NEW BEGINNINGS
DeMar DeRozan and Raptors crushed the Wizards Friday night to improve their record to 5-1, best start in team history,
The players were tired of hearing it, and the coaches were tired of saying it.
It was no secret that the Raptors, despite a gaudy record, had been slow to start games and it was a point that had been hammered home incessantly for about a week.
Wonder what they’ll harp about today?
With a blistering — for them — start to the game, the Raptors rolled to a 103-84 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night, running their season record to 5-1, the best start in franchise history.
With an announced sellout crowd of 19,800 more energized than usual for an early-season game, the Raptors jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first eight minutes and were never really threatened. It was in stark contrast to other starts to date, when Toronto regularly gave up 30 or more points in the opening quarter and had to fight back to win.
“We’re all trying to figure it out, but we need to stop it,” Raptor DeMar DeRozan had said Friday morning.
“We’re going to figure it out. We’re getting tired of it, too — at halftime, getting the speeches, us getting yelled at by (coach Dwane) Casey . . . we’ve got to get past it.”
They did, with solid defence — Washington shot less than 40 per cent from the field — and a typically explosive offence. DeRozan had a game-high 25 points on just 13 field-goal attempts, while Kyle Lowry had his first tripledouble of the season with 13 points, 11 rebounds and a 10th assist that came on a Patrick Patterson three-pointer with about a minute to go.
Terrence Ross, who had struggled in his first five games, finished with18 points and played his best game of the year.
It was fitting that the Raptors played a thorough game since they were performing in front of two members of the best team in franchise history. Alvin Williams and Antonio Davis, integral parts of the 2001 Eastern semifinalists, had courtside seats for the first of seven games at which the franchise will pay homage to 20 years of existence.
“It’s a great, great evening for our fans, for the tradition of our franchise, and I’m just very proud and very honoured to try to continue that tradition,” Casey said Friday morning. “I think it’s a great thing bringing guys back like Alvin and Antonio tonight (to) celebrate the history that they got started.
“Nothing is easy. Building the program to where it is now hasn’t been easy. But we’re definitely on the right track right now, and I think we owe that to guys like Alvin and Antonio and guys who came before.”
After a series of horrid starts this season, the Raptors came out and played defence as if they meant it. Washington missed its first eight shots and 10 of 11 as Toronto went ahead 22-8 after eight minutes. All the harping and yelling and teaching that Casey had done over the last few days apparently paid off.
“We keep cracking the whip, keep reminding them,” said Casey. “It is an issue. The numbers tell it out. We keep talking about it.”
It helped that the team was full, too. Amir Johnson returned after missing three games with a sore ankle to stabilize the interior defence, and Jonas Valanciunas, who missed a game with a sore hand, added some size to combat Marcin Gortat and Nene. That didn’t last all night, though. Johnson left early in the third quarter with recurring pain in his left ankle after six points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes. There was no immediate word on the severity of the pain. The Raptors are insisting they will be extra careful.
“We don’t want to risk their health this early in the season and if it’s even close, we’re not going to risk it,” Casey said.