WHO: Dallas Mavericks at Toronto Raptors WHAT: Harrison Barnes’ season debut WHERE: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario WHEN: 6:30 p.m. CT HOW: FSSW or NBA League Pass THE STORY: The Mavericks have had a wildly inconsistent season and have been maddening to try and figure out. And this was the easy part of the season — it gets more tough starting right now. We just may get some answers as to who the real Mavs will be with the return of Harrison Barnes tonight. Barnes’ presence and versatility has been sorely missed. However, Dennis Smith Jr. (right ankle sprain) will NOT play tonight. The basketball gods giveth and taketh away. Anyway, Kawhi Leonard plays for the Raptors now, so we’re probably screwed. But go Mavs anyway!<doc-sep>It was posed to Raptors coach Nick Nurse as a chicken-or-the-egg scenario: does the winning come first for a basketball team and then the fun, or the other way around? With Toronto at 5-0 and looking as though they collectively love life, the answer did not appear obvious, though Nurse tried to answer anyway. “Probably the winning, then the fun.” It’s a fair conclusion, though he went on to wonder about similar philosophical questions — motivation or success, for example — before settling back into questions about the playing rotation, Kawhi Leonard, and what the Mavericks’ Luke Doncic may have in the tank tonight for the Raptors. Still, in thinking about it: “winning or fun?” is a tough question to answer. The Raptors have had fun so far this season, beginning even before their first game with various shenanigans during training camp — Nurse mentioned music and awards, plus there are all those photos of Fred VanVleet (out tonight) wearing a wrestling championship belt. Obviously Toronto’s core has been around each other for awhile which engenders a certain comfort level and a subsequent built-in amount of fun. Playing winning basketball definitely improves the mood too; which is to say, we have not settled this existential question. Nurse agrees. “I don’t know which one comes first,” he concluded. “I just think we go to work and we try to enjoy it.” What else can be said? The Mavericks are currently 2-2 and in the upswing stage of their rebuild, the phase when expectations are still low and fun levels are high; any night could be the night for Dennis Smith Jr. (also out tonight), or Doncic, or, sure, Harrison Barnes to go off. Are they having fun yet in Dallas? Time will tell — though my bet is the Raptors will look to make them miserable tonight. In any case, here’s the full Raptors-Mavericks preview from Joel Stephens this morning. Below are your updated game details. Now, let’s watch. Where to Watch: Sportsnet One, 7:30 pm EST Lineups: Toronto — Kyle Lowry, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam, Jonas Valanciunas Dallas — Jalen Brunson, Wesley Matthews, Luka Doncic, Harrison Barnes, DeAndre Jordan Injuries: Toronto — Delon Wright (thigh, out), Fred VanVleet (toe, out), OG Anunoby (personal reasons) Dallas — Devin Harris (hamstring, out), Dirk Nowitzki (ankle, out), Dennis Smith Jr. (ankle, out)<doc-sep>TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors showed off their depth Friday night and extended their season-opening winning streak to a franchise-best six games in the process. Kawhi Leonard had 21 points — one of seven Toronto players in double figures — and Kyle Lowry had a double-double as the Raptors beat the Dallas Mavericks 116-107 at Scotiabank Arena. "When everyone is locked in, we can be really special," said Toronto forward Pascal Siakam, who had 10 points. Lowry finished with 20 points and 12 assists as Toronto closed out a three-game homestand in style. Both teams were shorthanded as OG Anunoby (personal), Delon Wright (adductor) and Fred VanVleet (toe) were not available for the Raptors. Devin Harris (hamstring) and Dirk Nowitzki (ankle) were out for Dallas. The Mavericks pulled within a point late in the third quarter but never led in the game. Jonas Valanciunas had 17 points, Danny Green scored 15, Serge Ibaka chipped in with 11 and CJ Miles had 10. With a short bench, every Toronto player had some court time with little-used Malachi Richardson even playing eight minutes. Toronto backup Lorenzo Brown hit a reverse layup that restored the Raptors’ double-digit lead midway through the fourth quarter. He then stole the ball from Jalen Brunson near midcourt and added another layup, punctuating the effort by flexing his right biceps. "Zo played his butt off tonight," Lowry said. "He’s the G League MVP for a reason. He’s getting an opportunity to play with Fred and Delon being out. He stepped up tonight." Siakam threw down an emphatic dunk moments later to essentially put the game away. "I thought they were bending a little bit but they didn’t break," Toronto coach Nick Nurse said of his team. "(They) took it back out to eight or 10 (points) so I was pretty proud of some of those guys that haven’t played very much." Luka Doncic had 22 points for the Mavericks (2-3). The Raptors (6-0) stormed out to an 18-2 lead and held the Mavericks to a single field goal over the first six-plus minutes of the game. "Our defence to start the game has been … what’s a G-rated word? Terrible," said DeAndre Jordan, who had 18 points and 15 rebounds for Dallas. Jonas Valanciunas came out of the game after two quick fouls but Serge Ibaka provided some spark off the bench. He blocked J.J. Barea and ran down the