Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com
Sometimes the best part of a road trip is coming home.
Jumping back into things after an extended All-Star break with a four-games-in-five-nights road trip that saw the Toronto Raptors post a 1-3 record, the team is itching to play on the Air Canada Centre court.
“It’s always good to be back home, especially after a trip like that,” Kyle Lowry said after Thursday’s practice.
After kicking off the road trip with a big win in Atlanta against the Hawks, the team had disappointing showings against the Houston Rockets, New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks. While the team defence has taken a step forward -- ranked second in defensive rating since February 1st --, things on the offensive end of the floor have been out of sorts for much of 2015.
Lowry, whose stunning first half of the season propelled him into the starting lineup for the Eastern Conference All-Star team, hasn’t had the same effectiveness as of late. Particularly late in games. It’s been frustrating for the point guard and he’s working to try to shake himself out of that funk.
“Me? I’m trash,” Lowry said of his recent play. “I’m trying to figure it out right now, to be honest with you. I don’t know (how to fix it), that’s why I’m in here, working hard and trying to figure out what to do to get myself back on track.”
It has been a season of firsts for the Raptors. Getting off to a blistering franchise-best 22-6 start and posting a 36-17 record at the All-Star break, the team has weathered an injury that robbed DeMar DeRozan of 21 games and the toughest half of the schedule to have their strongest first-half of a season ever. They hold a 13-game lead in their division, and are second place in the Eastern Conference. They’re guaranteed to go 4-4 over their most recent eight-game stretch, one that looked like a killer just a couple of weeks ago, but still there’s a feeling of deep dissatisfaction in the air.
This shows how far the team, and expectations for it, have come since opening day. Everyone knew there would be tests and trials through the ups and downs of an 82-game NBA season. With general manager Masai Ujiri standing pat at the deadline — a strong vote of confidence for the group assembled as is — the Raptors locker room received what it had wanted: an opportunity to succeed with the group it began the season with. To see the team address recent struggles head on has been refreshing. No shirking responsibility, because this is a group who wants that responsibility.
“We’ve just got to get back disciplined, understanding rules and what helped us close games earlier in the season,” DeMar DeRozan said “Being disciplined on the defensive end, getting big stops when we need them, getting to the free throw line, getting critical buckets that we need and taking care of the ball. Lately we’ve been kind of loose with the ball, having so many turnovers. We understand that’s not us.”
Lowry agreed with DeRozan’s call for defence late, saying the team needs to focus on its attention to detail and make the defensive end of the floor a priority when it comes to the second half of games.
Although Casey certainly agrees with Lowry and DeRozan pointing attention to fourth-quarter defence, his stance on the recent play of Lowry was much softer than Lowry’s self-assessment.
“I wouldn’t categorize it as trash. [Lowry’s] being hard on himself,” Casey said. “Nobody is playing great basketball right now for us, as far as offence and defence. I’m more concerned about our defence than our offence. I think our offence will come around and play at a level where we’ll be able to compete. Our defence, last time at this time of the year, we were sixth in the league in defence, and that’s good enough to win ... Right now, we’re 15th and with the same guys.”
The same guys who got this group off to such a hot start will be the same guys who get the Raptors back in the right lane. A Friday night match up with the Golden State Warriors isn’t the easiest way to be welcomed home, but for a team dissatisfied with its last game, the best thing is always a next game to focus on.
“There’s going to be a buzz around [the arena],” Lowry said. “We’re just trying to get back to our winning ways.”