Cavaliers

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Kyle Lowry hit a step-back jumper with 3.9 seconds remaining to give the Raptors a two-point lead against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The jumper capped a career-best 43-point performance for Lowry. Trailing for much of the game, Toronto battled back from 14 down and held on for the 99-97 victory after a three-point attempt from LeBron James was off the mark at the buzzer. The victory was Toronto’s 10th straight at home, and moves the team to 39-18 on the season.

The Raptors didn’t get off to the start they’d wanted, missing their first five shots of the game. A nine-point quarter from Kyle Lowry helped Toronto get back into the game, but they trailed by 10 after the opening 12 minutes, shooting just 38 percent while giving up 57 percent shooting to the Cavaliers.

LeBron James played just 4:34 in the second quarter and the Raptors took advantage. Toronto outscored Cleveland 24-18 in the quarter and shot 71 percent from the floor, making 12-of-17 field goals. The strong play helped Toronto trim Cleveland’s lead to five at the break.

Toronto trailed by nine to open the fourth quarter. DeMar DeRozan was on the bench after leaving the game with flu-like symptoms in the third quarter. James Johnson, Luis Scola and Patrick Patterson each had four fouls. Jonas Valanciunas had left the game and returned after taking a shot to the ribs.

With pressure mounting, the Raptors remained calm, weathered the storm, and slowly but surely chipped away at the Cavaliers lead to give Lowry a chance to lead them to victory. The team had downplayed talk about Friday’s contest being a statement game all week, but the way they won — through adversity and from 14 down — was another step forward in the team’s growth.

DeMar DeRozan played 27 minutes before heading to the locker room in the third quarter with flu-like symptoms. After an extended rest on the bench, he returned with five minutes remaining and cut to the basket for his first and only field goal of the game to get the Raptors within two. DeRozan finished just 1-for-11 from the floor in a his 500th game in a Raptors uniform, but it was a gutsy effort through illness from the longest-tenured Raptor.

Kyle Lowry picked a good time to get the first game-winning shot of his career. The best player on the floor all night, Lowry exploded for a career-high 43 points on 15-for-20 field goals. He shot 11-for-15 from the free throw line and added five rebounds and nine assists in 43 minutes. Lowry played the entire second half and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor in the fourth quarter where he scored 16 of Toronto’s 31 points.

Terrence Ross bounced back from the first ejection of his career on Wednesday to contribute 15 points off the bench, including eight in the fourth quarter as the Raptors cut into Cleveland’s lead. Ross shot 6-for-11 from the floor, 3-for-6 from deep, and added two rebounds, and an assist in 27 minutes.

“A win is a win. Doesn’t matter if it came by me or if Bis hit a three, T-Ross would have hit a three. Doesn’t matter. A win is a win for us.”- Kyle Lowry on how it felt to get the game winner

31… Fourth-quarter points for the Raptors who outscored Cleveland 31-20 to complete the 14-point comeback.37… Bench points for Toronto compared to 23 for the Cavaliers.12… Made 3-pointers for Cleveland on 24 attempts compared to Toronto shooting 6-for-17 from deep.25… Points, eight rebounds, seven assists, a steal and six turnovers for LeBron James to lead the Cavaliers.50… Points in the paint for the Raptors, just 34 for Cleveland.

“It’s never a surprise for me. It’s more so entertaining to watch because I kind of feel like I have the luxury to say, ‘That’s my point guard.’ To be able to watch him do things like that and make it seem so effortless, and lead us to a victory.”- DeMar DeRozan on watching Kyle Lowry’s career-night“DeMar [DeRozan] and Cory [Joseph] are sick. Those guys had flu-like symptoms before the game started. We know that going in. I am proud of the way they fought through it. K-Low picked up the slack and we found a way through a lot of obstacles. A lot of obstacles, and guys were able to fight through it.”- Dwane Casey on being proud of his team for fighting through illness, foul trouble and the physicality of the game“I wouldn’t call it a statement. I’d call it, more so, us going out there and competing. Showing we can compete with the best teams in the league. Not necessarily a statement game because we think we’re one of the top teams in the league as well. It was one of those games that we knew was going to be hard fought and we’re happy we got the win.”- DeMar DeRozan on what the win means for the team

The Raptors head to Detroit to face the Pistons on Sunday at 6 P.M. ET.

