Nuggets

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Will Barton made a three-pointer to put Denver up 23 points with 10:33 remaining. After two weeks at home in Toronto, and an 11-game winning streak, the Raptors were unable to keep up with the Nuggets who ran away with a 112-93 decision on their home floor. The blowout dropped Toronto to 32-16, and was one of the team’s worst losses of the season.

After a solid first quarter and the game tied at 28, things started to unravel for Toronto in the second. The Raptors shot just 5-of-20 from the floor in the quarter, shooting 25 percent to Denver’s 59 percent (13-for-22) as they were outscored 32-21, with the Nuggets taking an 11-point lead at the break. Toronto’s shooting woes continued in the second half as Denver pulled away behind the strong play of rookie Nikola Jokic and a 16-point fourth quarter from Will Barton.

Toronto’s winning streak ended at a franchise-record 11 straight victories. The streak started Jan 6 against the Brooklyn Nets and was the longest on-going streak in the league. During the stretch, the team set a franchise record for wins in the month of January, going 12-2 to lead the Eastern Conference with head coach Dwane Casey being named Eastern Conference coach of the month.

Losing a starter isn’t ever ideal, but losing a starter on the first game of a road trip when that starter is already filling in for an injured starter is extra tough. James Johnson left the game with 3:37 remaining in the first half after coming down awkwardly and spraining his ankle. After being helped off the floor by his teammates, he limped gingerly to the locker room and had x-rays at the arena. Although x-rays were negative, he did not return and his status for Tuesday’s game is unknown.

DeMar DeRozan was one of the only Raptors to have it going offensively in Denver. DeRozan led the team with 24 points on 7-for-14 field goals. He made 10 of 11 attempts from the free throw line, and added four assists, a rebound and a steal in 28 minutes.

Terrence Ross continued scoring off the bench, leading the reserves with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Ross added four rebounds and an assist in 27 minutes and is averaging 9.3 points per game since the new year.

“You want to play great for the whole season, every single game, but it just doesn’t work that way. We got humbled tonight. I told all the guys we’ve just got to bounce back. We’ve got another game tomorrow. We can forget about this one. It happens. Just move on.”- DeMar DeRozan on looking forward to Phoenix

12… Missed free throws for the Raptors who made just 69 percent (27-of-39) of their attempts from the line.37… Percent shooting for Toronto, who gave up 54 percent shooting to the Nuggets.15… Just 15 free throws attempted for the Nuggets, compared to 39 for the Raptors. Denver made up for this with 45 made field goals in the game to 29 for Toronto.27… Points on 12-for-18 field goals for rookie Nikola Jokic who also added 14 rebounds and four assists in 30 minutes.13… Players logged minutes for the Raptors, with Dwane Casey emptying his bench midway through the fourth in hopes of having his starters rested for Tuesday’s back-to-back against the Suns.

“We just understand that, don’t drop two in a row. Learn from our mistakes tomorrow, but don't let a streak from the losing side start.”- DeMar DeRozan on getting back on track with a win“We’ve just got to focus on tomorrow with Phoenix. We know they’re coming in with a new coach and they’re going to come out playing extremely hard. We’ve got to get back to doing what we do, playing hard, playing aggressive and playing defence.”- Kyle Lowry on putting the loss in the rearview“Our players know that this wasn’t us. The way you get respect in this league is be consistent. Be consistent in your performance. It’s on all of us. We take it. We own it. We have to own it. [The score] doesn’t lie, 93-112, that’s the ballgame.”- Dwane Casey on accepting the loss and looking to get back on track Tuesday"The variables are an 82-game season. We can talk about the streak, but the streak has nothing to do with it. I haven't talked about the streak. It has nothing to do with the streak. It’s about our focus, our energy coming into this building. They just outworked us in every area.”- Dwane Casey on not looking for excuses after an ugly loss

The Raptors head to Phoenix for the second game of a back-to-back against the Suns on Tuesday night at 9 P.M. ET.

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Game Rap: Raptors 93, Nuggets 112

After a perfect 7-0 homestand, Toronto (32-15) is back on the road where they will face Denver (18-30) tonight for a 9pm tip-off at Pepsi Center. The Raptors added to their franchise record winning streak by fending off a determined Pistons team on Saturday in T.O. The Nuggets also last played two days ago when they suffered a tough overtime loss to the Pacers in Indiana.

Will Barton – Another example of a player who’s career has taken off after a change of scenery. Barton spent his first four years in the league with the Portland Trailblazers where he played sporadically coming off the bench. He was traded to the Nuggets last season and with increased playing time, has flourished in Denver. Barton has played just fewer than 29 minutes a game this season and is averaging career-highs of 16 points and six rebounds. The Raptors will be very familiar with him after the former 40th overall pick scored a game-high 22 points in Denver’s 106-105 win on December 6th in Toronto.

