No rust for Raptors
DeRozan scores career-high 43 points as Toronto beats Boston in debut for Ibaka
TORONTO — Toughness was what Masai Ujiri saw in Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker.
And the two new Raptors certainly delivered Friday.
On a night DeMar DeRozan scored a careerhigh 43 points — prompting serenades of “M-V-P!” — Ibaka and Tucker earned rave reviews in their Raptors debuts, a thrilling, knock ‘em down, drag ‘em out 107-97 victory over the Boston Celtics.
“That type of physical play, that’s what this league is about,” a pleased coach Dwane Casey said. “The way we competed down the stretch with that group, that’s the physicality we have to play (with) against a very high-powered offensive team like Boston and everybody else we play.
“It’s not a finesse game, it’s not pretty, we knew it was going to be a grind it out game, down 17 and nothing but grit and grime and hard work and want-to is what that’s about out.”
Ibaka scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Tucker finished with a team-high 10 rebounds — including two huge ones in the final minute-and-a-half — plus nine points to lift a retooled Raptors team that was missing Kyle Lowry.
“We’ve got so many weapons and so many possibilities,” Tucker said. “Defensively, I think we can really wreak havoc. That last lineup we had, and then you throw Kyle in there, we can really do some things and be special.
“We haven’t practised. I didn’t shootaround. I didn’t do anything. To see the chemistry we had, me and Serge didn’t know any plays. We were just kind of playing. It was a feel. We were working through it and talking.”
Cory Joseph and Patrick Patterson added 11 points apiece for Toronto (34-24).
Isaiah Thomas led Boston (37-21) with 20 points.
Tucker, who was originally drafted by Toronto in 2006, was playing his first game as a Raptor in about a decade, and on virtually no sleep. Acquired at Thursday’s trade deadline, he didn’t arrive in town until 9:30 Friday morning.
“I am extremely tired and excited to get some sleep. Extremely excited,” Tucker said. “I was really excited to get here. Once I got here, the plan was not to play. But once you see guys, and coach called me in during shoot-around and was like ‘You playing?’ I couldn’t look at everyone and be like: I’m not playing.
“I haven’t missed a game in a long time, so I wasn’t planning on missing today.”
The Raptors were among the busier teams at the trade deadline, shipping Terrence Ross to Orlando for Ibaka, then acquiring Tucker from Phoenix, much to the relief of Raptors fans who watched helplessly as the team plummetted down the Eastern Conference standings in recent weeks.