Raptors spurred on by latest opponent
Finally, Dwane Casey must have thought. Finally.
He had been beseeching his Raptors for a 48-minute effort all season, not complete perfection but just consistent hard play from opening tip until final buzzer.
He got as close as he might get Wednesday night.
Shredding the NBA’s top defence for 58 per cent shooting from the field and making key plays at both ends in the dying seconds of a close game, the Raptors stunned the San Antonio Spurs 97-94 before another sold-out house at the Air Canada Centre.
“We played consistent throughout the game, from the start to the finish,” DeMar DeRozan said after a masterful 28-point performance.
“We knew they were going to make a push, we stayed disciplined. They hit a couple of big shots, but we didn’t let that rattle us. I’m happy we played a 48-minute game.”
DeRozan was critical to the success as the Spurs frantically tried to steal a game after trailing from the start.
Capping perhaps his best game of the season, DeRozan scooped up an offensive rebound off a Kyle Lowry miss with Toronto ahead by just three points with about eight seconds left.
The Raptors drew a foul, inbounded with a brilliant play to free Lowry in the backcourt and the Spurs couldn’t catch him to foul him as he ran out the clock.
But in the topsy-turvy world of the Raptors, where they have a galling propensity to play down to the level of bad opposition and up to the level of good teams, the victory won’t matter if they give it right back.
And with two supposedly weaker teams coming into town — Milwaukee on Friday and Philadelphia on Sunday — the celebration of Wednesday’s win lasted about five minutes before the warning about what’s ahead was issued.
“This is all about the big picture,” Casey said. “We have to be consistent, let’s not do this tonight and turn around Friday night and give it right back.
“We have to build a consistent identity of playing this way if we’re serious about doing anything. We can be up and down and get happy on the farm and do all this one night and come back and lay an egg the next night. We have to make sure we tend to our business and keep this same concentration, execution, the next game.”
To be sure, the Spur weren’t themselves, getting precious little from their starting five. Kawhi Leonard, still suffering the effects of a stomach ailment, had just nine points, Tim Duncan and Danny Green eight each and Tony Parker only four.
But for a while, it looked like the Spurs were going to be the Spurs when it counted most. They made a series of big plays down the stretch and if DeRozan hadn’t scooped the Lowry miss, San Antonio would have had a shot to tie.
“They will always be in games,” Luis Scola said after a 16-point, eight-rebound outing. “It’s very hard to run away from them. That’s the reason why they win so many games. They hang around, hang around and then they make a run, they make a play and then they win.”
Except they didn’t Wednesday and there was no huge mystery to it.
“(The Raptors) played well, give them credit,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “It’s not a certain play or any new thing that happened. They played sharper than we did and I thought they were more aggressive than we were.”
Lowry had 19 points and eight rebounds as Toronto’s backcourt widely outplayed Tony Parker and Danny Green. Manu Ginobili had 17 points for San Antonio.