Jonas Valanciunas&lt;/strong – Just as Barton will be familiar to Toronto, Valanciunas will enter this game an unknown to Denver after missing their first matchup and virtually all of December due to injury. During that time, Bismack Biyombo filled in admirably but the Raptors missed Valanciunas’ scoring punch in the paint. This could be an area that Toronto looks to exploit tonight as JV should be lining up against Nikola Jokic who averages less than a block per game.

Five games remain, all on the road, before All-Star mania hits Toronto.

The Raptors have built up some serious momentum heading into this road trip, winning 11 straight. With a win tonight they can match a franchise-record of five consecutive road wins.

On paper, it appears T.O. would be favourites in all five games with the combined records of Denver, Phoenix, Portland, Detroit and Minnesota sitting at 94-149 as of today. Once the clock starts, pre-game predictions no longer matter and the Raps will know that after falling to both the Nuggets and Suns earlier in the season and squeaking out a tight victory over Detroit the other night.

With another game on the road in Chicago following All-Star weekend, the team won’t play at home again until February 21st when they host the Memphis Grizzlies at Air Canada Centre.

While players and fans are understandably on a high having not lost since January 4th, one man who is paid to never be satisfied is Dwane Casey. Coach was not too pleased with how his team ended the game against Detroit and is aware of the warning signs.

“This game is fleeting; you can win 11 in a row and also you can lose seven, eight in a row if you continue to play with the lack of focus we did in the fourth quarter. Hopefully we learn from it and continue to go. We have to learn from it,” said Casey postgame Saturday.

Mid-February in Toronto should be an exciting time for all with All-Star activities a-plenty and having two Raptors represented in the midseason classic. There are still five games to go and that has to be all the team is focused on.

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Game Day: Raptors @ Nuggets

Will Barton hit two free throws to give the Denver Nuggets a four-point lead with 2.4 seconds remaining. Kyle Lowry hit a three-pointer from halfcourt at the buzzer, but the Nuggets walked away with a 106-105 win. The Raptors moved to 12-8 on the season with the loss.

Once again the Raptors found themselves with a large halftime deficit after another slow start. Toronto allowed the Nuggets to jump out to an 18-point lead midway through the second quarter before trimming it to 14 at the half. The Raptors went into the fourth trailing by 10 and got within two points, but were unable to get the stops they needed down the stretch as the Nuggets reeled off a 6-0 run to push their lead back to eight with 3:43 remaining.

DeMar DeRozan scored a game-high 34 points on 14-for-26 shooting to go with five rebounds, and five assists. DeRozan didn’t turn the ball over and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. On the season, DeRozan is averaging 21 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists.

Cory Joseph came off the bench to score 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting. He scored eight of his points in the third where he was 3-for-3 from the floor as the Raptors mounted their comeback. Joseph added four rebounds, two assists and two steals in 28 minutes.

It’s tough. We can’t be the ones complaining because we’re the ones doing it to ourselves. If we win, cool, and we realize how hard we have to work to win. When we lose, we could have done this [hard work] early in the first quarter, so we have to get better at that.”- DeMar DeRozan on the effort it takes trying to come back in games after slow starts

44… Percent shooting from beyond the arc for the Nuggets, who made 12 of their 27 attempts from deep. The Raptors connected on eight of 27 attempts (30 percent).30… Assists for the Nuggets on 38 made field goals. In comparison, the Raptors recorded 21 assists on 39 made field goals.4… Despite the loss, the Raptors recorded a season-low five turnovers in the game.

“Teams are coming out aggressive and we aren’t matching their intensity. We have to figure out how to match other team’s intensity or come out with more ourselves.”- Kyle Lowry on slow starts“Consistency. We’ve got to get to a level of play that we decide we’re going to play at from the start of the game to the end of the game. We can’t wait to get our teeth kicked in before we start to play. That’s been our M.O. Whether we change the starting unit or change whatever the rotation is just to get that jumpstart, we have to do it because it’s too many games in a row now that we get out and dig ourselves a hole, no matter who it is, and we have to dig ourselves out of it. It’s just too hard in this league to do that.”- Dwane Casey on needing to improve starts and not face a large deficit before starting to compete“I think the biggest thing is we’ve got to come out with more of a sense of urgency. We’ve got to be more physical on the defensive end. I think we’re not being physical on the defensive end and it’s kind of messing us up on the offensive end. I think it all starts with defence.”- DeMarre Carroll on needing to fix slow starts with defenceI kind of play my role right now, trying to understand guys. Understand what guys I can push, what guys I can’t push, but I think it’s become the time of the year where I've got to be more active, more vocal and do it on the defensive end and get my guys going.”- DeMarre Carroll on learning how to motivate on the defensive end of the floor

The Raptors host the undefeated Golden State Warriors at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday at 5 P.M. ET.

