The energy was sagging in the middle of the third quarter, the Raptors had played good, but not great, and they needed a boost
An important game against a solid opponent was on the line and when coach Jay Triano went to the guys who provide that extra "boost" he got it.
And the Raptors got a good win.
With Sonny Weems, Amir Johnson and Marcus Banks, three guys with hardly the greatest NBA pedigrees, supplying some enthusiasm and defence, the Raptors pulled away for a 98-92 win over the New Orleans Hornets at the Air Centre on Sunday, their third home win in a row.
"The second group has to come in and pick the energy up for the first group," said Banks, who provided a solid 13 minutes of relief for starting point guard Jarrett Jack. " Guys like Amir and Sonny, I look at us like more of a defensive group; I don't except anything less than us coming in and forcing the tempo, picking up full court, getting rebounds, making steals and getting out and catching lobs and having some fun out there."
The Raptors were down three with five minutes left in the third when Weems got in the game; and were up one when Johnson joined him on the court about two minutes later. The lead was five when Banks got in but with three backups anchoring the group, Toronto stretched it out to a seven-point bulge at the end of the quarter and the Hornets were in too deep of a hole.
"It's just playing my game," said Weems. "I'm just focusing on defence, rebounds, running up and down the court. I do that and I'll let our scorers do what they do."
Because of the focus on defence, the Raptors succeeded in doing what few teams can — bottle up all-star Hornet guard Chris Paul.
Two days after Paul had 30 points, 19 assists and nine rebounds in a win over Denver, the Raptors held him to 10 points, seven assists and an uncharacteristic five turnovers.
"You just have to slow him down and use the other four guys on the floor to get stops," said Banks. "Keep your defensive principles and go out there and play. Defence comes from the heart, you have to want to play defence. When you have that capability, the sky's the limit.
" Coach told me to come and frustrate this guy. Normally, he's having a 20 (point), 19 (assist) game, 30 and 19. Those numbers are unbelievable."
While Toronto's defence was holding New Orleans to just 39 per cent shooting from the field — and a paltry 3-for-21 from three-point range — the multi-faceted Raptors offence was doing just enough.
All five starters finished in double figures — Chris Bosh had 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead the way — and the Raptors moved the ball well to get open shots.
They shot 47 per cent from the floor and won despite missing 12 of the 15 three-pointers they tried.
Andrea Bargnani had his own double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds while Jack had 15, Hedo Turkoglu 14 and DeMar DeRozan 10.
"We had our issues with the pick and roll," said Paul.
