Kyle Lowry looks great as Raptors beat Clippers 93-73 in preseason opener

VANCOUVER – Dwane Casey warned that his team’s offensive execution isn’t where it needs to be.

In general, he was right. The play was sloppy at times, the ball movement lacking, but the Toronto Raptors still handled the Los Angeles Clippers 93-73 in their preseason opener Sunday afternoon at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

Kyle Lowry was the exception to Casey’s caution, scoring a game-high 26 points to lead Toronto to the win. The focus at training camp has been on defence, and the team will be happy with only allowing 73 points to the Clippers.

Lowry arrived at camp noticeably slimmer than he had been at any time in his Raptors tenure. He was especially dangerous driving to the hoop and earned 12 free throws, making 11, even though he was nursing a sore groin.

The Raptors took a 40-34 lead into halftime and pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring Los Angeles 37-28. Both teams rested their starters in the fourth and Toronto's most recent draft picks Norman Powell and Delon Wright saw the floor.

So the result was positive, but the process was far from the finished product. At this point, that's OK. After all, that’s what the preseason is for.

And seeing Lowry play like he did is definitely a good sign.

HIGH FLYERS

• The fitter and faster Kyle Lowry sure looked good. Lowry 2.0 scored 11 first quarter points and finished the game with 26 in 21 minutes, while mostly guarding Chris Paul on the defensive end.

• On an off night for the Clippers, J.J. Redick and DeAndre Jordan did their jobs. Redick was 2-for-3 from three and scored 15 points, while Jordan had eight points, 10 rebounds, and two blocks.

• The Vancouver crowd – officially recorded as a sellout of 19,000 – brought the noise for the second straight year. Loud from the moment both teams hit the court for warmups, the city’s appetite for more NBA basketball is apparent. Former Grizzlies point guard Mike Bibby, who played in Vancouver from 1998 through 2001, sat courtside and received a standing ovation when he was introduced on the videoboard between the first and second quarters.

HEAD HANGERS

• DeMarre Carroll and Cory Joseph were relatively quiet in their Raptors debuts. Carroll scored six points and picked up five fouls in 20 minutes of action. Joseph played 19 minutes and scored four.

• It’s nothing to worry about, but Chris Paul and Blake Griffin didn’t have great shooting performances. Paul went 2-for-8 from the field for 7 points. Griffin was 5-for-13 and finished with 14.

• The Clippers are leaning on offseason acquisitions Josh Smith and Lance Stephenson to be contributors off the bench. They'll hope for better games from the duo down the road. Smith had six points on 2-for-8 shooting. Stephenson was held scoreless in 25 minutes and had a first quarter three-point attempt blocked by Raptors forward Bruno Caboclo.

KEY PLAY

Backup centre Bismack Biyombo is known for his defence and didn’t wait long to show off his rim protecting skills, dramatically swatting a Josh Smith shot into the first row late in the first quarter.

SUPER STAT

Welcome to preseason basketball: the Raptors and Clippers combined for 43 turnovers. Toronto committed 19.

TALKING POINTS

• When will the Raptors experiment with DeMarre Carroll at the 4 in a smaller lineup? Carroll played 20 minutes Sunday, all of them as a traditional small forward.

• Will the Raptors return to Vancouver again next year? Players and coaches were thrilled with their training camp this past week at the Fortius Sport and Health centre, and after another successful game, don't be surprised to see them back in 12 months time.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Raptors are off to California for their next two preseason games. They'll play the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors on Monday night in San Jose and the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday in Ontario, Calif., before returning to the Air Canada Centre on Monday, Oct. 12 to host Andrew Wiggins and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Yahoo Canada Sports. Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr