Green lifts Raptors
SINKS LAST-SECOND FADEAWAY JUMPER FOR THE WIN
Danny Green made a fadeaway jumper with less than a second remaining to lift the Toronto Raptors over the Orlando Magic 93-91 on Tuesday night.
Green caught Kyle Lowry’s inbound pass with 2.3 seconds left, pulled up on the left side of the lane and hit a jumper with 0.5 seconds remaining. Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic missed on a 67-foot heave as time expired.
Kawhi Leonard led Toronto with 18 points, and Pascal Siakam had 15. Serge Ibaka added 14 points and nine rebounds, and Green finished with 13.
Evan Fournier led the Magic with 27 points, 22 of them in the second half when he was about the only offence Orlando could generate. Aaron Gordon had 16 points, and Vucevic had 14 points and 18 rebounds for the Magic, who ended a three-game winning streak.
Fournier drove past Green for a tying dunk with 2.3 seconds left. The Raptors took a full timeout, and Green scored on the ensuing inbound.
Neither team had it going offensively for most of the game, especially in the fourth quarter.
The Magic missed 11 straight field-goal attempts in a 4-minute stretch early in the period. Their only points were two free throws from Jonathan Isaac, but the drought didn’t cost them much.
Toronto could only put together a 3-pointer from Green and a layup by Jonas Valanciunas during that stretch to take an 80-77 lead.
The teams traded baskets from there until Ibaka drilled a jumper from the top of the key to put Toronto in front 91-89.
Toronto led by 18 during a first half when both teams struggled to find or maintain an offensive rhythm. The Raptors made enough shots to jump out to a 40-22 advantage in the middle of the second quarter, as Orlando laboured under 30 per cent shooting.
The Magic finally got some rhythm and cut the deficit to 10 by halftime, then caught Toronto by the middle of the third.
Fournier started the second half with a 3-pointer, the first of six 3s in the period for the Magic. Another 3 from Fournier tied it at 59 with 5:05 left, and his free throw gave Orlando a 75-73 lead going into the fourth. Fournier had 14 points in the quarter.
Toronto improved to an NBA-best 14-4, though its streak of 20 straight games scoring at least 100 points came to an end.
T-ROSS RETURNS
Former Raptor Terrence Ross is thrilled to be back on the court for the Magic after missing all but 24 games due to a devastating knee injury last season. Ross has played well, averaging nearly 15 points a game on 49 per cent shooting over his previous 10 games and said before this one he was eager to drop some buckets on his former teammates.
“He’s playing well. His role is to come in and score,” Kyle Lowry said of his old pal.
“I think right now in this situation that’s what he’s suited for and it’s helping him and he’s showing his abilities to come off and be a scorer.”
SURGING MAGIC DRAW PRAISE
Orlando had won 7 of 9 heading into the game and was scoring at a high level, which captured the attention of the visiting Raptors.
“They’ve got a lot of pieces and a lot of them play fast in the half-court and up and down and D.J. Augustin has been playing really well,” said C.J. Miles, who is expected back in the lineup on Wednesday in Atlanta.
“They’re playing hard which is the biggest thing. You see the pace difference, the attention to detail that you didn’t see before. They’ve got onto a little run … It wasn’t about talent it was just about having everyone on one page and I think you’re seeing it,” Miles said.
Raptors coach Nick Nurse credited his counterpart, new Magic head coach Steve Clifford, for a lot of the turnaround.
“He’s obviously a very good coach. You watch them play and they’re super organized,” Nurse said.
“That organization shows itself in the team being tied together on both ends. They always come down and are in the right places on defence. There’s a plan there on defence and you can see it. Offensively, they’ve been great. They’re playing with incredible execution, pace and rhythm on the offensive end.”
AROUND THE RIM
With Leonard an almost sure scratch for the game in Atlanta, the Raptors held out Miles for one more game in order to preserve wing depth for Wednesday.