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Game Rap: Raptors 99, Cavaliers 97

Toronto (38-18) looks to win the season series tonight when they host the Cavaliers (41-15) for a 7:30pm tip-off at Air Canada Centre. After Detroit snapped their winning streak, Cleveland got back on track with a victory over Charlotte the other night. The Raptors last played Wednesday when they outlasted a young athletic Minnesota team.

Kyrie Irving – Everyone around the league understands the threat LeBron James poses on a nightly basis, but what pushes this Cavs team over the edge is when their point-guard Irving is clicking on all cylinders. The former first-overall pick had a delayed start to his season while he recovered from a knee injury suffered in last year’s playoffs. He looks back to his best now and is averaging 19 points, four assists and three rebounds on the season.

Cory Joseph&lt;/strong – The battle of tonight’s second units could be the difference in who comes out victorious. Toronto’s reserves have been a bright spot for this team, especially the play of back up point-guard Joseph. The Pickering, Ontario native had another solid performance against the Wolves Wednesday night putting up 18 points and six assists on 6-8 shooting.

The two top dogs in the Eastern Conference will go head to head tonight to not only crown a winner in their season series but lay down a marker ahead of the stretch run to the playoffs.

Both home teams came out on top in their previous two matchups, with Toronto winning 103-99 in late November and Cleveland recording a 122-100 victory at Quicken Loans Arena early in the new year.

Tonight will also feature the two hottest teams in the East, both 7-3 in their last 10 contests. After the Minnesota win, Kyle Lowry spoke to the media about what the Raps can expect heading into tonight.

“It’s going to be a test for us. We know how good they are. We know they are the Eastern Conference champions. We know they have LeBron (James), Kyrie (Irving), Kevin Love. They have a hell of a team and a great coach. We just have to take it step by step and prepare very well and stay locked into the game.”

After a day of practice yesterday, Dwane Casey had a chance to talk to the media about preparing for this first place Cleveland team.

“We've got to do a good job of protecting the paint first, getting our bodies in position quickly and building out.”

Casey also was well aware of the long-distance threat the Cavaliers pose, especially after their acquisition of stretch big man Channing Frye.

“They (Frye &amp; Smith) space the floor which just makes it easier for Irving and James,"explained Casey.

While the media, fans and basketball critics may be billing this as one of the most significant games of the season, the level-headed Casey understands it’s just another step in the Raptors growth.

“The game should be a challenge for us but it’s not going to determine out season."

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Game Day: Raptors vs. Cavaliers

J.R. Smith hit a three-pointer to put Cleveland up 21 points with two minutes remaining. Despite a solid effort in the first half, the Raptors, on the second night of a back-to-back, were unable to stick with the Cavaliers after the halftime break. The 122-100 defeat drops Toronto to 21-15 on the season.

After trailing by just two at the half, things started to unravel for the Raptors in the third. Cleveland outscored Toronto by 10 to take a 12-point advantage into the final quarter and didn’t look back from there.

Cleveland was on fire from downtown, making 17 three-pointers on 33 attempts (52 percent). J.R. Smith made a season-high eight three-pointers, shooting 8-for-14 from beyond the arc. Smith’s eight threes tied Toronto’s team total.

Kyle Lowry led the Raptors with a 23-point, 10-assist double-double. He played 35 minutes, shooting 7-for-13 from the floor, 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Lowry added four rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot as well.

Patrick Patterson provided a much-needed boost off the bench with 15 points. Patterson shot 6-for-8 from the floor and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc in his 26 minutes. Over the team’s three games in January, Patterson is shooting 50 percent from the floor and 56 percent from deep after struggling with his shot for much of December.

