BOSTON—The Toronto Raptors played Wednesday night without leading scorer DeMar DeRozan, who missed his fifth game of the last six with a sore right ankle.
While everyone would like him to be playing, they also understand the need for prudence.
“It’s better that it happens now, rather than in April,” Patrick Patterson said. “With him, it’s all about being 100-per-cent pain-free, being able to do everything he wants to do and play the way he wants to play before he comes back.
“I know he wants to get out here as soon as possible, but we’ll do our best to hold it down. We need him 100 per cent before he steps back on the court.”
DeRozan will be re-examined in Orlando on Thursday and may go through Friday’s shootaround before his availability for that night’s game with the Magic is determined.
Even without DeRozan, the Raptors have some talent that needs to be respected.
“I think when you plug in Norman Powell you’ve got a very, very capable guy,” Boston coach Brad Stevens said before Wednesday’s game. “He’s a guy that came in and (scored) 20 the first time we played. Every time it seems like he plays big minutes or starts, he has huge games.
“They’re a little bit smaller, they shoot more threes. Obviously, DeMar’s a great player (but) this is a really good team that’s figured out how to play with and without him.”
FORGETTABLE MONTH: It’s a new month and the Raptors hope to start a new streak.
They finished January with an 8-9 record, the first time they’ve had a losing month since they were 7-8 in March, 2015.
Toronto had its worst month in field-goal percentage (45.2 per cent), three-point shooting (34.7 per cent), assists (16.8 per game) and points per game (107.4), and allowed teams to shoot a season-high 45.9 per cent and score 107.9 points per game.
The Raptors did, however, get to 30 wins before the 50-game mark for the third straight season. They were 30-19 before facing the Celtics here Wednesday night.
LONG-RANGE THINKING: Kyle Lowry is having the best three-point shooting season of his career, making them at a 43-per-cent clip going into Wednesday’s game after never shooting 40 per cent in his career.
He also began the game against the Celtics just eight three-pointers away from passing Morris Peterson sahabet giriş (801) atop the franchise leader list.
SMALL TALK: Raptors coach Dwane Casey heaped some major praise on all-star Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas.
“Tiny Archibald is one that he reminds you of as far as his speed and quickness, he’s probably quicker that Archibald was at the time,” Casey said, evoking the name of a hall-of-famer.
“(Thomas) does a great job of putting pressure on the defence. He’s so crafty as far as moving the defensive centre so if you’re defensive centre isn’t on time or target or where he’s supposed to be, he really takes advantage of it. And he does a great job of cross-graining, moving and then going back against the grain.
“He’s very crafty.”
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