WE ACTUALLY BEAT A WINNING TEAM!

RAPTORS 109, MAVERICKS 108

The Toronto Raptors took an entertaining, hard-fought overtime win in Dallas to get the three-game road-trip (Dallas, Oklahoma City, San Antonio) off to a perfect start, and, for the first time this season, beat a team with a winning record. After trailing by 19 points early, Kyle Lowry led a huge rally in which the Raptors played some of their best tough basketball for the season.

 ASSORTED THOUGHTS

-The Raptors finally won a close game. Yes, it wasn’t textbook clutch basketball and the Mavs had a number of good chances to win the game, but, finally, the Raptors were able to steal a win. Again, this team showed intense fighting spirit, getting back in to a game that seemed totally lost.

-Kyle Lowry is just on fire right now. He controlled the Raptors all night, dictating the play and making big shots of his own. I would love for Kyle to stay in Toronto long term, he is the sort of player that a championship team needs. If he’s getting traded, pull the trigger soon, I’m not sure his value can get much higher than right now.

-I was mad at Coach Casey for the Charlotte game, where Jonas Valanciunas only got 23 minutes of court time. So, credit where it’s due, Casey seemingly learned from that mistake and let Jonas close the game out, and play all of overtime. And look, Coach; he delivered! Big double-double, efficient 8/13 shooting, how can you not watch this guy play and not see big potential? Sure, there were a few cases where he was slow to cover shots defensively and times where his man easily got to the rim, but he won’t be learning how to do better sitting on the bench.

-Demar DeRozan shot 6/18, yet found a number of ways to contribute to the victory. Particularly, 9 assists and a highlight-reel block were a big reason that the Raptors got the win. The driving jumper DeRozan hit to tie the game in the fourth will hopefully teach him a big lesson; long twos are not the answer late in games.

-I essentially can’t ever remember Toronto defense as good as it was to start the fourth quarter. Every guy was switched on and playing with high energy, forcing 4 early turnovers. That is exactly what Toronto fans need to see to be encouraged of the team's development; big-time defense in crucial situations.

-I’m not sold either way on Grievis Vasquez yet. He took questionable shots early in the game, then played intelligent ball to get the Raptors going to start the fourth. Shot selection and defending needs to improve, but I think I see good, solid potential in Grievis. 

PLAYER VOTES

3- KYLE LOWRY  (20pts, 7/16FGs, 6asts, 5rebs).  Paced the team beautifully to victory. Balled hard, and also intelligently, on both ends of the floor.

2- JONAS VALANCIUNAS (18pts, 8/13FGs, 13rebs). Great game from Jonas, as noted above. Also, 4 huge rebounds in overtime.

1-TERRENCE ROSS (15pts, 5/9FGs, 3/4 3PTs). The third quarter, particularly, from Terrence was terrific. Looked very comfortable shooting the right shots in rhythm. I wish he could have played down the stretch, hopefully that will come with time…

NEXT- 22 December at OKLAHOMA CITY.