court where Lowry found him with a short pass for a basket and a foul. Ibaka converted the three-point play and provided another nice block moments later to deny Harrison Barnes. Green had a hot hand early, going 3 of 4 from three-point range in the opening quarter. Toronto led 39-26 after the first 12 minutes. The Mavericks picked up the pace in the second quarter and cut the Raptors’ lead to 50-45 before Toronto called a timeout. A quick three-pointer from Lowry out of the break helped snuff the visitors’ momentum. Lowry added a deuce on a wild layup as the shot clock expired with 5.6 seconds left in the half but Wesley Matthews answered with a corner three-pointer at the buzzer. Toronto led 69-60 at the half. The Raptors started strong again in the third with a long three-pointer from Lowry giving Toronto an 81-64 lead. Dallas used a 10-0 run to cut the lead to three points before Leonard hit a 12-footer to make it 89-84. Toronto led 92-89 entering the fourth. The Mavericks return home to play Utah on Sunday while the Raptors visit Milwaukee on Monday. Notes: Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman and former teammate Jose Bautista watched the game from court-side seats. They received a hearty ovation when they were shown on the arena screen in the first quarter.<doc-sep>TORONTO — Even in the Dwane Casey years the mantra around the Toronto Raptors was that the offence would take care of itself — as long as they could button things up defensively they would be able to score and thus compete. It was hard to argue, never more than during the franchise-defining playoff sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers when the Raptors could score just fine, but allowed the Cavs to score at will. So in the early days of the Nick Nurse era the message hasn’t changed all that much: offence would come, it was the defence that needed attention, that would be the difference maker. But what if the offence takes care of everything. At times in these early days it appears the offence just might. The Raptors’ 116-107 win will not be featured as one of Toronto’s best defensive efforts – although there were spurts of brilliance that were probably the difference in the game, which improved the Raptors to 6-0 — the best start in franchise history. The Raptors shot nearly 50 per cent from the floor and 40 per cent from deep while making only 13 turnovers. It was an impressive showing as the Raptors topped the century mark for the sixth straight game. But for a while it looked like they might not have to score 50 after Toronto limited the Mavericks to just one field goal in their first nine attempts to jump out to an 18-2 lead. The game could have been over by half, but then any semblance of the Raptors locking it down went by the way side. Dallas made some shots. The Raptors made some shots. Neither team seemed all that interested it ruining what was clearly an enjoyable night for those who don’t mind a swollen box score. The Raptors lead was 17 early but after three quarters Toronto led 92-89. It wasn’t long ago that would have been a pretty good final score in a league where it was easier to slow things down than blow it open. But a team with championship aspirations can’t be a one-trick pony and score their way out of every problem. The difference came down the stretch in the fourth when the Raptors were able to dig in and turn defence into offence. Ten steals will do that. “We got a couple of steals,” said Nurse. “Just some stops. Any time we got stops tonight we were able to get out and operate in the open floor pretty good.” They came from some surprising places. The Raptors were without both of their second-unit guards as Delon Wright (groin) and Fred VanVleet (strained toe) were out. Also missing was second-year wing OG Anunoby. That meant the first steady dose of prime-time minutes for Lorenzo Brown, last year’s G-League MVP who made the team on a partially guaranteed contract. Early in the fourth he stepped into a three that pushed the Raptors’ lead to eight, and then after a Dallas timeout he made a steal and went the length of the court to push the lead to 10, which stayed there for a few minutes until another Brown steal and lay-up pushed it to 12. During the fourth quarter Toronto held Dallas to 18 points on 7-of-24 shooting while forcing seven turnovers. Pascal Siakam had a steal and took it the length of the floor too. “I just felt like I should pressure the ball a little bit more ’cause I feel like they were a little bit shaky at the PG position,” said Brown, who finished with nine points and two steals in 15 minutes. “So doing that helped me get going and helped the team as well.” Stream Raptors on Sportsnet NOW Stream all Sportsnet games of the NBA Finals as the Toronto Raptors take on the Golden State Warriors for the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Plus, get the Stanley Cup Final, MLB, IndyCar and more. The Raptors held the Mavericks to 41.3 per cent from the field – in-line with their season mark which is third in the league. But they did it two shifts – their stifling start and their lock-down finish. In the second and third quarter Dallas could do as they pleased and shot 22-of-45 and 8-of-15 by three, led by rookie sensation Luca Doncic (22 points and was 4-of-6 from deep) and Wesley Matthews who had 21 points and chipped in with two triples. The Raptors had too much in the end. Kyle Lowry continued his torrid start as he