Toronto Raptors thrash Nowitzki-less Mavericks 84-76
On Tuesday night the offensive prowess of the league leaders Dallas Mavericks deserted them with the absence of injured Dirk Nowitzki, as they holed out 84-76 to an extremely short-handed Toronto Raptors at the American Airlines Centre.
The Raptors were also struggling with injuries coming into the game. They were without their leading scorer (Andreas Bargnani), starting point guard (Jose Calderon), starting small forward (Sony Weems) and top long range threat (Peja Stojakovic). During
the night, things got even more complicated for Toronto, as Linas Kleiza was shown the exit due to a double technical ejection in the third quarter, and Jerryd Bayless left due to an ugly ankle injury in the fourth.
But in the face of adversity the Raptors held their own as they fought off the Mavericks to squeak out a surprise win. The Mavericks on the other hand had a tough time adjusting to Nowitzki’s absence. Although solid in defence - holding the away team to
84 points - they could not just find their shots and when Dallas did score, the Raptors always had a counter punch.
Rookie Ed Davis led the visitor’s surge with a career best 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Linas Kleiza and DeMar DeRozan added 16 points apiece as the Raptors won their first away game of the season. The result also meant that Toronto halted a 10- match
losing streak against Dallas. Toronto romped into action with as they completely outran the Mavericks defence to carve out a 14-7 spurt in the first five minutes. Dallas on the other hand had a horror start, as they committed seven turnovers in the first 12
minutes of play. To make matters worse their shooting completely stilted as they managed only 4-of-20 from the floor, and drained all six of their three-point attempts.
The Raptors cashed in the sloppy Mavericks play, as they held them to their season low 13 points in the opening stanza. Davis, who led his team with seven points in the first quarter, slammed a thunderous dunk to start the second as the Raptors increased
their advantage to 25-13. Stung hard by the Raptors assault, the Mavericks offence finally came to life as Caron Butler nailed a shot to jump-start a 12-point unanswered run within a span of three minutes, which drew them level at 25-all.
The Raptors though answered fire with fire as they blazed away with a 14-2 spurt to restore their dominance. Caron Butler however kept Dallas in the hunt, as he nailed three consecutive jumpers followed by a three-pointer from Jason Terry to make it a six-point
game, going into half time. The topsy-turvy trend continued into the second half as the match swung from one end to the other. The Raptors never allowed the Mavs within a four-point barrier though, as they slowly marched towards victory.
Jason Terry, who has been the fourth quarter sensation this season for the Mavericks, again started the last 12 minutes in style and scored the first five Dallas points to pull to within three points. The Raptors though seemed to have all the bases covered
on the night, as they countered vociferously with a 14-6 stretch to take an 81-70 advantage into the last three minutes of play.
The Raptors never came under any threat from there on, as the Mavericks continued their cold shooting from both inside and outside the arc. The low scoring encounter culminated at 84-76, as Toronto pulled off a remarkable performance. They not only out-rebounded
the physically strong Mavericks 42-35, but also pounded them 48-24 in the paint. Jason Terry came off the bench to lead the Mavs with 18 points and 6 assists, while Caron Butler slipped in 15 points on a 7-for-16 shooting. Shawn Marion was the only other Dallas
player to enter into the double figures, finishing with 12 points as the Mavericks shot at a dismal 41.3 percent from the floor. They also shot 22.7 percent from downtown and 75 percent from the free throw line.
Mavericks guard Jose Barea, who scored seven points put the whole night in perspective as he said, "They just outplayed us. They played great defence on us and we couldn't execute. They just outplayed us. They outplayed us at both ends."
Tags: