The Canadian Press
TORONTO–DeMar DeRozan joked that with the early start time yesterday afternoon, the Toronto Raptors would need their young players to step up against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Delon Wright answered with a team-high 15 points, four steals, and four rebounds in 25 minutes of work off the bench as the Raptors beat the Grizzlies 101-86.
“Give ’em credit for the game today,” said DeRozan, who chipped in with 13 points. “They came out with a lot of energy.
“They did what they were supposed to do and they got us this win today,” he noted.
Fred Van Vleet added 13 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds in 28 minutes while Jonas Valanciunas chipped in 12 points, nine rebounds, and three assists.
Kyle Lowry netted 11 points in the victory. The Philadelphia native, and Eagles’ fan, was in a hurry post-game to make his chartered flight bound for Minneapolis and Super Bowl LII.
The Raptors (36-16) have won five-straight at home against the Grizzlies (18-34).
Toronto improved to 21-4 on home court this season and 7-3 in its past 10 games.
“Pascal [Siakam] and ‘Jak’ [Jakob Poeltl]–we all did a good job of being up so I think that helped get some energy into the game, and we were able to get some stops and allowed us to play freely,” Wright said.
The Grizzlies dropped to 5-19 on the road this season and now have lost three in a row.
Memphis was paced by Marc Gasol, who had a game-high 20 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
Andrew Harrison had 16 points and four rebounds while Mississauga, Ont. native Dillon Brooks chipped in with 12 points and five rebounds.
“It was a dream come true playing at Air Canada Centre where you are from, where you watched [games] since you were seven years old and seeing the team grow,” noted Brooks.
“Now playing against them is a dream.”
The Raptors jumped out with a 12-4 surge to lead 88-78 with 7:30 to play in the fourth.
Then with 2:34 remaining, Siakam capped a 6-0 run with a lay-up, pushing Toronto’s lead to 15.
“I thought these are the scariest games in the fact that you look out there and you don’t see Mike Conley, you don’t see [Chandler] Parsons, whoever it is with Memphis, and human nature is to let down,” said Raptors’ coach Dwane Casey.
“I was afraid of that to start the game and it happened, but our young guys they brought the energy,” he added.
“They did what they’re supposed to do.”
Elsewhere, Atlanta shaded New York 99-96, Boston nipped Portland 97-96, Milwaukee beat Brooklyn 109-94, the L.A. Lakers upended Oklahoma City 108-104, and Charlotte downed Phoenix 115-110.