put up 20 points and 12 assists – he leads the NBA in that category — while only making one turnover. He came into the game 16-of-30 from deep and went 3-of-6, including one triple that was taken and made just over centre, it seemed. “That’s a disrespect thing, like a ‘you should be guarding me’ type of shot, you know?” said CJ Miles, who got his offence going a little with a pair of triples. “And he’ll let you know about it too, as we know.” They’ve needed Lowry’s offensive mastery – although Kawhi Leonard’s 21 points and nine rebound was welcome too. Scoring has been the way of the NBA through the first two weeks of the season. Teams are averaging 112.3 points a game, the highest number since the 1970-71 season and six points higher than a season ago. The largest year-over-year increase in league scoring was a 4.4 points-per-game jump between the 1967-68 seasons and 68-69. Whether or not these precise rates are maintained it seems evident that something significant is afoot. “When you’re marching out four guys with quickness and speed and long-range skill, and really many cases five — these guys [the Raptors] are playing [Serge] Ibaka at the five, who can really shoot threes. [Pascal] Siakam doesn’t shoot a bunch but he’s 3-for-6 [from deep],” said Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle before the game. “It’s a faster game and teams are going 10-deep pretty much on a nightly basis. I see [the offensive explosion] being more sustainable than unsustainable.”<doc-sep>
We know in our bones the Raptors are going to lose some games this season. There will be a night when the shots don’t go in, when the defense is a step slow, when any number of random bounces will not go their way. (To say nothing of the refs’ whistles.) Toronto will not go 82-0. And yet, after another win, an at times tense 116-107 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, Toronto’s sixth in a row (which sets a new franchise record for best start to a season), it certainly doesn’t feel like they’re going to lose any time soon. We know that’s impossible, of course, an irresponsible thing to even suggest. And yet, and yet, and yet. Before hyperventilating, let’s get to the events of the game. Toronto opened the scoring on the Mavericks, and then just kept going. It was 7-0 before the Mavs made a bucket; later it was 18-2 as the Toronto defense kept Dallas frustrated while finding all kinds of inventive ways to score — Danny Green hit some threes, Kyle Lowry dictated tempo, Pascal Siakam ran faster than everyone else, and Kawhi Leonard glided around the court deciding where and when he would make things happen for his team. The Raptors’ first half lead, which got to as big as 17 points, would eventually shrink to a mere five, but were any of us worried? As humbly as I can, allow me to submit: no, we were not worried. That said, coach Nick Nurse was forced into something of a corner where his lineups were concerned. Without both Fred VanVleet and Delon Wright, and in the absence of OG Anunoby, Nurse opted to try out all-bench lineups featuring Lorenzo Brown, Norman Powell, and Malachi Richardson — all at the same time. In other words, despite outright dominance of the Mavs for long stretches, the Raptors found themselves in some tight spots in the second half. Despite a restoration of their 17-point lead in the third, the Raptors were up by just one point, 90-89, with a minute and half to go in the frame. Toronto was paced throughout by superlative work from Kyle Lowry, who finished the night with 20 points (on 8-of-14 shooting) and 12 assists, with zero turnovers; Kawhi Leonard quietly did his thing too, putting in 21 on 7-of-16 shooting, along with nine rebounds, five assists, and three steals. In truth, with those two on the court, the risk factor to the Raptors losing was low. But those two couldn’t play all 48 minutes. So, yeah, a one-point lead. The Raptors did have to contend with some strong play from Mavs rookie Luka Doncic (22 points, 7-of-14 shooting), a big 18-and-15 from DeAndre Jordan, and some spirited play form Wesley Matthews (21 points). After that trio however, Dallas’ ability to withstand Toronto waned — they never managed to get closer than one. A field goal drought of about six minutes, stretching between the end of the third and well into the fourth, allowed the Raptors to push their lead back up 13 in the final frame. And wouldn’t you know it: the surge to victory was lead in part by Brown, he of G League fame, the Raptors’ fourth string point guard. Brown played a total of 15 minutes in the game, closing both the first and third quarters, and opening the second and fourth. For that first run he was largely invisible, looking every bit the minor leaguer he often is. That second run however, with the game on the line, was somehow different. “Yeah, for sure. I mean, it’s a game of basketball,” said Brown when asked about the shift in momentum and his growing confidence. “It’s an up and down game and whoever wants it the most is gonna get it, so I felt like it was my time to step up.” Two minutes into the fourth quarter, Brown hit a three (his first points of the game) to push the Raptors lead back to eight. Less than ten seconds later he was stealing the ball in the backcourt for an easy breakaway dunk. Two more Brown buckets came later, including another off a steal, to put the game away for good — what else could Dallas do, especially with Lowry and Leonard looming?