HOME HEATING
Raptors knock off Hawks 111-98 for 11th straight ACC victory
Dennis Schroder of the Hawks tries to draw a charge, but Raptor Fred VanVleet kept it clean on a night when Toronto only made it to the free-throw line eight times — yet still won handily with 13 three-pointers. Doug Smith’s report,
If anyone’s going to yell at the Raptors, it’s going to be Dwane Casey.
And if anyone else tries, they’re going to have to answer to the team’s head coach.
Casey got into a bit of a verbal tussle with Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer at the end of Toronto’s easy 111-98 win at the Air Canada Centre, while defending OG Anunoby.
The Raptors rookie had made a steal and followed it with a dunk with about17 seconds left in the game, and Budenholzer had some words for him afterwards because he thought Anunoby should have dribbled out the clock. That’s when Casey got involved. “I’m a coach’s coach. I love coaches, but one thing I don’t want you to do is say something to my players,” Casey said.
“I don’t know what was said exactly, but he was upset because the kid stole the ball and went for a layup.
“I understand the situation. We weren’t trying to run the score up. They were trying to score and we were trying to play defence. His instincts stole the ball. There was no intent.”
Anunoby didn’t seem at all flustered by what he’d done or what had happened.
“He said some words,” Anunoby re- calls of Budenholzer’s chat. “I don’t remember exactly what . . . I was just playing.”
That little incident — and it wasn’t huge — was about the only fireworks on a rather one-sided night as the Raptors bounced back from two road losses this week with their 11th straight home victory.
With nine players making at least one three-pointer, and all 11 who got in the game scoring at least one basket, it was the kind of offensive diversity Casey has been craving and was missing in losses at Dallas and Oklahoma City.
“It’s always great to bounce back . . . especially after two on the road, to come back home and get back to moving things and getting that feeling of winning back,” said DeMar DeRozan, who led Toronto with 25 points. “It sucks to lose. It sucks. It’s good to come here at home to get a win.”
It was the second time in franchise history that nine different players had made threes in a game.
The first was last month on a night when the Raptors were slaughtered in Denver.
“It opens up driving lanes, it opens up back cuts, it opens up a lot of things,” Casey said of the three-point variety. “When you make shots and make threes, you really space out the defence. Everything’s open if you do that, and I thought our guys did a good job of taking what the defence gave them tonight.”
Most important, the Raptors put to rest any lingering issues from the last two losses, when they just hadn’t played like they normally do. It didn’t take a stunning basketball IQ to figure out what they had to do better.
Jonas Valanciunas had 13 points and 11 rebounds, but watched the end of the game from the bench after banging his leg early in the game.
“He got kneed on a screen. A guy was coming off a screen,” Casey said. “It wasn’t a dirty play. Guy kneed him in the thigh. He’s OK.”
Delon Wright finished with 13 points and a season-high seven rebounds, energizing the second unit most of the night.