“Until we get defence back into our repertoire, into our mentality, we’re going to have a lot of nights like this. Somewhere down the last couple of games we’ve lost our defensive thought process. We’re more worried about touches than we are our defensive approach. Until we get back to that, I don't care if it’s back-to-back, or once a week, whatever it is, we’re going to struggle. A team shoots 55 percent on us two consecutive nights, it’s not going to win too many games.”- Dwane Casey on the defence in a rough loss

40… Rebounds for the Cavaliers, compared to just 26 for Toronto. Cleveland also held an 11-8 edge on the offensive glass.37… Percent shooting for Toronto in the fourth quarter where they were outscored 32-22 by the Cavs. The Raptors made just 7-of-19 attempts from the floor and 1-of-5 attempts from the three-point line in the quarter. In comparison, Cleveland connected on 10 of 19 attempts, with five made three-pointers in the fourth. Toronto shot 49 percent for the game, while giving up 55 percent shooting to Cleveland.19… Points for DeMar DeRozan who had another efficient shooting night in the loss, finishing 8-for-15 from the floor. DeRozan also added two rebounds, four assists and a steal in 35 minutes.6… Players in double figures for the Cavaliers, with three topping 20 points. Kyrie Irving led the way with 25, J.R. Smith finished with 24, and LeBron James added 20.9… Missed free throws for Toronto, who finished 20-for-29 from the line (69 percent). For the season, the Raptors are sixth in the league in free-throw percentage, making an average of 79 percent of their attempts each night.

“100 percent. Like [Dwane Casey] said, we’re scoring enough to win games. We’ve just got to get stops. It’s the defensive end, whether it’s lack of focus, communication, whatever it may be. We’ve got to figure out a way to get stops, finish plays and get rebounds. Offensive end, there’s no worries on that side of the ball. It’s just getting stops and playing tough, hard-nosed defence.”- Patrick Patterson on Dwane Casey’s call for defence“I think they just played extremely well. They came out there and hit 17 threes. That’ll win the game for you right there. They shot over 51 percent from three. They played really well, moved the ball really well. They did their job tonight.”- Kyle Lowry on a hot-shooting performance from the Cavs“We’re letting teams get comfortable and get in a rhythm. Once an NBA team gets in a rhythm it’s tough to slow them down. We’ve got to cut off their water out the gate so we don't have to fight so hard or worry about them getting to their sweet spots.”- DeMar DeRozan on needing to start the game with a defensive focus“We’ve got guys that have been here with us, that should know the defensive schemes, that do know the defensive schemes. Next man up. Everybody wants an opportunity. That’s what it’s about. Somebody goes down, next guy has got to be ready to step in and take up the slack. That’s what you’ve got to do.”- Dwane Casey on shuffling lineups because of injury

The Raptors head to Brooklyn to take on the Nets on Wednesday night at 7:30 P.M. ET.

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Game Rap: Raptors 100, Cavaliers 122

Toronto (21-14) opens a five-game road trip tonight vs. Cleveland (22-9) at Quicken Loans Arena. The Raptors are coming off a tight loss to the Bulls last night breaking their two-game win streak. The Cavs have had a day off to prepare for T.O. following a victory over Orlando on Saturday.

LeBron James – 26 points, seven rebounds and six assists per game. James continues to churn out MVP caliber numbers season after season. In his second stint back in Cleveland, James has his Cavaliers playing consistent basketball with the hopes of returning to the NBA Finals for a second-straight year. Last time James met the Raptors, he put up 24 points, six rebonds and eight assists. Toronto will know exactly what to expect from LBJ.

Kyle Lowry – Unlike some, Lowry doesn’t disappear when his shots aren’t falling. The Raptors point-guard affects the game in a multitude of ways on both ends of the court. If he’s not getting steals, he’s dishing out assists. After a torrid start to the season, Lowry’s shot has cooled of late but that hasn’t stopped him competing every time he steps out on the court. His numbers are almost identical in Toronto’s wins (20/5/6) as they are in their losses (22/5/6). Raps fans will be hoping they see him suit up for his second-straight All-Star game this February.

Last night’s result may be hard to shake off for the Raptors after they let go of a double-digit fourth quarter lead in a loss to Chicago.

“We can’t give up 34 points in the fourth quarter. You have to put your foot down, put your foot on their neck and close it out,” was Dwane Casey’s assessment after the game. “I thought we had control up to that point, but we just didn’t put our stamp on it in the fourth quarter defensively,” he added.

Fortunately, Toronto will have little time to dwell on it with a matchup in Cleveland tonight 24 hrs after yesterday’s tip-off.

