By now, the NBA must be sated on all things Kobe Bryant — his scoring, legacy, championships, preferred dressing on a house salad. So the matter of the league and playoff pushes can claim the forefront.
Despite San Antonio’s brilliance, Golden State remains the smart-money favorite in the West. In the East, Cleveland is the popular choice. But don’t overlook the Toronto Raptors, who entered the break as the East’s No. 2 team at 35-17, three games behind Cleveland, and sent Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan to the All-Star Game in Toronto. Even with two All-Stars, the Raptors seem like a dark horse.
But a dangerous dark horse.
“They have a great backcourt,” Washington’s John Wall said. “They’re definitely two All-Stars. That lets you know how talented they are. They’re a deep threat every night. You’ve got to know your Ps and Qs going against those guys.”
Lowry, who started, and DeRozan represented the first time Toronto had two All-Stars voted in by fans or coaches. Antonio Davis joined Vince Carter in 2001 as a replacement for the injured Theo Ratliff.
“Their backcourt is really good,” Houston’s James Harden said. “I’ve known DeMar since middle school. He works hard, and he works on his game. He always wants to get better. Kyle, obviously, he goes to get it. He’s aggressive. Those two complement each other and that’s what makes them very good as a team.”
Oh, there’s other stuff for coach Dwane Casey’s defensively improved gang. The Raptors have won 24 consecutive games when holding opponents under 100 points. Toronto is 15th overall in scoring (101.8 points per game) but fifth in scoring defense (97.4). Only Cleveland and Miami have been better in the East.
This was supposed to be something of a reboot season for the Raptors. Plus, Toronto has been without DeMarre Carroll, a key offseason free-agent acquisition since Jan. 4 because of a knee injury. All things considered, the Raptors should be a surprise.
“No surprise, because of how hard we work,” Lowry said. “Coach pushes us every day. We really don’t have any off-days, but he gets on us about everything. For coach to push us like that, and we do what we’re supposed to do, it’s going to make us successful.
“It starts with leadership, me and DeMar, but we’re not bigger than anyone else,” said Lowry, supplying a list of names right through the roster. “We’re all equal but we know everyone fills a role and everyone has a job to do.”
DeRozan stressed it has not been easy.
“I’m not surprised but it’s been tough,” DeRozan said. “We’ve been without a key starter, DeMarre Carroll, for a while. We were without Jonas Valanciunas for five weeks with a broken hand. It’s been tough. We haven’t really had our full roster. We proved we’re a dominant team in the Eastern Conference. But nobody’s place is promised.”
DeRozan, averaging 23.4 points, ranks eight in scoring while Lowry, at 21.0, is 15th. There’s more, of course. Valanciunas (9.4 rebounds) can be a load inside. Bismack Biyombo (8.1 rebounds) anchors a terrific bench that has Cory Joseph behind Lowry. The Raptors are looking for wing help have had some feeler talks about the Nets’ Thaddeus Young.
But everything starts with the All-Stars.
“What Toronto has done is put the keys into two guys’ hands, DeRozan and Lowry, and those guys hold everybody accountable,” LeBron James said. “They have a great balance of scoring and defense and they’re playing at a high level.”