No second-half let-down for Lowry this year; Joseph soaring; That’s what Raptors need from James Johnson

After notching just 12 assists against Memphis, Toronto’s offence was much better against New York on Monday night – no big surprise considering the opposition – and managed 26 assists. Kyle Lowry’s now had at least seven in six straight games and is averaging more than six per game, 13th in the NBA. He’s also sixth in made three-pointers, 15th in scoring and is a fraction away from being tied for second in steals.
Lowry’s game cratered in the second half last season and there were fears that might happen again, but Lowry is shutting down any of that talk. After a bit of slippage in December, he has roared back, shooting 45.1% last month, 47.1% this month, including about 40% from three in January and February. He’s also raised his assists while lowering his turnovers, which isn’t easy to do.
Participating in the all-star festivities doesn’t seem to have impacted him either, as he has shot 50% from the floor in the three games since.
If this keeps up in March and April, Lowry deserves to join Vince Carter and Chris Bosh as the only Raptors to make an All-NBA team.
SOLID JOB
James Johnson did exactly what was asked of him and what the Raptors signed him for. He bodied up Carmelo Anthony, getting physical with one of the NBA’s most gifted scorers, making him fight to get to his favoured spots. At some point, after all of the banging, Anthony simply decided that he didn’t want to work anymore for easier looks. Johnson also added 12 points and was a game-best +25. Lowry will get the props, but Johnson was Toronto’s unsung hero on this night.
When he is in control, taking what is given to him and not trying to force plays, Johnson can be extremely useful.
When Johnson subbed out and DeMar DeRozan had to shift to small forward, the defensive results weren’t pretty. Anthony’s eyes lit up. DeRozan is about an average defender against shooting guards, but when he needs to check small forwards, especially the bigger ones like Anthony and Joe Johnson, it is nearly always a disaster.
That’s where they really miss having both DeMarre Carroll and Johnson as options.
EASING HIS WAY IN
Jonas Valanciunas had a tough start to the game, finding Robin Lopez’s underrated defensive abilities tough to fight through, but he eventually got it going and ended up with 20 points.
However, his defence against Lopez left a lot to be desired, which meant a large dose of Bismack Biyombo.
AROUND THE RIM
With Cleveland’s loss, Toronto moved within three games of top spot in the East … A day after holding Memphis to 3-for-20 three-point shooting, the Raptors held New York to 6-for-20 (30%) from three. For a team that has really struggled to guard out there, this is progress … Luis Scola was a +10, a good sign, considering his run of negative games. He still struggled, but at least better things were happening when he was on the court compared to other recent contests … Terrence Ross keeps falling for up-fakes. First it was Vince Carter making him look bad, then Arron Afflalo on Monday. Ross needs to stay down … Cory Joseph continues to excel. He has played well for weeks now and hit two three-pointers for the second game in a row, the first time that’s happened in his career (he had four career two three-pointer games before this back-to-back).