TORONTO — There are all kinds of ways to win a basketball game, and it seems that in the extended science experiment entitled “What would happen if you took Kyle Lowry out of the lineup for nearly a quarter of the season,” the Toronto Raptors have toyed with just about all of them.
They’ve been rescued by DeMar DeRozan’s more-than-passable Kobe Bryant impersonation multiple times. At times, they’ve defended like the second coming of the 1990s-era New York Knicks. But recently they’ve tried this crazy thing known as “passing.”
Toronto’s 113-105 win over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers Sunday night at the Air Canada Centre was the Raptors’ eighth win in their past nine games, but the fifth straight game with at least 22 assists.
It may not sound like a huge deal; the Golden State Warriors, who lead the NBA with 30 assists a game, sometimes deal out 22 helps by half-time. But for the Raptors, who have had a huge dollop of success allowing many of their possessions to end up with DeRozan or Lowry taking their man one-on-one, cracking 22 assists matters.
They average just 18 a game, last in the NBA, but when they count 22 or more Toronto is 13-5 on the season. On Sunday they racked up 25 assists, just three off their season-high of 28.
Leading the way? DeRozan, who found his teammates for a season high-tying nine assists to go along with his 17 points, a tidy bit of work in just 31 minutes as Raptors head coach Dwane Casey was able to rest his starters in the fourth quarter against the undermanned 76ers.
“He’s doing a good job of finding outlets and finding cutters and more or less being prepared to make the pass,” Casey said of his leading scorer before the game. “He’s a willing passer now more so than he was. Willing is the wrong word, but he’s a ready passer. He’s ready go get off of it and not wait until the trap engulfs him before he makes the pass. That’s his major nuance, the change he’s made, passing out of the double team.”
DeRozan has averaged 4.5 assists since the all-star break, a modest uptick on the 3.8 he was recording before the break, but when you factor in the additional scoring load he’s had to carry at times, it’s not to be scoffed at.
Without Lowry, the Raptors don’t have a lot of players who can create their own shot. That the likes of DeMarre Carroll (10 points on seven shots) and Serge Ibaka (24 points on 17 shots after missing his first five of the game) and Jonas Valanciunas (14 points on nine shots) can all thrive reflects offence being created on their behalf, to a certain extent.
You would never wish for the Raptors to miss Lowry for so many games, but now that Toronto has clearly weathered the storm, you can see some benefits. One is some growth in DeRozan’s game and the other is a greater sense of responsibility for playmaking throughout the roster.
The win improved Toronto’s record to 47-30, with games left to win 50 for only the second time in franchise history. Remarkably, they are now 15-6 without Lowry in the lineup.
The Raptors took a 59-49 lead into the half over the not-quite-as-lowly-as-they-used-to-be 76ers. Even at 28 wins, Philadelphia has recorded an 18-win improvement over a year ago. The Raptors held the lead at 10 through a desultory third quarter before Casey trusted his bench to finish it. Toronto held Philadelphia to 45 per cent shooting, while completing 54 per cent of their own field goals.
The game represented a bit of a trap. Too often this season Toronto has faltered against sub-.500 teams, especially at home, where they’ve dropped games to lottery-bound Sacramento, Phoenix and Orlando.
In addition to moving the ball, one focus for the Raptors was getting better starts. The Raptors rank 20th in the NBA in first-quarter point differential since the all-star break at minus-1.8 compared to the 15th-ranked plus-0.8 they had before the break.
“That’s kind of been our M.O.,” said Casey. “Look at the first quarters, it’s been difficult cracking the whip and cracking the chains. … I wouldn’t say it’s not playing hard. It’s just a rhythm offensively in the first quarter and establishing that quicker than we normally do.”
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Helping that regard was some positive signs from Carroll, who needs the ball to move in order to thrive. It’s been a less-than-ideal couple of seasons for the 2015 free agent. It seems like every time he shows some signs of falling into a consistent groove, Carroll will fall victim to some kind of injury, be it a broken finger, sprained ankle, strained neck or — most recently — a stiff back triggered by a hard fall against the Miami Heat.
Carroll generates more than his share of groans from Raptors fans at the Air Canada Centre when he clangs a wide-open triple or one of his attempts to create off the dribble ends up going sideways. But when he’s playing well, Carroll contributes to the Raptors’ success. Toronto is 21-9 when he scores 10 points or more and 14-5 when he attempts at least six three-pointers a game.
He came out determined in the first quarter by getting five shots up — three of them triples, making one — but even his seven first-quarter points couldn’t lift the Raptors, who trailed by one after 12 minutes.
But Toronto began to separate itself in the second quarter as the Raps held Philadelphia to just 5-of-19 shooting and was able to open a 10-point halftime lead. Ibaka led all scorers with 18 points in the first 24 minutes, but Carroll chipped in with 10, taking advantage of a longer leash with P.J. Tucker taking the night off to rest a sore left knee.
Of course, the 76ers should be easy pickings. Under the guidance of former Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo, Philadelphia was showing some signs benefitting from the most ambitious tank job in NBA history. The last time these two teams met, Philadelphia handled a then-struggling Raptors club. It was their seventh win nine games, part of a 10-5 month of January.
The Sixers have since lost Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor and Robert Covington for the season and traded Nerlens Noel. On Sunday night they had one remaining starter from the last time they played the Raptors.
“That seems like a very long time ago,” said Sixers head coach Brett Brown.
A lot has happened to the Raptors, too. But they’re still standing — thriving even — finding different ways to win.
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