WHILE YOU WEREN’T LOOKING
Iwundu performs a little Magic, but Raptors pull win out of their hats
One of Dwane Casey’s constant messages this NBA season is that the Toronto Raptors are not good enough to take any team lightly, regardless of record or personnel or recent fortunes.
The message is often met with a dose of skepticism but Wednesday night proved everything the coach has said was right.
Facing a team that has a chance to post the worst record in the NBA this season, the Raptors needed a strong fourth quarter to ultimately subdue the Orlando Magic 117-104.
The Raptors, completing a 9-2 February that was one of the best months in franchise history, finally buckled down to force 10 Orlando misses on the Magic’s first 12 shots of the final quarter to earn the victory.
The energetic and athletic frontcourt of Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam helped Toronto pull away and, at 43-17, retain first place in the Eastern Conference.
Poeltl finished with 13 points and eight rebounds and Siakam had 14 points as their athleticism was the difference down the stretch. Toronto led by just one point after three quarters before putting the game away.
DeMar DeRozan had 21 points and Kyle Lowry 19 for the Raptors. Evan Fournier and Mario Herzonja had 17 each for Orlando.
The Raptors played without rookie starter OG Anunoby for the second half after he suffered a sprained right ankle finishing a three-point play late in the second quarter.
His spot in the starting lineup went to Norm Powell, who struggled to have any impact on the game in his 10 scoreless minutes of playing time.
The Raptors played one of their worst halves defensively — the two teams combined for 79 points in the first quarter alone — but Toronto led 69-63 at the break. The Magic shot 56 per cent from the field in the first half, making five of nine three-pointers, and stayed in the game against a Toronto offence that was working near peak efficiency.
Jakob Poeltl was pressed into action earlier than usual when starter Jonas Valanciunas got a second personal foul inside six minutes and had to sit down. Poeltl responded with four straight field goals to help the Raptors stay ahead.
Lowry made all three of his threepoint attempts in the first half as Toronto shot 64 per cent from the field. Get analysis of Wednesday’s RaptorsMagic game and more on Doug Smith’s blog at thestar.com.