Tonight’s task doesn’t get any easier for the Raps. They will face a healthy Cavaliers lineup who sit atop the Eastern Conference standings.

In their only previous meeting this season, Toronto emerged victorious behind 27 points from Kyle Lowry in a 103-99 win at Air Canada Centre.

Neither Kyrie Irving nor Jonas Valanciunas were available to play in the November 25th matchup but should both be fit to suit up tonight after recently returning from their respective injuries.

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Game Day: Raptors @ Cavaliers

Patrick Patterson drilled a three-pointer with 2:14 remaining to give the Raptors a 10-point lead. Kyle Lowry found Bismack Biyombo for easy dunks on the next two Toronto possessions and the Raptors walked off the floor with a 103-99 victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Toronto is now 10-6 on the season.

Wednesday’s game helped the Raptors move to a perfect 3-0 on Drake Night. It also gave Toronto a 1-0 record in their black and gold OVO-inspired alternate uniforms.

After a quiet first half where he scored seven points on 2-for-5 shooting, Kyle Lowry turned things up several notches in the third. Scoring 14 points in the quarter, Lowry helped to set the tone and intensity for Toronto in what was one of the team’s most complete efforts on the defensive end of the floor.

Kyle Lowry finished with 27 points, six assists, three rebounds, four steals and a blocked shot in 38 minutes of action. He shot 11-for-17 from the floor, and went 9-for-12 in the second half, scoring 20 of his points after the break. In addition to scoring, Lowry sparked the team in the third quarter. Whether diving on the floor to get his hand on a loose ball, or tossing the ball up immediately after getting fouled in hopes of being awarded free throws, Lowry’s intensity was infectious.

Bismack Biyombo, starting his second consecutive game for the injured Jonas Valanciunas, had a huge game on both ends of the floor. Biyombo played 33 minutes on Wednesday and he finished with 12 rebounds and 11 points (on 4-for-5 field goals).

“Kyle, he can do that whenever he wants. He can pick and choose whenever he wants to. Sometimes he wants to get his teammates involved early, like he did with Luis Scola. Kyle’s a great point guard. I think he’s one of the top point guards in the league. He just showed tonight why he’s Kyle Lowry.”- DeMarre Carroll on Kyle Lowry’s big night

8… Steals for Toronto. The Raptors were led by Kyle Lowry, who had as many steals as the entire Cavaliers team (4).15… Points for Luis Scola who scored all 15 in the opening quarter.20… DeMar DeRozan scored 20 points for the 10th time this season and is averaging 20.8 points per game on the year.58… The Raptors scored 58 points in the paint while giving up just 28 points in the paint to Cleveland.16… Lead changes and seven ties in the game.24… Points, six rebounds and eight assists for LeBron James, but the Raptors made him work for each of his points and he finished the game shooting 6-for-16 from the floor.

“We have a heck of a defender in DeMarre Carroll. That is one of the main treasons we brought him in. He did a heck of a job. You saw it in the last year in the playoffs and he’s carried it over in helping us. It’s not just him. We try to make it a team concept as well and make everything as tough as possible.”- DeMar DeRozan on how the team worked to slow LeBron James“He set the tone for us defensively. Protecting the paint, talking, being physical, being a deterrent at the rim and that was big for us as far as protecting the past. That’s a good team. That team right there has so many weapons, and it starts with LeBron, so we were very fortunate to play a complete game.”- Dwane Casey on the impact of Bismack Biyombo“I think we did a good job defensively. I think we got a little bit better tonight defensively. We gave up way too many threes, but they have a team of three-point shooters and they move the ball extremely well. They are going to get some open shots. They knocked them down tonight, but we got the steps that we needed.”- Kyle Lowry, pleased with the team’s effort on the defensive end of the floor“Oh man. When you see your best player on the floor diving for the loose ball it makes the other four guys out there like, ‘We’ve got to do something extreme as well, to keep it going.’ That’s what’s all about. Hustle plays like that, taking advantage of it…It makes it a lot easier. A lot of times, guys just look at him, whether its the defensive end or the offensive end. He thinks two, three plays ahead.”- DeMar DeRozan on Kyle Lowry making it easier for everyone with hustle and smart basketball players

The Raptors head to Washington to face the Wizards on Saturday night at 7:00 P.M. ET.

