We the North–a Toronto Raptors Franchise

[JoeyKirby]

We the North

Toronto, ON - The 2013-2014 Toronto Raptors weren't exactly designed to be a playoff team last year. They were a team that looked potent team offensively with players like Demar DeRozan, Rudy Gay and Kyle Lowry, though it wasn't until Rudy Gay was dealt to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for bench depth that they became the playoff team that the Raptors fanbase has been waiting for since the teams 2007-2008 season.

Raptors fans have even more of a reason to be excited for the 2014-2015 season as almost all of the roster from the playoff run last year has decided to stay with the team and also due to the signing of James Johnson and trade to acquire talented scoring sixth man Lou Williams and Brazilian centre prospect Lucas "Bebe" Nogueira.

Toronto made some noise in the draft as well as they chose 18-year-old forward Bruno Caboclo with the 20th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft in what many basketball analysts thought was a big time stretch to acquire the "Brazilian Kevin Durant". Raptors GM Masai Ujiri didn't care much for the negative attention that the selection unfortunately brought with it as he had this to say, “Honestly, I don’t do it for reactions of anybody. I don’t know. I shouldn’t say this, but I don’t care. We’re in a business where I can’t react to anything, I just have to maybe do my job and you hope that the best comes out of it. Yeah, is it a gamble? Yes. But I was asking someone, do we remember who the 20th picks of the last 10 drafts are?”

Toronto will look to start off the 2014-2015 season strong as they get set to face off against the Atlanta Hawks who finished with a 38-44 record to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, though they were kicked out by the Pacers in the first round in seven games.

[JoeyKirby]

Raptors top Hawks 128-104 in season opener!

Toronto, ON - The Toronto Raptors open up their year with an overpowering 128-104 victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks in the first game of the 2014-2015 NBA regular season for each team. Raptors guard Kyle Lowry took home player of the game in this one with his 24 point, 12 assist performance to lead his team to the win.

Toronto's Lowry was not the only player on the Raptors to show up tonight offensively as the team had six players in double figures for points. Terrence Ross was terrific as he put up 22 points mostly on spot up three's, Lou Williams had 20 points as well in the win as he helped out a bunch off the bunch and even added two assists.

Paul Millsap led the Hawks offensively with a 19 point, 5 rebound, 3 assist night. Jeff Teague also had 19 points in the losing effort and like Lowry he also had 12 dimes to his name. Atlanta had a relatively tough time on the glass against a smallish front court tonight as the Raps had 42 boards versus 37 for the Hawks.

Toronto's next matchup in their 2014-2015 campaign will come in sunny Florida as they head down to face the 0-1 Orlando Magic who were defeated by the New Orleans Pelicans in a 97-95 in their first game of the year earlier this week on Tuesday.

Atlanta Hawks at Toronto Raptors
Oct 29, 2014	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Atlanta (0-1)	23	22	32	27	104
Toronto (1-0)	27	39	32	30	128

Atlanta Hawks
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
J. Teague	34	8-15	1-2	2-2	0	12	1	0	3	19
K. Korver	29	5-7	0-0	3-3	3	1	1	0	1	13
D. Carroll	33	4-8	1-3	3-4	5	4	0	0	0	12
P. Millsap	34	8-11	1-1	2-6	5	3	2	0	0	19
A. Horford	31	8-10	0-0	0-2	6	2	2	1	3	16
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
D. Schroder	16	1-4	0-2	0-0	0	2	0	0	1	2
T. Sefolosha	15	2-6	2-5	0-0	1	1	0	0	1	6
M. Scott	14	2-3	0-0	3-4	4	2	0	0	0	7
E. Brand	14	1-5	0-0	0-0	2	0	0	1	0	2
K. Bazemore	13	3-5	2-3	0-2	2	0	1	0	0	8
S. Mack	4	0-2	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
P. Antic	3	0-1	0-0	0-0	4	0	0	0	1	0
TEAM TOTALS		42-77	7-17	13-23	37	27	7	2	10	104

Toronto Raptors
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
K. Lowry	30	10-15	1-3	3-3	3	12	0	0	2	24
D. DeRozan	27	7-10	1-2	3-4	1	2	0	0	3	18
T. Ross	30	7-10	4-5	4-4	1	1	0	0	0	22
A. Johnson	27	4-6	0-0	0-0	9	2	1	0	0	8
J. Valanciunas	27	4-7	0-0	2-2	6	0	5	1	1	10
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
P. Patterson	21	1-11	1-6	0-0	9	1	0	1	0	3
L. Williams	20	7-10	3-4	3-3	0	2	0	0	1	20
J. Johnson	18	0-1	0-0	2-2	2	2	1	2	0	2
T. Hansbrough	18	1-2	0-0	3-4	5	0	0	1	0	5
G. Vasquez	18	5-8	4-4	2-2	0	5	1	0	0	16
G. Stiemsma	4	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	0	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS		46-80	14-24	22-24	42	27	8	5	7	128

[JoeyKirby]

Raptors handle Magic 112-100 in Orlando!

