Raptors’ rally falls just short against Magic
The Toronto Raptors were back to full health Sunday night but without the expected results.
It took the Raptors a little time to find their rhythm with DeMar DeRozan back in the fold and by the time they did, the deficit against the Orlando Magic proved too daunting.
Toronto managed to get what had been a 15- point deficit all the way down to two with 5.2 seconds left on the clock, but as is often the case when a team is required to expend that much energy just to get back in a game, the Raptors couldn’t finish it out, losing 114-113 for their sixth loss in seven games.
The critical juncture was the final 6:20 of the first half when the Magic outscored the Raptors 21-2 to close out the half.
The loss dropped Toronto a half game out of second place in the Eastern Conference with the Boston Celtics taking over the spot behind the first- place Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Magic rolled into Toronto having lost 10 of their past 12 and were without their leading scorer in Evan Fournier — but that didn’t seem to bother them. They came in shooting hot from the field and stayed that way almost all night, hitting at a 54 per cent clip overall.
Meanwhile, the Raptors were trying to work all- star DeRozan back into the lineup and suffered the expected pains associated with that.
DeRozan did play a teamhigh 17 minutes in the first half but, having been out three games after spraining his right ankle, was expectedly a little slow out of the gate.
He would wind up with a modest ( for him) 22 points but found other ways to contribute, with six assists and seven rebounds. His 6-for-18 effort from the field underlined the impact the time off had on him.
DeRozan played 37 minutes, second only to Kyle Lowry, who finished with a team- high 33 points and added eight assists and five rebounds to the cause.
Early on the Raptors had no answer for Magic centre Nikola Vucevic and later on couldn’t corral one- time Raptor guard turned Raptor killer D. J. Augustin.
Vucevic had 19 of his 25 points in the first half, after which his Raptors’ counterpart, Jonas Valanciunas, only saw limited action. It would have been more limited had Lucas Nogueira not committed his fifth foul late in the third quarter that pretty much ended his night.
Meanwhile, Augustin had 21 points in just 27 minutes off the bench, easily the most productive player from either bench.
Magic head coach Frank Vogel was clearly looking for something from his team in this one after calling them out in the pre- game. Vogel said there have been times this year when he questioned their effort. That message was delivered to the media pre-game but considering the way the Magic played, they already heard it.
The Magic had six different players in double figures compared to four for the Raptors.