HOCUS POCUS
Without DeRozan and VanVleet, Raps pull rabbit out of hat with win over Magic
ORLANDO — It was just another night at the office for the Raptors, a team that comes up with different lineups to close out games.
People have seen Kyle Lowry step up in big moments, but normally DeMar DeRozan is riding shotgun with at least one other starter on the floor.
But Dwane Casey has such a feel for this team and what’s required that he’s not afraid to put anyone on the floor when a game is on the line.
Tuesday night was the latest example as Lowry was the only starter on the floor when the Raptors finally found their game — and their sense of desperation and urgency.
Toronto’s 93-86 win was its ninth straight on the road. Now the Raps have a chance to set a franchise record for consecutive away wins if they can go into Cleveland on Wednesday and knock off LeBron James and the Cavs.
Against a more talented and seasoned team, the Raptors likely would not have prevailed on Tuesday, but Orlando is not good. The Raptors weren’t that good, either, until it really mattered, much like their performance in Brooklyn last week.
Lowry led all scorers with 25.
Toronto played without DeRozan (left thigh contusion) and Fred VanVleet (right hand contusion).
Without DeRozan, Toronto struggled when trying to create offence, held to only 16 points in the third quarter.
VanVleet has now missed two games in a row.
Whether it was Malcolm Miller starting or Lorenzo Brown getting minutes off the bench, it was a struggle for Toronto to find any consistent lineup that worked.
Brown took the place of VanVleet as Toronto had a three-guard look on the floor in the fourth, Brown playing with Delon Wright and Lowry, with Lucas Nogueira giving the Raptors good minutes and Pascal Siakam emerging as a presence.
The more this group played to end the game, the better it got.
“Mentally, we have to be sharp in these games,’’ said Casey. “We weren’t for three quarters, found a way in the fourth quarter. Somehow, some way, we’ve got to get our mental focus, our mental edge back. It’s a dead time of the year, which is no excuse, but we’ve got some dead heads and dead eyes that our out there trying to get it done.
“Our young guys came in, Lucas Nogueira came in and gave us a good night, Lorenzo Brown, our two-way player (he was called up from the Raptors 905), came in and gave us some good minutes. I thought they were really, really good. They came in and did their job.”
With 6:26 to play, Orlando held a 78-76 lead.
Toronto then made its biggest run of the game, limiting Orlando to one shot, running the floor, swinging the ball and making shots as the Raptors led 84-78 with 4:53 left.
It wasn’t exactly game over, but Toronto began to take control. For a team accustomed to scoring in excess of 100 points, they were at a premium on this night, with DeRozan unavailable.
Credit Lowry, whose threepoint shooting gave Toronto a 52-51 lead at intermission.
Down the stretch, he made big shot after big shot.
“Kyle is a smart player,’’ said Casey. “And they found a way, they found something that worked for us. Offensively, it wasn’t pretty, but we got it done, spread the floor. Lucas came in and did a good job of screening, catching and making plays, whether it was a pass out or getting to the rim.”
Casey went with Nogueira,
with Jonas Valanciunas and Jacob Poeltl each having offnights.
“It was a process of elimination,’’ admitted Casey. “Jacob was struggling, J.V. was struggling, so we had to have someone at the end there to come in and give us something, a presence, and Lucas did that. We’ve got to continue to look at him if he’s going to give us that spark because no minutes are guaranteed for anyone right now.”
The start to the second half was similar to how the night began — the Magic being aggressive, the Raptors far too passive and far too woeful on offence.
Orlando led by 10 points and took a 76-68 advantage into the final quarter.
Without DeRozan, the Raptors went with Miller at shooting guard, giving the Raptors two rookie starters.
In between the first and second quarters, the franchise paid tribute to Tracy McGrady, who entered the league straight out of school in 1997 when GM Isiah Thomas used Toronto’s first-round pick to take the high-flying teenager.