The Toronto Raptors have played very well on their home court at the Air Canada Centre this season, with a record of 29-9 at home. Toronto was looking for their 30th home win of the season as they tipped off against the visiting Charlotte Hornets; another Eastern Conference playoff team looking to keep rising in the standings with their remaining games.
The Toronto Raptors got out to an early ten point lead on the Charlotte Hornets after the first quarter, 26-16, and extended the lead to 14 points heading into halftime leading 56-42. The third quarter was an offensive struggle for both teams, with Toronto scoring 19 and the Hornets totaling just 17 points in the frame. With the Hornets down 16 points heading into the fourth quarter, they picked up their intensity, and the Raptors seemingly lost focus and took their foot off the pedal. The Raptors led by as many as 19 points in the game, but the Hornets tried to rally in the fourth quarter; outscoring the Raptors 31-21, getting back the ten points they gave up in the opening quarter, but in the end it wasn’t enough. The Raptors held on for a 96-90 victory.
The Hornets shot a poor 36% from the field, with the Raptors shooting only 43% themselves.
During the telecast, Raptors’ television play-by-play announcer, Matt Devlin, mentioned that the Toronto Raptors were 40-6 when leading the game after three quarters this season. An impressive statistic, exemplifying that the Raptors have shown the ability to win the majority of their games when holding leads for long stretches of time, or when heading into the game’s most pivotal moments.
Jack Armstrong, the Raptors’ television in-game colour commentator for the Raptors’ TSN broadcasts, commented on a positive shift that seems to be developing for Jonas Valanciunas; earning more trust with Coach Dwane Casey. Valanciunas has been playing more minutes in crunch time as of late, and back up center Bismack Biyombo has been seeing less minutes over the past several games compared to what Biyombo had been receiving over the past couple of months.
Notable Raptors stat lines:
Jonas Valanciunas – 12 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks (JV’s 21st double-double of the season)
DeMar DeRozan – 26 points (7-19 shooting, 11-12 free throws), seven rebounds, six assists, one steal
Kyle Lowry – 21 points (8-16 shooting), four rebounds, six assists
Patrick Patterson – Ten points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals
Cory Joseph – 11 points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal
Notable Hornets stat lines:
Courtney Lee – 11 points, two rebounds, two assists, one steal, one block
Marvin Williams – 15 points, six rebounds, 2 steals
Cody Zeller – Nine points, six rebounds, two blocks
Jeremy Lin – 21 points, four rebounds, seven assists, one steal
Kemba Walker – 11 points, two rebounds, four assists, one steal, one block
The Eastern Conference’s second place Toronto Raptors now have five games left in the regular season. Toronto’s next two games will have them travelling south to face the Atlanta Hawks (currently 6.5 games behind the Raptors, sitting in third place in the East) on Thursday April 7th, and then they will return home to host the Indiana Pacers, who currently hold seventh place in the Eastern Conference, on Friday April 8th.
Postgame Reactions:
Patrick Patterson
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4nfrqtPtwk]Dwane Casey
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKlLxnVR2tk]DeMar DeRozan
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrYsPXni-JE]Kyle Lowry
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