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TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO - The surging Phoenix Suns had already erased a 17-point deficit and hit seven of 10 three-point attempts in the fourth quarter when point guard Isaiah Thomas made his move, looking to complete Phoenix's comeback with just over 20 seconds remaining.

Thomas, one of the league's premier reserves, had hit all four of his shots in the frame, all four from beyond the arc and a couple of them from way behind the arc.

Borrowing a play from his own greatest hits - one that won Toronto a game in Boston earlier this month - Kyle Lowry, defending Thomas, reached in and poked the ball away. Scrambling for it around centre court, Lowry forced a jump ball with the Suns' 5-foot-9 super sub.

Toronto was barely hanging onto a fleeting two-point lead when Lowry made the single biggest play of the night, ultimately sealing the Raptors' 12th victory in 14 tries to begin the campaign.

"It was huge," Dwane Casey said following Monday's 104-100 win, Toronto's fifth straight. "That last play, where he dived on the ball and poked it away and caught [Thomas] sleeping was huge. He has the instincts to do that."

As long as Casey is in charge, the Raptors will continue to hang their hats on defence. That's what wins in this league, as he'll tell you. It's what won on this night. However, it's their suddenly red-hot offence that has helped propel them to their best start in team history.

Monday's game featured two of the league's highest scoring teams. The Raptors entered their meeting with Phoenix ranked second in points per game (first in the East), just ahead of the fourth-ranked Suns.

It's hardly unusual to see the Suns at the top of the NBA's offensive hierarchy. With Steve Nash at the helm of a prolific and revolutionary offence, the Suns paced the NBA in scoring for six straight seasons earlier in the decade. Last year, their first under head coach Jeff Hornacek, they tailored their attack around a pair of dynamic point guards, reestablishing themselves as a nightly threat to run you out of the gym.

But it's a relatively new look for the defensive-minded Raptors. Their rise to the top of the scoring ladder has been gradual. It's been more subtle.

In Casey's first year with the team, the 2011-12 lockout shortened campaign, the Raptors made strides in changing their culture by prioritizing defence, mostly at the expense of scoring. They were second to last in the league that season in offensive efficiency (scoring 100.8 points per 100 possessions). The next year, they improved to 13th in that category (105.9) before jumping to 10th last season (108.8).

Through 14 games to begin the new year, the Raptors are the league's second best team, scoring 114.1 points per 100 possessions, trailing only the Dallas Mavericks.

There doesn't seem to be one easy explanation to justify the improvement. Firstly, internal growth has played a significant role. Lowry, by far the team's most valuable commodity and decision maker, has been unleashed, DeMar DeRozan has become more disciplined and Terrence Ross has blossomed into a reliable three-point shooter, stretching the floor and freeing up the two guards.

The addition of Lou Williams, the East's reigning Player of the Week, has added a new dimension off the bench. He, along with Lowry and DeRozan are among the best in the league at drawing and then selling contact on long jumpers, something that has helped the Raptors get to the line at an impressive rate.

The Raptors attempted another 32 free throws Monday, hitting 26, which turned out to be a major advantage over the Suns, who made eight of their 11 shots from the line.

Next, and perhaps most importantly, they're getting back to sharing the ball. After being held under the 20-assist mark in seven of their first 10 games, the Raptors have exceeded 20 dimes in each of their last four contests.

Lowry led Toronto with eight of its 21 assists against the Suns, but everyone was making a conscious effort to dish out the extra pass, from the team's guards all the way to Chuck Hayes, who dropped a nifty behind-the-back dime to Ross for a reverse slam in the second quarter.

"It's natural for our guys because they've seen the fruits of it, of moving the ball, sharing the ball," Casey said. "You wouldn't think it the first week, we were 27th in assists or something like that but now the ball is moving, it's not sticking. I think once guys get comfortable within the offence, with the rhythm of the game, they do share the ball when they trust that the ball is going to go back to them."

Then there's Jonas Valanciunas, the team's X-factor when utilized on offence. He's never been better on that end than he was Monday. Valanciunas needed just 11 shots, missing only one, to score a career-best 27 points. The high-scoring tempo of the game didn't seem like one that would be conducive to a seven-footer with his skill set, but the Raptors' third-year centre used that to his advantage, punishing the Suns' smaller front line.

To their credit, the Raptors - primarily Lowry - made a conscious effort to get Valanciunas the ball in the low post, which isn't always the case.

"He was dominant tonight," Lowry said. "He was really aggressive, he asserted himself, he really attacked the basket. He really went out there and played like a true, dominant 7-foot centre."

When all these pieces are clicking the way they have been, the Raptors' offence has proven to be a handful. They have now scored 100 or more points in 12 of their first 14 games. But most importantly, for Casey, it hasn't come at the expense of their defence. Entering the game against Phoenix, the Raptors were still ranked fifth in defensive efficiency. Last year they were the only Eastern Conference team with a top 10 offensive and defensive rating. So far, Toronto and Memphis are the only NBA clubs ranked in the top five in both categories.

"We have a lot of scorers now," Valanciunas said. "We have Lou, he can shoot from everywhere. He's given us a lot. DeMar can shoot, Kyle Lowry can score, I can [list] names of every player who can score."