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They presumably didnt want to make a mess of the court where he was
essentially a coach between the lines for the Mavericks when they won
the franchises only title in 2011.TORONTO - If you had been up early to
watch the Canadian mens hockey team win gold Sunday morning, the Raptors
first-half lullaby likely put you back to sleep.
"I think we set basketball back probably 15 years in the first half,"
Dwane Casey admitted, speaking of his teams lackadaisical effort at the
outset of a 105-90 win over the lowly Orlando Magic.
Slow starts have become a troublesome trend for the Raptors, who scored
44 points on 42 per cent shooting in the opening 24 minutes Sunday, but
theyve also developed a fondness for the second-half explosion, which
seems to bail them out more often than not.
Whatever Casey is saying or doing in the locker room at intermission,
its been working. Once considered to be one of the worst third-quarter
teams in the association, the Raptors looked like an inspired team
coming out of the halftime break.
"Like I told our guys, were going to have a lot of games where were
going to have to grind it out," Casey said. "For whatever reason we
struggle in the first half [and] come through, turn it on [in the second
half], but I think thats also a little bit of growth on our part. Ive
seen times when it had been a struggle for close to 40 minutes."
The Raptors have indeed turned a corner in that regard, establishing
themselves as a lethal second-half club. Toronto has outscored, or tied,
its opponent in the second half in 13 straight contests, holding teams
to 39 per cent shooting and besting them by 91 total points during that
stretch.
Since the season-altering trade of Rudy Gay, the Raptors lead the NBA in
second-half point differential, outscoring foes by 216 points, 47 more
than the second-ranked Indiana Pacers.
Led by its dynamic backcourt, Toronto missed just two of its 14 field
goal attempts in the third, besting the Magic 36-24 and turning a
three-point halftime lead into a 15-point advantage going into the
fourth.
Neither guard, Kyle Lowry or DeMar DeRozan, missed a shot in the frame.
The two combined for 26 of Torontos 36 points.
Lowry, who shot just 1-of-7 in the first half, was in the zone. As the
clock ticked down to end the period, the Raptorrs point guard pulled up
from 25-feet and drained his fourth three-pointer, putting the finishing
touch on a perfect (5-for-5 from the field, 4-for-4 from three, 3-for-3
from the line) 17-point quarter. Rod Woodson Steelers Jersey.
Although the Raptors have outscored the Magic and Cavaliers 73-45,
shooting 76 per cent from the floor in their last two third quarters -
en route to a pair of home victories - Lowry and his teammates are
wisely concerned about their customary slow starts.
"Were not that good of a team to just ease our way into the game," said
Lowry, who finished with 28 points on Sunday. "Weve got to come out and
play with [that] intensity from the start."
Whats behind the teams late wake-up calls?
"I cant really put a finger on it," DeRozan said after scoring 17 of his
24 in the second half. "Maybe we just like a challenge sometimes. [We]
put ourselves in a tough situation so we can fight ourselves out, but
weve got to stop that and understand weve got to come out of the gate so
we dont make the game that hard on us."
Fortunately, the Raptors were playing host to the leagues worst road
team. The Magic, riding a 15-game losing streak away from home, were
missing leading scorer Arron Afflalo, absent as a result of an ankle
injury. They scored just 14 points in the opening quarter and didnt put
up much resistance when the Raptors guards seized control of the game.
Toronto managed to seal a double-digit victory despite committing a
season-high 24 turnovers, 18 of them coming from Lowry, DeRozan and
Jonas Valanciunas.
While six of Torontos next seven games come against losing teams, this
is not a habit that will be kind to the playoff-bound Raptors as they
approach the stretch run.
"We cant rely on that," DeRozan said of his teams second-half success,
"because when we run into the top teams its going to be tough to try to
make a comeback against those teams."
"So weve got to start a habit of that now," he continued, "even when
were playing teams like Orlando so well be ready and we know what to
expect when we play the good teams."
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