The game was already out of hand by the time Kyle Lowry poked the ball away from Utah Jazz rookie Dante Exum, left it for a nearby Patrick Patterson to collect, and took off down the court.
When Patterson cautiously decided against the outlet pass to his streaking point guard and instead dribbled up the floor, waiting for a trailing James Johnson for the 3-on-1, it was the smart move; with barely more than a minute to go and a double-digit lead the Raptors just needed to kill the clock, get on a plane and get the hell out of Dodge.
Still, as his teammates patiently moved the ball, an incredulous Lowry stood anxiously on the perimeter, hands in the air, already knowing what would happen when the ball found its way back to him.
He caught the pass, faked a shot and headed straight to the left corner for a step-back three over two defenders. Cash. After a trip to the free throw line, Lowry finally checked out of the game with 39 points, a career high.
For a brief moment in the wake of Sunday’s loss in Los Angeles, it looked like the absence of DeMar DeRozan would pose a big problem for the Raptors. Lowry seemed compelled to play hero ball that night—putting up a season-high 28 shots—and the Lakers knew it and capitalized.
In the two games since, though, Toronto’s point man has been nothing short of incredible. Wednesday night was his most overpowering performance yet, and it’s clear that his play is the biggest reason for the Raptors’ success.
But the fact that his teammates continue to step up and contribute alongside him is what’s making the Raptors such a tough out these days.
Toronto out-classed the hapless Jazz from the opening-tip on Wednesday (as they should have), delivering another stellar offensive performance, shooting 57 percent from the floor, including 12-of-21 from deep. The 123-104 win is the Raps’ fourth game in which they’ve scored 120-plus points (they had two all of last season) and it extends their record to 15-4.
On defence, James Johnson is cementing his status as the Raptors’ version of Tony Allen—a “sick ‘em” lock-down defender who, on Wednesday, held Jazz star Gordon Hayward to 16 points on 15 shots (as a colleague of mine put it, “He’s shaming opponents with his defence.”). Meanwhile, guys like Patterson and Tyler Hansbrough are providing strong help and remaining active on both ends.
Offensively, the guard depth is proving it’s worth, too. In the three games starting in place of DeRozan, Greivis Vasquez has averaged 16 points, nearly double his season mark. Against the Jazz, both he and Lou Williams scored 17, tying for second on the team behind Lowry.
That this team relies on its guards for scoring and can count on starter-quality production from its bench is nothing new. But it is substantial.
Led by Lowry, and with guards making up four of their top five scorers (the other being Jonas Valanciunas), it’s no surprise that heading into last night the Raptors were the NBA’s overwhelming leader in points scored outside of the paint at an absurd 78.3 ppg (for context, that’s 10 more than the Golden State Warriors, the only team whose backcourt averages more points than the Raps). There’ll come a time when this team needs to establish that it can score inside, too, but right now they’re riding their shooting and drive-and-kick ball movement to wins. And doing a good job at that: Toronto is second league-wide in offensive efficiency behind only the Dallas Mavericks.
As for the bench, among teams with a winning record only the 11-8 Phoenix Suns boast a reserve unit that scores at the same rate as Toronto’s. That production impacts how this team operates in a number of ways, but without the stability of DeRozan’s offence in the lineup, it’s the way that scoring depth works in concert with Lowry’s continued brilliance that has the Raptors firing on all cylinders heading into another big test against Cleveland at home on Friday.
It’s a simple concept, really: The fact that the guys surrounding Lowry are producing at a high level, too, means defences can’t simply load up and gear their game plan toward stopping the star point guard.
The way the Raptors are playing, they should have swept this west coast trip against three non-playoff teams. But given how they’re performing—and how that Lakers loss seemed to light a fire in Lowry in particular—two out of three ain’t bad.