Dominant second half run lifts Raptors over Magic

Josh Lewenberg

TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO - Each night, the spotlight is seemingly locked in on a different Raptors' player, often stepping out of their comfort zone to ignite the team to victory.

On Sunday, an overtime win in New York, it was Patrick Patterson's unlikely late-game defensive performance on Carmelo Anthony.

Less than 24 hours later, Patterson recorded a career-best six assists off the bench, but it was newly-minted starter Landry Fields that turned heads in Toronto's 95-82 comeback win over the Orlando Magic.

Early in the first quarter, Fields grabbed a long rebound and proceeded to dribble the length of the court. Leading a two-on-one fast break, the Raptors' sporadically-used swingman went behind the back to find Amir Johnson, who finished the play off with a baby-hook shot.

Not to be outdone, with just over four minutes to go in the third quarter, Kyle Lowry drove into the lane, broke down the defence with a wicked crossover and found an open Fields in the right corner.

"That put extra pressure on me," Fields said of Lowry's drive and dish. "It was a great move. It was like, 'I've got to hit this now.'"

Fields, a spectator for most of last season and the early part of this year, has started four straight games in place of the injured DeMar DeRozan after sitting out the previous nine contests as a healthy scratch.

You could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he debated whether or not to let it fly. The fifth-year vet hadn't attempted a three-pointer in a game in over a year. He hadn't made one since Mar. 22, 2013.

"It was a spot and opportunity where it was just like, 'Whatever, I'll put it up there'," he said after the game. "I just threw it up there and it went in. It was nice."

The first thing Fields did was look over to his teammates on the bench. They were standing.

"On the sideline, I look over, and everybody on the bench is standing up," he recalled. "It also shows the kind of camaraderie and chemistry we have as a team."

They were loving it and so were the fans - another sellout crowd. But no one appreciated the moment quite like Fields, who couldn't hide the big smile on his face as he back-pedalled to get back on defence.

Fields had attempted 219 threes as a rookie with the Knicks, shooting them at a solid 39 per cent clip. It was a big part of his game until a mysterious wrist and elbow injury interfered with his shooting mechanics, among other things.

Despite undergoing a pair of surgical procedures on his shooting arm over his three-year tenure with the Raptors, they still don't know a whole lot about the injury - what caused it or how to fully heal it. It's still something he battles, working tirelessly over the years to rebuild his shot.

"With the history with my arm and everything, it's just been a long time coming," the 26-year-old said of his three-pointer. "I try not to think [about it]. It kind of lessens the reaction of it. It's still there no matter what. There's nothing I can do about it. I just want to play through it."

"It's been a couple years with it now. In practice and situations when I'm out there, you kind of find your spots where you can be successful. Right now, the coaches, what they say to me is defence. Whatever is added on to it is kind of extra. That's kind of been how it's transformed."

For the third time in three meetings with Orlando this season, the Raptors fell behind in the first half. They went nearly seven minutes at the end of the second quarter without a field goal, coughing up an early 10-point lead in the process. Trailing by eight at halftime, Dwane Casey spoke to his team.

"Coach started off with his speech," Patterson said. "Getting on us, yelling at us."

"I don't want to give our guys an excuse but we got in at two in the morning, come through Customs; we have to sit at the gate in New York forever," Casey said. "I don't know if they do that on purpose or what. And then we get in late, back-to-back, overtime game [on Sunday night]. We had every excuse in the world and that's what I told them at halftime."

"The second half we found our voice, our energy, our spirit."

At some point between the halves, Lowry decided they were not losing this game, as he tends to do. The Raptors' point guard set the tone, scoring the first five points of the third quarter.

Overall, Toronto held the Magic to 30 points in the final 24 minutes, outscoring them by 21 and winning their 10th straight meeting with Orlando.

"Although guys were a little bit tired and exhausted, we had a great motivational speech in the locker room at halftime and then guys just came out and stepped it up," said Patterson, who scored 10 points, reaching double digits for the ninth time in 10 games. "It started off with Kyle being the leader that he is and it just carried over to everyone else."

Valanciunas' big week

The Raptors have become a staple in the conversation for the Eastern Conference's weekly award.

Lou Williams earned Player of the Week honours in the East during the middle of November while Lowry got the nod for the first seven-day stretch of December.

Although they relinquished the award to Washington's John Wall this past week, Jonas Valanciunas was one of three players (Wall and Atlanta's Al Horford being the others) to earn nominations in the conference, thanks in large part to his dominant effort on the boards.

The third-year centre grabbed 13.5 rebounds per night in four games last week to lead the East over that span, recording double-doubles in three of those contests. He averaged 13.5 points and shot 56 per cent from the field.

After surrendering a series of key offensive boards, giving up a winnable game to the Cavaliers midway through the week, rebounding became a focus for Casey's team. Valanciunas responded to that challenge.

"He's done a heck of a job of rebounding," Casey said. "He's done an extra special job of rebounding the ball and getting in the mix. Hasn't really scored as well. He's had some good opportunities he's missed that he could probably make, but he's done an excellent job of rebounding and commanding the paint. That's what we need from him."

Valanciunas is logging over 30 minutes per contest in December after playing just 25 last month and Casey is becoming more comfortable leaving him on the floor down the stretch of close games. His dominance on the glass has been a big reason for his increased playing time. The Raptors have been subpar in that category this season, ranking 16th overall in rebounding (rate), but Valanciunas ranks in the top seven at his position (minimum 15.0 minutes per game).

"He's been going and getting it, that's the difference," said the Raptors' coach. "That's all you can say, is for someone to go get it with two hands, snap it in, don't let a little guard come up under you. I always tell guys, the dentist office is open tomorrow if the little guards come in there. You're allowed one pivot and make sure you use it properly. That's what he's been doing. I'm being simplistic, but that's the difference."