RAPTORS ROLL
Led by DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, with 22 points each, Toronto blows past the Knicks 107-84,
Norm Powell, the starting small forward, misses another game with a bum right hip. Serge Ibaka, the starting power forward, is unavailable because of a troublesome left knee.
What’s Raptors coach Dwane Casey to do?
Reach into the rather full tool box that team president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster have provided for him and find a couple of long, energetic kids who are more than capable of filling in.
Spot starters OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam provided the kind of athletic, multi-faceted defence the Raptors needed, moving from the bench to the starting lineup without any significant change in the Raptors’ fortunes in a 107-84 Toronto win over the New York Knicks on Friday night.
While it helped immensely that the all-star duo of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry combined for 44 points and 17 assists, it was the ability of Casey to plumb the depths of the team’s depth that was the difference.
Anunoby played nearly 30 minutes while Siakam and Lucas Nogueira defended New York’s Kristaps Porzingis as well as any duo has this season, rewarding Casey’s faith in them when the Raptors were at full strength.
Porzingis, averaging 29.5 points per game coming into the contest, missed 10 of his 13 field goal attempts and finished with just 13 points.
“They did a great job, man,” DeRozan said of the two defenders. “There’s so much you could say about them, but they always step up to the challenge, no matter who it’s against. Last game it was DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis, now it’s Porzingis.”
Siakam also added 13 points and Anunoby had 11, an offensive bonus Casey appreciates.
“Making their shots is huge, it takes the pressure (off the key offensive players) and it builds an area of trust, a level of trust from DeMar and Kyle and the older guys making a pass,” Casey said. “That’s what you’ve got to have, that trust factor is huge. I think we’re getting it.”
Lowry had 22 points and 10 assists and DeRozan had 22 and seven as the Raptors shot 56 per cent from the field.
“I think Kyle’s getting it back, you see the bounce in his step, the rhythm of his shot is coming back,” Casey said. “DeMar is doing a good job of quarterbacking.”
The Raptors were without Delon Wright (shoulder) as well as Powell and Ibaka, but all those nights of running 12-man rotations paid off because all Casey had to do was extend minutes of players who were already getting on the court every night. Anunoby, Siakam, Fred VanVleet, Nogueira and Jakob Poeltl have all played substantially.
“I have all the confidence in the world with our second unit, young guys,” Casey said. “I have confidence they’re gonna play well and I have confidence they’re not gonna play well at times. One thing that can’t be a question and hasn’t been a question is their energy and effort. (They) infuse energy into the game.”
Wright will have his shoulder looked at by physicians in New York when the Raptors are there for a game at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Powell missed his third straight game but is getting over a hip pointer. Ibaka has now missed two games this season with swelling in his knee.
While the young backups performed admirably Friday night and have generally been good all year, the long-term impact has to be taken into consideration. Casey has made it point to reduce the early-season load on both Lowry and DeRozan, and used Wright at both guard positions most nights to help make that happen.
And though Toronto recalled a third point guard in Lorenzo Brown from the Raptors 905 and threw him right into the fray with 10 first-half minutes against the Knicks, Casey knows that Lowry’s workload will have to increase as long as Wright is out.