Orlando, FL - The Toronto Raptors pick up their first win of the season in their second game as they defeat the Orlando Magic with a final score of 112-100 for the visiting team. The Raptors were led to victory by their guards Kyle Lowry and Demar DeRozan who did a great job of facilitating the offense and finding looks for every player on the court to keep everyone involved. Lowry finished the night with 18 points and 14 assists whilst DeRozan finished with 21 points and 5 assists.

Demar DeRozan led the team from a scoring perspective as he put up 21 on a very efficient 8-13 from the field. Bigman Jonas Valanviunas put up his second consecutive double-double in the victory as he put up 18 points and grabbed 14 boards.

Orlando guard Victor Oladipo led his team in scoring in this one as he put up 17 points in 28 minutes. Orlando's big man Nikola Vucevic had a double-double of his own as he put up 15 and 14 and veteran Ben Gordon also help out with his scoring ability off the bench as he put up 16 points in 15 minutes of play with excellent efficiency.

Toronto will continue their road trip tomorrow with another game in the state of Florida, this time they'll head down to Miami to face Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and the rest of the Miami Heat.

Toronto Raptors at Orlando Magic
Nov 1, 2014	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Toronto (1-1)	21	27	31	33	112
Orlando (1-2)	18	33	21	28	100

Toronto Raptors
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
K. Lowry	32	7-9	4-5	0-0	3	14	6	0	0	18
D. DeRozan	33	8-13	2-4	3-3	1	5	0	0	2	21
T. Ross	24	5-11	1-4	4-5	3	2	0	1	0	15
A. Johnson	26	2-7	0-1	2-4	3	0	0	0	1	6
J. Valanciunas	34	8-14	0-0	2-2	14	0	2	1	0	18
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
P. Patterson	23	4-7	2-2	2-4	5	1	0	3	0	12
J. Johnson	21	1-5	1-3	0-0	2	0	0	4	0	3
L. Williams	20	4-14	2-7	0-0	1	6	0	0	0	10
G. Vasquez	16	1-1	1-1	1-2	1	2	0	0	0	4
T. Hansbrough	11	2-5	0-0	1-2	2	0	1	0	1	5
TEAM TOTALS		42-86	13-27	15-22	38	30	9	9	4	112

Orlando Magic
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
E. Payton	28	0-3	0-1	3-4	3	13	0	1	2	3
V. Oladipo	28	7-11	1-3	2-4	3	3	0	1	4	17
T. Harris	29	3-9	1-3	6-6	6	2	1	1	0	13
A. Gordon	25	5-7	0-1	1-2	4	0	0	0	0	11
N. Vucevic	31	7-15	0-0	1-2	14	1	0	0	1	15
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
C. Frye	21	0-5	0-1	1-2	8	0	0	0	3	1
K. O'Quinn	20	4-6	1-1	2-2	5	1	0	1	2	11
E. Fournier	18	2-5	0-2	0-0	3	1	0	0	2	4
B. Gordon	15	6-7	2-3	2-2	2	1	1	0	2	16
L. Ridnour	13	1-2	0-1	0-0	1	3	0	0	1	2
M. Harkless	12	2-7	2-4	1-2	3	0	0	0	1	7
TEAM TOTALS		37-77	7-20	19-26	53	25	2	4	18	100

[JoeyKirby]

Raps fall to Heat 102-91 in Miami!

Miami, FL - The Toronto Raptors fall to the Miami Heat in their third game of the year as they are handed their second loss on the young season. Former Raptor Chris Bosh played a pivotal role in the outcome of this game as he finished up with 28 points to lead his team to victory.

Demar DeRozan led the team on offense once again as he put up 20 points on 6-14 from the field. Kyle Lowry had a strong game to help with secondary scoring as he put up 16 points on 6-10 from the field and 8 assists while Jonas collected another double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Goran Dragic didn't shy away from calling his own shot in this one as he jacked up 23 shots from the field and nailed 10 of them on his way to a 29 point, 6 assist night against the Raptors. The aforementioned Chris Bosh did well to help out with 28 points of his own and Dwayne Wade played an astounding 40 minutes in the game and scored 16 points while dishing 7 dimes.

Toronto will face off against the powerhouse Oklahoma City Thunder in their next game on November 4th inside the Air Canada Center in Toronto. Oklahoma currently has a 1-2 record on the year and most recently thrashed the Denver Nuggets by a final score of 124-91.

