Raptors use big 4th quarter to down Nets

Toronto Raptors beat Brooklyn Nets 105-89 on Wednesday night to improve to 20-6 and maintain their first place lead in the Eastern Conference.

Reaching the 20-win plateau in 26 games is the quickest a Raptors team has reached the mark and the first time before the Christmas break. The previous best marks took place in the 1999-00 and 2001-02 seasons when Toronto reached 20 wins in 36 games.

"We are proud," said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey following the game. "Everything we've done is to benefit the growth of our team."

Despite the early success in the season, Casey is not fully satisfied. The reality is that Toronto has benefited from a favorable NBA schedule, having played a league-high 16 home games. Toronto has yet to endure a road trip longer than three games.

"I'm a realist," said Casey. "I'm going to continue to pick out the places where we need to grow and get better. Everybody in that room knows that there are a lot of areas where we can get better at."

One area of growth for Casey is defence, something he values ahead of offence. The inconsistent performances by his squad has the team ranked 15th in the league in points allowed per game with 99.1.

In the win against Brooklyn, the team's defence was focused, holding their opponent below the century mark for the fourth consecutive game.

"We had a focus defensively after the first few minutes of the game," said Casey. "Defensively, defensive rebounding is still our Achilles heel right now."

Casey hopes the level of defence can be sustained over a long period of time, as the team is a perfect 12-0 on the season when holding opponents under 100 points.

Toronto's defence will need to continue their strong performances, as they begin a season-long six-game road trip on Monday that will feature the Bulls, Clippers, Trailblazers and Warriors.

《Raptors use big 4th quarter to down Nets》永久阅读地址: http://91kudian.com/yingyu/17692/