The Toronto Raptors’ first game in Atlanta this season was supposed to be about the return of DeMarre Carroll.
However, the former Hawk who moved north in the off-season was merely a spectator during winning time and, instead, it was a man who never played for the Hawks but was a throw-in in a trade between the two teams who took the floor Wednesday night and stole the show.
In June of 2014 Lucas Nogueira came to Toronto from Atlanta with Lou Williams in a trade for the right to John Salmons. Now, both of the other men in the deal are with other organizations and “Bebe” was the difference that tipped the scales in Toronto’s favour.
The Raptors were down 17 in the third quarter but the lead felt like twice that because of how inept they were offensively.
The key to the comeback was maximizing offensive possessions and making Atlanta work when they had the ball.
Toronto committed only three turnovers in the second half after committing 10 in the first, it out rebounded Atlanta by seven and held the Hawks to just 36.7 per cent shooting on the night – the seventh time the Raptors have held opponents to under 40 per cent this season.
Nogueira played a significant role in those numbers.
“Lucas came in and played a hell of a game on both ends,” Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan told reports after the game. “Got in the right spots and got a rhythm going offensively.”
The Raptors were plus-22 with Nogueira on the floor, even though he played just 17 minutes. Before Wednesday, Nogueira had just 11 minutes played on the season.
The seven-footer’s length inside was paramount in disrupting the shots and space of the Hawks’ undersized front line of Al Horford and Paul Millsap.
Raptors coach Dwane Casey was pleased he got such a strong output from a player who wasn’t expected to feature heavily.
“He did an excellent job,” Casey said. “Again, like I tell all the young guys, be ready. And he was ready. I just commended him in front of the team.”
The bench’s most surprising contributor fortified the defence while its steadiest member contributed to the offence.
Cory Joseph chipped in 10 points, carrying a reserve unit that, once again, struggled to score. Joseph has now been the scoring leader off the bench 13 times this season.
The Raptors’ two-guard lineup was also deadly to close the game, again.
Taking turns operating side pick-and-rolls, Joseph and Kyle Lowry both got in the lane with ease off Nogueira screens. What the biggest and smallest members on the bench did was allow Lowry enough support to keep the Raptors close.
Lowry left in the first half with flu-like symptoms after a sequence where he turned the ball over offensively and fouled Kyle Korver behind the three-point line on defence.
Despite being blown out, Lowry returned and in one of his best performances in a Raptors uniform with 31 points, five rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes.
He had a franchise-record 22 fourth-quarter points, alone. The Raptors all-star simply refused to let his team lose.
Dwane Casey appreciated the toughness of his leader.
“Kyle was sick at half time,” Casey said. “We were worried we wouldn’t have enough to go. He found a way, he was a soldier down the stretch and found a way to win.”
Lowry got better as the game wore on. In two consecutive Raptors comeback wins Lowry has out played Eastern Conference all-star point guards. On Wednesday he held Jeff Teague to just 11 points on five-for-16 shooting.
DeRozan was equally impressed.
“Kyle just took over. I told him win the game for us and that’s what he did.”
Toronto has now won their last three games in Atlanta and improved to an Eastern-Conference best 52-43 on the road since 2013. The Raptors’ resilient road mentality that was on display once again has to be a credit to Casey, whose team is starting take on his fighter’s attitude.
“Defence travels. Whether it’s home or the road, and that was the difference in the game. Making our mind up that we were going to defend.”
After playing a league-high 13 of their 19 games on the road, the Raptors return home. The next six games are at Air Canada Centre, although the home stand starts with the second night of a back-to-back Thursday against the Denver Nuggets.
The Raptors were carried by their all-star, their most consistent contributor, and a pleasant surprise that was in the D-League just a couple weeks ago.
It wasn’t pretty or conventional, but it’s a window in how Casey will have to patchwork wins together as his team battles injury and depth issues.