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TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO - Over his last two games and in a span of roughly 24 hours Kyle Lowry hoisted up 20 three-pointers - a statistic that probably wouldn't have endeared him to many coaches a decade ago, regardless of how well he shot the ball.

As most around the game have come to accept in recent years, things have changed. In today's NBA, many teams are reevaluating their offensive priorities. What was once considered to be a bad shot may now be a good one and vice versa. Lowry, who models his style of play on these analytic principles, and the Raptors are embracing this trend.

"He's one of our best three-point shooters," head coach Dwane Casey said ahead of his team's 107-102 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, snapping a four-game winning streak and splitting a weekend back-to-back set.

"I mean, why not use it? I don't care if he's a five-man, we've got to use it because he's one of our better three-point shooters. It's one of those things where no matter what position you play, we've got to utilize it."

Toronto's all-star point guard has proven he can knock down the three at a high rate. Lowry, a 26 per cent long-range shooter in his first four NBA seasons, has blossomed into the team's best and most reliable marksman. He's hit half of those 20 threes over the aforementioned two-game stretch and is shooting a career-best 42 per cent this season, leading the Eastern Conference in both attempts and makes.

Without the injured Jonas Valanciunas, their most efficient low-post scorer, the Raptors are leaning on the deep ball more than ever. Over their last five contests, four of them wins, they have hit 10 or more three-pointers four times, shooting 41 per cent during that stretch.

"That's kind of the trend in the league now," Casey said. "The analytical three. They'd probably rather have that than a good bank shot from outside the paint. So that's the trend and we're all going to it. Sometimes it looks like a crazy three but again, you want to get as many of those as you can - good quality threes and layups and get to the free throw line - and that's what we're trying to do. That's our philosophy offensively."

Unfortunately, they're not alone. Also missing their starting centre (Tyson Chandler, who was out with a hamstring injury), Phoenix - Sunday's opponent and one of the league's top three-point shooting teams - hit 11 of its 27 tries from long range. All but one of the Suns players that saw the floor - centre Alex Len, Chandler's replacement - took at least one triple.

The Raptors don't have that same depth of shooting, hence their reliance on Lowry. Of the 10 that played on Sunday, only four came into this season with a career three-point shooting percentage of 35 or better - Lowry, DeMarre Carroll, Patrick Patterson and Terrence Ross. 

Recently however, they've been getting some unexpected contribution from a couple new additions. Just 18 games into the campaign, Luis Scola has almost tripled his career-high for threes, adding two more in the loss to Phoenix, his former team. The 35-year-old forward came to Toronto having shot 10-for-60 from three-point range over his first eight seasons. This year, he's hit 14 of his 28 attempts, a product of extra reps in practice and the veteran's willingness to adapt late in his career.

"The NBA is moving in that direction and we all know how affective the three-point shot is in the basketball game today so I'm trying to adapt," Scola said earlier this month. "That's the way teams are playing and I'm trying to get better and that's an area where I can get better. So it's going well for now, hopefully we continue to do that."

Cory Joseph, a reluctant three-point shooter early in his career, has also shown flashes. As time expired in Friday's game against Washington, the back-up point guard hit the winning jumper from the corner, a shot he works on with assistant coach and former all-star Jerry Stackhouse after every practice.

Then there's DeMar DeRozan, who is shooting 24 per cent from three, lowest since his sophomore season. Although he's worked on adding the three to his game during the off-season, the seventh-year guard - a strong mid-range player - hasn't shown the ability to shoot it with consistency. As something of a throw-back player, some have questioned his value in today's evolving game, however DeRozan has been a big part of his team's hot shooting, even indirectly.

The 26-year-old is averaging a career-high 4.2 assists. Learning to embrace the defensive attention he attracts on the block and in the lane, DeRozan is taking advantage, becoming more comfortable finding his teammates for good looks behind the arc. 

On Sunday, a night after setting up Joseph's game-winning trey, four of his team-high seven assists led to a three-point shot. At some point, becoming a capable long-range shooter would help him reach the next level as a star in this league, like it has for Lowry but, for now, there's is a mutually beneficial relationship. His presence makes Lowry's job easier, in addition to the team's other shooters, while they spread the floor and give him more room to operate.

"It's definitely important," said DeRozan, who led the Raptors in scoring with 29 points against the Suns. "I try to talk advantage of it, it creates lanes for me. DeMarre, Kyle, Pat, when those guys are out there knocking down shots it's easier for me to penetrate and if I don't have a lane to get to the rim I'm looking for them at the three-point line. It kind of makes our offence flow a little bit better."

Although they haven't exactly been lighting it up from the field - shooting 44 percent through 18 contests, 19th in the NBA - the Raptors rank eighth in offence thanks in large part to their emphasis on the most efficient shot in the game. They've done the math. Threes are worth 50 per cent more than twos and while they may not have the luxury of filling their lineup with shooters like some of their opponents, they are finding a way to get the most out of the long ball.