Toronto Raptors at Miami Heat
Nov 2, 2014	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Toronto (1-2)	35	21	16	19	91
Miami (3-0)	28	28	21	25	102

Toronto Raptors
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
K. Lowry	33	6-10	2-6	2-2	3	8	1	0	0	16
D. DeRozan	31	6-14	0-2	8-9	2	3	0	0	3	20
T. Ross	25	11-5	0-2	0-0	1	2	1	0	2	2
A. Johnson	26	4-6	1-1	0-2	9	0	0	0	3	9
J. Valanciunas	35	5-13	0-0	3-5	12	0	1	0	1	13
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
P. Patterson	22	2-6	0-1	3-5	7	0	0	0	4	7
L. Williams	22	2-9	1-5	4-4	1	4	1	0	1	9
J. Johnson	20	3-4	1-2	0-0	6	0	1	0	1	7
G. Vasquez	15	1-1	0-0	3-4	2	4	0	0	2	5
T. Hansbrough	11	1-2	0-0	1-2	1	0	0	0	0	3
TEAM TOTALS		31-70	5-19	24-33	47	21	5	0	17	91

Miami Heat
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
G. Dragic	33	10-23	3-9	6-6	6	5	2	0	0	29
D. Wade	40	7-18	2-4	0-0	4	7	1	1	2	16
L. Deng	29	4-10	0-3	5-7	3	1	3	1	1	13
C. Bosh	34	8-15	0-4	12-16	9	3	0	1	1	28
H. Whiteside	27	2-5	0-0	0-2	7	0	0	1	1	4
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
M. Chalmers	22	1-4	1-4	0-0	0	4	2	0	3	3
C. Andersen	22	1-3	0-0	2-4	13	1	1	0	1	4
J. McRoberts	19	2-2	1-1	0-0	2	0	0	0	0	5
U. Haslem	14	0-2	0-0	0-0	5	0	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS		35-82	7-25	25-35	49	22	9	4	9	102

[JoeyKirby]

Raptors upset Thunder 107-99 at home!

Toronto, ON - The Raptors shock the Oklahoma City Thunder with a 107-99 victory at home in front of a sold out crowd at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Jonas Valanciunas led the way for the Raptors on offense and for that he was awarded player of the game for his 22 point performance.

The aforementioned Jonas Valanciunas led the way for the Raptors offensively but there were many other great contributions to the win. Demar DeRozan helped out with 18 points and 6 assists, Kyle Lowry had 16 points, and James Johnson put up 14 points in extended playing time as he was chosen by Raptors coach Dwane Casey to try and slow down KD.

The Raptors successfully slowed down Kevin Durant with James Johnson but that didn't stop Russell Westbrook as he put up 29 points and grabbed 17 boards in a terrific individual performance. Although Kevin Durant only put up 18 points, he picked his shots very well as he shot a very efficient 7-13.

Toronto will head out to Boston, Massachusetts for their fifth game of the year and they'll face off against the 3-0 Celtics tomorrow night.

Oklahoma City Thunder at Toronto Raptors
Nov 4, 2015	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Oklahoma City (2-3)	25	20	26	28	99
Toronto (2-2)	31	24	23	29	107

Oklahoma City Thunder
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
R. Westbrook	39	7-20	4-14	11-14	17	10	2	0	3	29
D. Waiters	34	2-12	0-5	4-6	2	6	0	0	1	8
K. Durant	38	7-13	2-4	2-2	6	6	4	0	3	18
S. Ibaka	32	2-5	0-0	0-0	4	0	2	1	1	4
E. Kanter	30	5-13	3-3	2-3	9	0	0	0	1	15
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
D. Augustine	21	3-5	0-2	0-0	2	3	0	0	2	6
S. Adams	18	3-5	0-0	7-7	5	0	0	0	1	13
N. Collison	16	0-0	0-0	1-2	2	1	1	0	1	1
P. Jones	12	2-5	0-0	1-2	4	0	0	0	0	5
TEAM TOTALS		31-78	9-28	28-36	52	26	9	1	13	99

Toronto Raptors
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
K. Lowry	20	6-7	4-4	0-0	1	3	3	1	2	16
D. DeRozan	33	6-13	3-4	3-3	6	6	2	0	5	18
J. Johnson	34	6-9	1-3	1-1	9	2	2	1	0	14
A. Johnson	28	2-5	0-1	0-0	6	1	0	0	0	4
J. Valanciunas	31	10-17	0-0	2-3	3	0	0	0	0	22
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
P. Patterson	26	0-7	0-4	3-7	9	1	0	1	1	3
L. Williams	21	0-6	0-4	8-8	2	1	0	0	0	8
G. Vasquez	20	2-4	1-1	0-0	4	6	1	0	0	5
T. Ross	16	5-11	3-6	0-0	2	2	0	0	1	13
T. Hansbrough	11	2-2	0-0	0-0	2	0	0	0	1	4
L. Fields	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS		39-81	12-27	17-22	45	22	8	3	10	107

[infamyice]

Raps looking good so far.

Lowry & JV with a double-double, nice