RAPTORS DROP FOURTH STRAIGHT
Late charge falls short against Charlotte as team continues to struggle without injured star DeMar DeRozan,
Following a disappointing 103-95 loss to the Charlotte Hornets at the Air Canada Centre on Thursday, a disappointed, frustrated Raptors coach Dwane Casey said that changes to his starting lineup may have to be made.
Consider that the only starter with more than 22 minutes played was guard Kyle Lowry and that in the fourth quarter, a healthy centre Jonas Valanciunas and forward Landry Fields did not play.
“It’s been the last couple of games,” Casey said of his decision to look for chang- es. “I don’t know if it’s the lull of the season coming back from the west coast trip. I don’t know what it is. But we have to find 7-8 guys that are interested in competing at that high level.”
The loss was the Raptors’ fourth in a row, including the final three games of a six-game trip that started before Christmas. In the first and third quarters, with the starting five players on the floor to begin both, the Raptors were outscored 56-27. There were four bench players, including forward Patrick Patterson, with more minutes than four starters.
“The lack of intensity, lack of focus, lack of will out there was just as baffling to me as to anybody else on this team,” Patterson said, moving on from there to the post-game mood among the players. “Just frustration, disappointment, anger. Everyone’s just frustrated with the way we’re playing right now. It’s not like we’re not trying, that’s the thing. It’s not like we’re giving up.”
Entering the game, the Raptors had every reason to feel optimistic about their chances of endinga mini-threegame skid. They had returned to the ACC after an extended road trip, with three full days off following their final game in Phoenix. Casey had been upbeat on Wednesday about the homestand. But then came this debacle and even though the Raptors made it close late, they couldn’t seal the deal.
“I wouldn’t say disappointing,” Casey said, measuring his words. “You’re disappointed when you don’t have the energy, when you’re flat. Again, I don’t think it’s the guys from lack of trying or working. You hit lulls in the season and we’re in a lull right now.
“We were flat as a pancake in Phoenix and we came back here and had two really good days of practice, I thought. Energy, talking defensively, drills. For whatever reason we came out to start the game, start the third quarter flat. I don’t want to diminish what the second unit did. They came in and gave us energy. But, again, we have to get another group of guys to start the game to do that.”
Yes, they had been anticipating a possible return for all-star DeMar DeRozan but Casey has always refused to use that as an excuse. It’s always been next man up.
“Tonight we sucked as a team and we have to figure it out soon,” Lowry said. “It happens. It’s a long season and I don’t even know how many games we have played. We could possibly run off 10 (wins) in a row and this four-game losing streak will be forgotten.”
Lowry was his usual solid self, with 24 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, but was outshone by the high-octane performance of Hornets guard Kemba Walker, who had 29 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals in 41 minutes. His backcourt mate, Gerald Henderson had 31 points, giving the Hornets guard duo 60 for the contest.
“We took the shots that were open,” Walker said. “We made some big plays, especially Gerald. He was unbelievable tonight. We really need that push from him and he gave it to us.”
The Raptors put on a late charge after trailing by as many as 15 points, pulling to within four with 42 seconds left, without a true big man on the floor in the entire fourth quarter. But Walker sunk a dagger from the corner with 19 seconds left.
“As you see, no matter what the score is we’re going to continue to battle and play hard, but it just seems that things aren’t working for us,” Patterson said of the makeshift lineup that was on the court at the end of the game. “It seems like we’re in a hole and we’re trying to climb out right now.”
One big man who will be glad to see the return of DeRozan to the lineup (likely sometime next week) is Valanciunas. The starting centre sat the final 18 minutes against the Hornets. With DeRozan missing in action for the past19 games, nursing a left groin injury, the Raptors have been forced into a more uptempo offence led by Lowry. The result of the faster pace is more scoring, but also 100-plus points allowed in 14 of 19 games.
“We miss DeMar,” Valanciunas had said, after watching DeRozan complete another practice session then decide he needed more time.
DeRozan’s return will help out the defence by allowing the Raptors to slow down the offence and control the ball for more of the game, Casey refuses to accelerate the process of bringing DeRozan back. In the meantime, look for Patterson and maybe Tyler Hansbrough and Lou Williams to get a chance to start on Saturday against the Celtics.