The Canadian Press
TORONTO—The night marked a milestone for coach Dwane Casey and saw the Toronto Raptors play with their full starting lineup in more than a month.
The victory also boosted the Raptors to 20 wins before the New Year for just the second time in franchise history.
Still, the narrow 94-91 victory over the Washington Wizards last night had Casey angry over what he called one of the team’s worst offensive performances this season.
“It is very rare that you shoot 34 percent and put yourself in the position to win the game . . . and 18 turnovers,” Casey noted.
“That’s probably as bad offensively as we have played all year.”
DeMar DeRozan netted 34 points while Bismack Biyombo had a game-high 12 rebounds plus 12 points.
Terrence Ross finished with 14 points and Kyle Lowry had 11 for Toronto (20-13), which also won 20 games before New Year’s Day last season.
Jonas Valanciunus, who missed 17 games with a broken hand, made his first start since Nov. 20.
And with DeMarre Carroll’s return from a knee injury, Toronto’s starting lineup finally was back intact.
“It felt good,” DeRozan said. “[But] we are still trying to get [Valanciunas] back into game speed and [Carroll] with his limited minutes.
“Every game is going to be a process and I think we will continue to get better,” he added.
“It feels great to be healthy again.”
Otto Porter Jr. had 20 points to top Washington (14-16) while John Wall added 19.
It was the Wizards’ first trip to Toronto since they embarrassed the Raptors with their four-game sweep in the first round of last season’s playoffs.
Meanwhile, the night marked another milestone for Casey, who tied Sam Mitchell for most games coached in franchise history (345).
“Who keeps up with that crap?” said Casey—clearly not much for milestones.
When prodded, he replied, “I’m thankful to the players, ownership, front office for giving us an opportunity to be here. . . .
“It hasn’t been easy growing the program and developing it, and getting to where it is, we’re not done yet, we’re still growing,” Casey stressed.
“We’re not where we’re going to be, or need to be yet.”
The Raptors next host the Charlotte Hornets on New Year’s Day.
