Post Game Report Card: Raptors avoid losing three straight since the Rudy Gay trade, best the Kings in Cali

Anne-Marie Sorvin- USA Today Sports

The Toronto Raptors snapped their two game losing streak against the Boogie-less Sacramento Kings by a count of 117-109. Kyle Lowry led the team with a double-double. The Raptors avoided their first three game losing since making the franchise altering Rudy Gay trade last December. This was the Raptors third win in Sacramento in franchise history, and their first since Jermaine O’Neal was on the team in 2008.

Offence: A–

The Raptors continued to show how deep they are offensively without DeMar DeRozan. Lowry had 27 points and 13 assists, while the vengeful Venezuelan Greivis Vasquez had 12 and seven against his former team in his second straight start. In a quirky stat, Vasquez and Lowry had 20 of the teams 22 assists. James Johnson was a revelation off the bench, taking Ben McLemore to the hoop every chance he got on his way to 19 points and seven rebounds. The Raptors were at times a little contested mid-range jump shot happy, but overall they gouged the Kings defence without DeMarcus Cousins. One damning stat: Terrence Ross scored 20 points in consecutive games for the first time in his career. This is his third year. This isn’t news, but Ross needs to be more consistent. Hopefully this is the start of sustained consistency.

Defence: D-

The only reason this isn’t an F is because the Kings shot 30% from downtown. Some of the buckets the Kings made were just way too easy. The Raptors need to be much better tomorrow if they’re going to beat the Utah Jazz on the second night of a back-to-back. Remember, these 109 points were scored without Boogie Cousins.

Rebounding: C

This category looks like a draw on paper, but the Kings were able to get a lot of timely boards in the fourth quarter to keep this one close. Derrick Williams in particular was a beast on the glass. Jonas Valanciunas and Amir Johnson did a poor job of finding a man and boxing out.

Game Ball: Kyle Lowry

The man was a terror tonight. He shot a decent percentage, had over half of the Raptors assists, and he proved why he should be an all-star this year, guiding the now 14-4 Raptors to their first win without DeRozan.

SA TODAY Sports