’s up to us to let ‘ em play through it, try to help him by sprinkling in some veteran players. We did that a little bit in Phoenix to help ’ em out a little bit, but again, it’s not unexpected, and I don’t think we should call it the Titanic or anything like that, and panic ... We’re not panicking.”
The bench played a little more than half of that second quarter without a starter on the floor and a 30- 20 lead became a 40- 39 deficit before the starters returned and brought order back into the game. Toronto’s starting five were particularly stingy on this night, holding a Nets starting five that was without both DeMarre Carroll ( rest) and starting point guard D’Angelo Russell ( left knee surgery) to just 26 points combined, which was five less than DeRozan scored in three quarters as he did not see the floor in the fourth.
Kyle Lowry would not match DeRozan in the scoring department, but he did eke out a couple of extra minutes in order to record the 11th triple- double of his career and ninth in a Raptors’ uniform.
Two minutes i nto the fourth quarter, Lowry was stuck on 10 points, 12 rebounds and needed just one rebound to get that triple double. He got it on a Lowry- esque offensive board in among the giants to complete the triple double. He then smartly committed a foul to get off the floor and prevent any chance of getting hurt in a game that was decided midway through the third quarter.
Four of the five Raptors starters were in double figures in scoring, with Serge Ibaka continuing to show that level of comfort he has been playing with for the better part of two weeks with an 18-point night to go along with eight boards.
Lost in the Raptors’ domination of the Nets was a fine debut with Brooklyn for Mississauga native Nik Stauskas, who was acquired along with Jahlil Okafor and a secondround pick a week ago from Philadelphia f or Trevor Booker. Stauskas played 27 minutes and had a Nets high 20 points on 5-of-7 shooting from distance.
The Raptors will now have a day to get ready for the Sacramento Kings, who are in Toronto for a Sunday afternoon tilt. Tipoff is 3:30 p.m.