|
 Lowry, who will find out Thursday whether he will be included in
the game in New Orleans, scored a season-best 33 points and added 11
assists and seven rebounds Wednesday to lead the Raptors to a 98-83
victory over the Orlando Magic.
With guard DeMar DeRozan out with an injury, Lowry's role has become
even more important. He scored 17 points in the first quarter and
was 5-for-5 in 3-pointers in the first 12 minutes.
"He's stepped it up. He set the tone the first half with his 3s,
just his aggressive play," coach Dwane Casey said. "It means a lot,
just his veteran leadership out there on the court. You can't say
enough. I keep my fingers crossed that the coaches voted him in
because he deserves it. He's one of the best point guards in the
league right now."
"I would be very honored; it would be a great individual
accomplishment," said Lowry, who fell three points shy of his career
high for points in a game.
"He looked like an All-Star tonight," Magic forward Tobias Harris
said. "On the pick-and-roll, he's tough to guard. He shot the ball
real well. They just picked us apart."
"He was very tough. He got it going early," Magic coach Jacque
Vaughn said. "We had a comfort level throughout the course of the
game, but the early shots dictated the rest of the game for him."
Forward Amir Johnson added 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the
Raptors (24-21), center Jonas Valanciunas contributed 14 points and
15 rebounds and guard-forward Terrence Ross had 12 points and eight
rebounds.
"We're getting better," Lowry said. "We're grinding it out every
day. We go out there and play with a sense of urgency every single
night no matter who we're playing."
Center Nikola Vucevic returned from a concussion to score 16 points
and add 10 rebounds for the Magic (12-35), who lost their third game
in a row and their 10th straight on the road.
"I thought overall he rebounded the basketball. He looked very
similar to the Nik that we're accustomed to seeing," Vaughn said of
Vucevic.
Guard Jameer Nelson added 13 points for Orlando, forward Victor
Oladipo chipped in 12, forward Arron Afflalo scored 10 and Harris
scored nine and grabbed 11 rebounds.
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"They were much more aggressive at both ends of the court than us,
attacking the ballhandlers and, on the pick-and-roll, affecting the
ball for that split second so the big man can get back," Nelson
said. "We were just too soft defensively. We've got to get back in
transition. We just have to get better and prepare for out next
opponent."
The Raptors maintained their 15-point halftime lead entering the
fourth quarter, but the Magic reduced the margin to 11 when forward
Kyle O'Quinn made a jumper. The Raptors came back to lead by 18 with
2:34 left after Valanciunas made a dunk and a layup.
Toronto led 55-40 at intermission, but Nelson's 3-pointer cut the
lead to eight with 7:20 left in the third quarter. Johnson pushed
the advantage back to 15 after he scored on a running layup and then
completed an alley-oop dunk from Lowry's pass. Ross had an alley-oop
dunk and Lowry added a turnaround jumper to extend Toronto's lead to
19. The Raptors were on top 80-65 after three quarters.
Forward Steve Novak hit two consecutive 3-pointers to bump Toronto's
lead to 15 points with 6:37 to play in the second quarter. The
Raptors held that margin at halftime after Vucevic closed the second
quarter with two free throws. Lowry had 20 points on 7-for-11
shooting in the first half.
Lowry had four assists with his 17 points as the Raptors led 33-20
after the first quarter. The Raptors were 8-for-8 from 3-point range
in the quarter. The eight 3-pointers equaled a franchise record for
a quarter, a mark set in 2009.
NOTES: Magic C Nikola Vucevic (concussion) started after missing 12
games Jan. 8-28. ... Toronto F Patrick Patterson did not play after
having a procedure to reset his broken nose, but F Tyler Hansbrough
(left ankle bone bruise) was in uniform after missing 14 games.
Hansbrough played six scoreless minutes. ... Raptors G DeMar DeRozan
(left foot sprain) missed his second consecutive game since being
injured during Saturday's loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. DeRozan
will accompany the team on its Western trip that begins Friday in
Denver. ... Toronto C Jonas Valanciunas and Orlando G Victor Oladipo
were selected to participate in the BBVA Compass Rising Stars
Challenge on Feb. 14 during All-Star Weekend in New Orleans. Each
team will consist of nine rookies and sophomores.
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