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Game Rap: Raptors 105, Nuggets 106

The Raptors (12-7) are back home to finish a back-to-back tonight versus the Nuggets (6-13). Toronto is fresh off a come-from-behind win in Atlanta behind a 31 point performance from Kyle Lowry. Denver meanwhile is in the midst of an eight-game losing streak after falling to the Bulls in Chicago last night.

Danilo Gallinari – The Nuggets small forward is having a bounce back year after recovering from an ACL tear suffered in 2013. Through 19 games, Gallinari is averaging a career best 17 points and 5 rebounds per game. Denver is going through a tough stretch and is still trying to adjust to the loss of starting point guard Ty Lawson. The team relies heavily on Gallinari's offence and will hope he can help break their eight game skid.

Kyle Lowry –  Not even the flu could stop Kyle Lowry last night. Toronto's 6'0 point guard turned it up a notch yesterday, specifically in the fourth quarter, pouring in a franchise record 22 points in the final frame en route to a Raptors victory. Lowry's season averages of 21 points, six assists and three steals per game have been a main reason the Raps have come through a difficult stretch in the schedule with a 12-7 record.

Check out highlights from last night in Atlanta.

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Game Day: Raptors vs. Nuggets

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DENVER (CP) – Kyle Lowry and Lou Williams stepped up for Toronto down the stretch, and it was too much for the struggling Denver Nuggets.

Lowry had 30 points and 11 assists, and the Raptors beat the Nuggets 116-102 on Sunday night.

Williams scored 31 points as the Eastern Conference-leading Raptors completed a sweep of the season series against Denver. They also beat the Nuggets 112-107 in overtime on Dec. 8.

The Raptors, who have won seven of eight, got 10 points apiece from Lowry and Williams in a 28-point fourth quarter.

"Lou got hot and made some shots and we stuck with our principles," Lowry said. "We knew if we stayed the course and played our game we'd be all right."

Ty Lawson led Denver with 28 points, and Wilson Chandler had 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Kenneth Faried, who had 26 points and a career-best 25 rebounds in Friday's win over Minnesota, had 17 points and 19 boards for the Nuggets, who have lost three of four.

"It was frustrating in the fourth quarter," Faried said. "We couldn't score a bucket for some reason. And when we did, they had an answer for it. Lowry and Williams got really hot."

Toronto, coming off a 12-point win at the Clippers on Saturday, led by one when Williams hit two free throws and a 3-pointer to give the Raptors a 100-94 lead. After Nate Robinson missed a 3-pointer, Lowry sank two foul shots to push the lead to eight.

The lead grew to 109-98 on a three-point play by Lowry with 3:59 left. Denver never got closer than nine the rest of the way.

"When Lou gets it going you want to find him," Lowry said. "Our team's like that. We're unselfish. We want everyone to be successful."

The Nuggets were swept in the season series for the first time since 2003-04.

"Sixty-one points between Lou Williams and Lowry were too much to overcome," coach Brian Shaw said. "We didn't crowd their shooters so they rose up and they shot 3-point shots with a high comfort level. That was the difference. We had to grind out for the shots we got and they were comfortable with the shots they got."

Faried's layup midway through the third quarter gave Denver a 76-75 lead. Toronto went back up by four but a steal and layup and a jumper by Nate Robinson cut the Raptors' lead to 88-87 heading into the fourth.

Toronto's reserves played a key role in the series sweep. The Raptors' backups outscored Denver's 49-17 in the earlier win. Sunday, the margin was 53-20 for the Raptors, led by Williams' 31.

"Our bench gave us great energy. Lou gave us energy," coach Dwane Casey said. "I thought that was very important."

Raptors: Guard Landry Fields missed his fourth straight game because of a concussion. Fields has passed two of the three tests to be able to return, Casey said. "My understanding is he passed a couple parts of it," Casey said. "But there is another area that he still has to pass. And he has to do it under stress."

Nuggets: Forward Darrell Arthur played for the first time after sitting three games. He missed the first two because of a strained lower left leg and sat out the third because he hadn't taken part in a full practice coming off the injury.

Nuggets

Game Rap: Raptors 93, Nuggets 112

Game Day: Raptors @ Nuggets

Game Rap: Raptors 105, Nuggets 106

Game Day: Raptors vs. Nuggets

Lowry And Lou Lift Raptors To Victory In Denver