Raptors chill out hot Hawks
“When you guys bring up things that I’ve done here, reality really hits me honestly, because you really don’t think about all of the things you’ve done or things you’ve accomplished.” Even head coach Dwane Casey, who lives always with one eye on the big development picture, knew the significance of the number.
“For our organization, for the program we’re growing, I think it’s a good step for us,” he said. “I told the team we’re not done yet but it’s an accomplishment they can’t take away from you. We have to continue to grow and get better in different areas to fry the bigger fish.”
“I told the team we’re not done yet but it’s an accomplishment they can’t take away from you.” RAPTORS COACH DWANE CASEY ON TEAM’S MILESTONE 50TH WIN
Lowry, who wore a compression sleeve on his sore right elbow until the final six minutes, finished with 17 points and 11 assists but struggled mightily with his shooting, finishing 4-for-19 from the floor.
“Our leader, our point guard, is fighting through it and not making one excuse,” DeRozan said of Lowry.
“Nobody else has any excuse. If you’re out there and have your jersey on, you’ve got to give it all you have. I’m the only person who can pick on him and tell him there’s nothing wrong with him.” The Hawks had won 14 of 17 games before Wednesday and boasted the league’s best defence since February’s all-star break but could get nothing going.
Coach Mike Budenholzer benched four of his starters down the stretch, giving his team a momentary spark but it was not sustainable.
Jeff Teague led Atlanta with 18 points, but no other starter was in double figures. DeRozan led Toronto with 26 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 19 before fouling out with 1:20 left as he dominated in the paint.
It was a difficult and unusual night for Valanciunas because of the unique way the Hawks use their big men, all of whom are able to step out and take three-pointers.
But Valanciunas didn’t have much difficulty with the assignment and he punished Atlanta at the other end.
“When you’re getting that, that’s when you can play big versus small,” Casey said. “If he’s not locked in on that end, you’ve got to get him out. He did a great job on the offensive end punishing them in the paint.
“He did a lot of different things offensively so you could live with them spacing him out, shooting threes.”