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Game Rap: Raptors 103, Cavaliers 99

Home sweet home. The Raptors (9-6) return north of the border to take on the Cavaliers (11-3) on Drake Night at Air Canada Centre. Toronto finished their western road trip at 2-3 after dropping the first three. Cleveland comes to town on the back of three straight victories and sit atop the Eastern Conference standings.

LeBron James – He's LeBron James, need we say more?

Kyle Lowry –  We have touched on Kyle Lowry’s offensive numbers numerous times this year. Season averages of 20 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds are impressive numbers but Lowry also has excelled on the defensive side of the floor and is the league leader in steals with just less than three per game. Additionally, over his past six games the Raps point guard has gone to the charity stripe 40 times and converted all 40 of his free throws. Lowry will be hoping to keep that streak going tonight versus the Cavs.

Won five, lost three. Won two, lost three, won two.

Needless to say, it has been an up-and-down season so far for the Raptors. After a 5-0 start with impressive wins over the Mavericks and Thunder, the Raps seemed to be firmly on opposing teams' radar. Close losses followed to Orlando, Sacramento, Golden State and Utah, with Toronto holding the lead late in all of these games.

There seemed to be some tension building after those defeats however back-to-back victories in Los Angeles over the Lakers and Clippers should go some way to calming nerves. Raps fans can also take comfort in knowing eight of the next ten games will be played at Air Canada Centre.

First up is a duel with the defending Eastern Conference Champion Cavaliers tonight. The Raptors managed to only win one out of the four meetings between the two teams last year but that win was a convincing 17-point victory in Cleveland. Both teams will be without key starters tonight with Jonas Valanciunas, Kyrie Irving &amp; Timofey Mozgov all unavailable due to injury.

On the topic of streaks, watch DeMarre Carroll’s first-half performance in a win over the Clippers on Sunday…

The Raptors will honour their Global Ambassador with the team’s annual Drake Night. Tonight’s game marks the third Drake Night – Dec. 17, 2014 vs. Brooklyn (W 105-89) and Jan. 11, 2014 vs. Brooklyn (W 96-80).

Toronto will wear black and gold uniforms tonight for the first time in team history. This is the fourth variation of the team’s new uniform worn during the 2015-16 season and the 16th different uniform the team has worn since the franchise was founded in 1995.

Inspired by Drake’s new single, there will be a custom built, “Hotline Bling Box" in the Galleria outside Air Canada Centre all day today. Fans are encouraged to come down and show off their best Drake dance impressions with the chance to be featured on our Social Media accounts.

Additionally for all fans in attendance, you will receive an OVO/Raptors inspired long sleeve shirt and sweatband as seen below…

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Anthony Bennett threw down a put-back dunk to put Toronto up six with 1:12 remaining. After trailing by six early in the fourth, the Raptors turned up their defence and took the lead behind a strong fourth-quarter effort from Cory Joseph. Thanks to Joseph’s eight-point, three-assist quarter and Bennett’s late-game slam, the Raptors recorded an 87-81 victory against the Cavaliers and moved to 4-2 in the preseason.

Cory Joseph put in another strong performance for Toronto, and continues to make a difference upon entering the game. Joseph finished with 11 points on 4-for-9 shooting to go with two rebounds, six assists, a steal and a blocked shot in 20 minutes off the bench.

Preseason game or not, when Bismack Biyombo hits the floor, he’s playing hard. On Sunday night, Biyombo made life difficult for opponents at the rim. He also rebounded well, hauling down a team-high 10 boards in his 25 minutes of action to go with 8 points on 3-for-5 shooting and two blocked shots.

“I feel like I’m a two-way player. I can create and I can be an offensive threat. Maybe some people haven’t seen [that side] in the past. I’ve been working on my game and I’m ready for the responsibility.” - Cory Joseph on showing a different side of his game.

38… Percent shooting for the Raptors who struggled from the floor for much of the game. Starters DeMar DeRozan, DeMarre Carroll and Kyle Lowry had off nights, combing to shoot just 7-for-33 from the floor, while the bench connected on 43 percent of their field goal attempts.

8… Assists for Kyle Lowry who contributed in other ways with his shot not falling.

