Hardwood Highlight of the Night: Unselfish Raptors create easy basket
The loss of DeMar DeRozan to a groin injury has been difficult for the Toronto Raptors, as most expected.
Entering play Monday, the Raptors were 3.6 points per-100 possessions better with their top scorer on the floor, and had gone just 2-2 without him after a 13-3 start with him in the fold. The Raptors beat the Denver Nuggets 112-107 on Monday, once again stumbling without their All-Star, but ultimately hanging on.
Because the Raptors are deep at the guard position, DeRozan's absence has actually been felt more on the defensive end than the offensive one. To try and make up for DeRozan's singular scoring absence, the Raptors have worked to share the ball more, tallying 20 or more assists in four of the five games he's missed (they had only done so eight times in DeRozan's 16 games).
Against the Nuggets, the Raptors put some of that selflessness on display, with Patrick Patterson and Kyle Lowry both dishing nifty passes to get Jonas Valanciunas an easy bucket in the fourth quarter.
The play began in the same way a lot of Raptors' plays do, with a high variation of their horns formation. Rather than the bigs at the elbow and two wings in the corners, the Raptors set up high, with one wing - Lowry - staying high as a second pick-and-roll threat.
The Raptors make a few inconsequential moves to get the defense thinking, with Greivis Vasquez swinging the ball to Patterson after a loose screen, and Patterson swinging it to Lowry. Patterson then screens for Lowry, with the Raptors attempting to empty out the strong side and create space if that action bears fruit.
Ty Lawson chooses to play the pick-and-roll curiously, chasing Lowry over the screen and leaving Darrell Arthur to handle Lowry's drive. That leaves Patterson wide open, in itself a decent result for this possession.
Patterson opts to drive and Arthur seals him off, forcing Patterson to post up and look for a pass instead. That's when Lowry's trickery comes into play - Lowry runs to the top of the 3-point line, calling for a pass and a reset of the offense, but instead quickly darts back down the lane.
Lowry collects the pass, forcing Timofey Mozgov to provide help against an easy layup, which frees Valanciunas right beneath the basket.
A lot of this play comes down to Lowry fooling Lawson with his quick change of direction, but Patterson makes a great read and a good bounce-pass and, well, Lowry's excellent play is always worth examining closely.
(Courtesy: NBA, TSN)