Kyle Lowry didn’t shoot well, Jonas Valanciunas was bodied by another domineering centre and the Toronto Raptors had another slow start. It’s not the first time these things have happened, and it’s not the first time that they didn’t matter.
DeMar DeRozan cracked the 30-point mark for the fifth consecutive time to start the season — a plateau that was last reached by Michael Jordan 20 years ago — with 34 and the Raptors improved to 4-1 with a 96-87 win over the Miami Heat.
Friday night’s slow start mirrored the one they had on Wednesday against Washington.