Raptors top Knicks, set franchise record with 10th straight win
Heading into Thursday night’s NBA slate, five NBA franchises had yet to post a winning streak longer than nine games within a single season. By evening’s end, that number was down to four.
[Follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]
Behind 26 points apiece from All-Star starter Kyle Lowry and All-Star reserve DeMar DeRozan, the Toronto Raptors took down the shorthanded New York Knicks on Thursday, 103-93. Center Jonas Valanciunas pulled down 18 rebounds against a Knicks club missing All-Star Carmelo Anthony (sore left knee), exciting rookie Kristaps Porzingis (upper respiratory illness) and former Toronto point guard Jose Calderon (sore right groin) to help extend the Raptors’ winning streak to 10 games.
That’s a franchise record for consecutive victories; Toronto’s previous high-water mark was nine, set back in the spring of 2002, back in the days when Vinsanity reigned supreme. This year’s model might not have the flash and panache of Vince Carter in the air with the ball in his hand and malice on his mind. Still, the 2015-16 Raptors are — thus far, at least — the best edition in franchise history, on track to not just top the 50-win mark for the first time in 21 seasons of Toronto basketball, but to blow past it.
The Raps have set new franchise records for single-season win total in each of the last two campaigns, winning 48 games in 2013-14 and 49 games last season. After Thursday’s win, they’re on pace to win 55 games, the kind of record that stamps you as a potential conference finalist … and, if things break right, maybe even something more.
Lowry (who added 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals in a game-high 41 minutes) and DeRozan (who chipped in four assists, two blocks and a steal in 36-plus) fuel an offense that ranks sixth in the NBA in points scored per possession, behind only the Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Clippers. A schematic shift to their pick-and-roll coverages, combined with the infusion of defense-first offseason acquisitions like center Bismack Biyombo and point guard Cory Joseph, has helped improve a defense that ranked in the bottom 10 in defensive efficiency last season, but that now sits ninth among 30 NBA teams, allowing just 100.7 points per 100 possessions. (There might even be room for another jump up the defensive standings, provided prize free-agent signing/perimeter-defending ace DeMarre Carroll can finally get and stay right once he returns from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.)
Toronto’s deep, balanced and tough. Its offense is more varied, creating more options and angles of attack; its defense is pared down, reducing in-the-moment thinking and reaction time to help teammates get where they’re supposed to be faster and keep them on a string. They’re rolling, sitting at 31-15, just two games behind the conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers, and while the defending Eastern champs are in the midst of a sideline shakeup, the Raptors continue to prioritize and emphasize continuity as they work through their fifth season under head coach Dwane Casey.
Winning 10 straight against a fairly soft slate — only the Orlando Magic, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers were above .500 when they played Toronto on this stretch — doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a title contender, of course. And after two straight franchise-best seasons ended in first-round postseason knockouts, with last spring’s four-game sweep at the hands of the Washington Wizards serving as a devastating wake-up call, there’s no shortage of doubters who’ll need to see the Raps put together at least a couple of weeks of top-shelf play on both ends of the floor come April and May.
But you can’t play tomorrow’s games today. Taking care of business is what good teams are supposed to do, and as we near the All-Star break that will serve as a celebration of all that Toronto is and can be as an NBA destination, the Raptors look like a pretty damn good team — the best, in fact, that DeRozan has played on in his seven pro seasons.
“By far,” he said after the game, according to Chris O’Leary of the Toronto Sun. “And we’ve still got a long way to go.”
More NBA coverage:
– – – – – – –
Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
Stay connected with Ball Don’t Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL, “Like” BDL on Facebook and follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.