10… Point advantage for Toronto in the fourth quarter as they outscored Cleveland 27-17 in the final frame to take the lead and get the victory.

44… Points in the paint for the Raptors, compared to just 24 for the Cavaliers.

14… Players logged time for the Raptors with one preseason game to go.

“No easy layups when Bismack is out there. That’s what’s great about him, he’s going to change the shot selection of guards going back in there and that’s big.”- DeMar DeRozan on how Bismack Biyombo changes the game when he’s on the floor

“His motor is always going. He’s always high gear as soon as he steps onto the floor. He understands what we’re doing, what needs to be done on both ends, not just offence, defensively also. It’s really exciting, what he brings to the table off the bench.”- Dwane Casey on Cory Joseph

“He’s been proving it. At the end of the day, Cory’s a smart player. He knows what he can do and he takes advantage of his opportunities at both ends. That’s the great thing about him.”- DeMar DeRozan on Cory Joseph showing more of his game
“I’m getting to feel more comfortable with each game, but I don't know how comfortable I’ll feel until the real games start. A couple of those games and then we’ll see.”- Cory Joseph on adjusting to his new team
“We just have to get off to a higher intensity start on both ends. Once we do that, we’ll be fine. I think we tried to ease our way into games, and we just can’t do that. We just have to come out with more high intensity and try not to play catch-up.”- DeMar DeRozan on needing to get off to quicker starts

The Raptors will get in a few days of practice at the Air Canada Centre before heading to Montreal to face the Washington Wizards on Friday at the Bell Centre at 7:30 P.M. ET to close out the preseason.

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Game Rap: Raptors 87, Cavaliers 81

Time: (6:00pm ET, 3:00pm PT - NBATV Canada)

The Raptors (3-2) welcome the Cavaliers (0-5) tonight at Air Canada Centre as the preseason begins to wrap up and  inch closer to to October 28th.  Despite injuries to key players, Cleveland is still the reigning Eastern Conference Champions and that always provides a good barometer for opposing teams looking to track their progress before the regular season gets underway.

Richard Jefferson - You may be thinking… “wait, are we talking about the same Richard Jefferson!?” The 15-year NBA vet comes to this Cavaliers squad looking to provide whatever experience he can and has found himself on the floor and contributing.  With key injuries to the team’s starters, Jefferson has filled in nicely and has scored in double figures in each of Cleveland’s last three games.

Kyle Lowry - Despite only playing in three of Toronto’s five preseason games, Lowry has been scorching hot, averaging 30 points per game and knocking down 11 three pointers.  Lowry’s transformed physique has been talked about ad nauseum, but appears to be benefiting both the team and the player as fans hope Lowry can cary this play over into the regular season.  Stay hot Kyle!

The challenge of distributing minutes is always a balancing act for coaching staffs and unfortunately you can’t accommodate everyone.

“We want to use that 1st &amp; 3rd quarter as time to make sure our starters are crisp and working together.  This is valuable time for young guys to make it and show what they can do in the league,” is Coach Casey’s mindset.

Casey summed it up by saying, “We have a lot of valuable guys.  We can’t play them all.  The guys that are playing have to do their job and the guys that aren’t have to be ready to go in and give us what they got when their number is called,”

With changes this offseason to both the front and backcourt, a familiar face remains in James Johnson.  Injuries have slowed the forward’s preseason to date and Johnson is eager and hungry to prove to the coaching staff that he deserves to be on the floor on a consistent basis.

Not having a defined role or position can usually be seen as a disadvantage to a player, however  it’s that versatility that Johnson and his peers know is his biggest asset. “Size, athleticism, speed and quickness,” were the words coach Casey used to describe what Johnson brings to the table.  “He’s probably the best driver in the league at his position,” Casey added.

Johnson knows himself that at 6’9, with the athleticism of a guard and the ability to handle the basketball, he possesses an advantage over whomever the opposing team decides to match up against him.

“Im faster and my (jumper) is looking good this year.  If I can open that up, they (opposition) are going to have to come out and guard me and that’s going to be bad news,” said Johnson on his offseason work regime.  He was straightforward with his explanation on his unique advantage… “Big and athletic is always going to beat small and athletic.”