Walker stings Raptors in fourth
Six-game winning streak comes to end against the Hornets
Lucky seven wasn’t meant to be.
With Kyle Lowry out a full month and just now starting to shoot again with his repaired right wrist, the Raptors were looking to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven against a team that has been struggling.
On paper the odds looked good. The Charlotte Hornets proved games are not played on paper.
This one was there for the taking until Charlotte’s Kemba Walker firmly put his imprint on the game in the fourth quarter.
Through three, he had been a very quiet 3-for-18 from the field for just eight points as Raptors guard Cory Joseph hounded him every time he touched the ball.
But Walker found his shooting touch and, with an 11-point fourth, paved the way for the Hornets to get out of Toronto with a win.
Walker finished with 19 points and Marvin Williams added 18 in the Hornets’ 110-106 victory, spurred by a fourth-quarter flurry which saw the Hornets outscore the Raptors 44-32.
Up to that point, it looked like the Raptors were well on their way to a seventh straight.
With Toronto’s starters back on the floor and the defence dialed up a few notches, the Raps held Charlotte to just 16 points in the third period while all five starters took turns doing damage. The Raptors led by eight after three.
The Hornets proved they weren’t done, and just four minutes into the fourth, they erased the Raptors’ lead. It was back and forth from that point on until Walker took control.
DeMar DeRozan had a gamehigh 28 points while Joseph contributed 18. Serge Ibaka added 15 and Jonas Valanciunas had 14.
These Lowry-less Raptors are a tough bunch to get a handle on.
One game they’re lights out defensively. The next they forego the defence and try to outscore the opponent. Last night there were stretches of both superior defence and offence in the third, but they had no answer for the Hornets at the three-point line.
When Lowry returns, things should even out. But even then there’s going to be a period of adjustment.
In a perfect world, Lowry comes back with three or four games before the end of the regular season to get re-acclimated.
Plenty has changed since Lowry had his wrist surgery at the end of February, beginning with the arrival of both Ibaka and P.J. Tucker. There is a definite need for at least some regular season time to get comfortable with the newcomers.
“You have a guy like Serge who can space the floor and do different things than (Kyle) is normally used to,” Casey said. “Usually it’s Pat (Patterson) but Serge brings a different dimension to the offence, different dimension defensively, and so does P.J. So it will be a combination of (getting used to) both.”
The Raptors came into the evening with a chance to clinch home court for the first round but needed both a win at home and an Atlanta loss to Philadelphia. They got neither.
Next up are the struggling Indiana Pacers Friday night.