Raptors earn opening-night win thanks to big night from DeRozan, Valanciunas

TORONTO — He’s been doing this for more than 20 years, but Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey still gets excited ahead of opening night of the NBA season. So much so that Tuesday night, he had trouble sleeping.

“When I get nervous, and get upset and get a little edgy with the questions a little bit, I’m excited. So it’s a good sign. Yes, still do,” Casey said about getting pumped up for the Raptors' first game of the season on Wednesday night.

It’s not only Casey, though. There is more buzz around this Raptors season than ever before, after a franchise-best run last spring to the Eastern Conference finals, where the eventual champion Cleveland Cavaliers defeated them in six games. The team's dynamic duo of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry are back and if all goes well, they look poised for another post-season run.

Meantime, the Raptors are but one piece of a pro sports puzzle in Toronto that been fitting together nicely of late, after so many years of complete disarray: There were the Blue Jays, who just made a second straight run to the American League final. On this Raptors' opening night, Toronto FC notched their first playoff win at home to advance in the MLS’s postseason. The Maple Leafs are very much in rebuild mode, but have on their roster exciting young players like No. 1 draft pick Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander.

But back to the Raptors, who kicked off their 2016-17 campaign against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night with a 109-91 win. Starting were familiar characters save for rookie Pascal Siakam, who got the nod in place of the injured Jared Sullinger who was envisioned as the team’s starting power forward when he was signed to a one-year deal in the off-season, but is sidelined with a foot injury.

Before the game, there was debate whether veteran Patrick Patterson would earn the start in Sullinger’s place, but ultimately Casey chose to keep his second unit intact and start the 6-foot-9 rookie, who by the way, had a solid debut with four points and nine rebounds in 21 minutes.

“I said, ‘play hard son. Play hard and run the floor,’” said Casey on his rookie’s night. “That’s what he did, he only had four points, but I thought his activity was a positive.”

The 22-year-old Siakam said he got the news he’d be starting right ahead of the game.

“It was amazing,” he said of his debut. “You work so hard for something and you don’t expect things to happen the way that they happen, but they do. I was excited. At the end of the day, I was anxious just to get out there on the court and do my job.”

Before tip-off, DeRozan greeted the fans in attendance at the Air Canada Centre briefly to offer his thanks for their support. While the season is very young, the fans most certainly enjoyed DeRozan’s performance on night one, as he drained shot after shot on the night, ending with 40 points and a perfect 6-for-6 from the line. By the time the first half ended, the Raptors were up 58-46 with DeRozan accounting for 19 of those points.

“Even if I’m not in the zone, I still try and keep the mindset that I can make any shot as long as I can get it off. Tonight, I got good looks and my teammates put me in good positions to be able to knock down shots,” he said.

“Give him the ball and let him work,” DeMarre Carroll said about DeRozan’s night. “He was on fire. He played like he’d been playing the whole season already. It was good. It was good for the team. (Jonas Valanciunas) came in and stepped in, too. It was the JV and DeMar show tonight.”

Speaking of Valanciunas, he picked up where he left off last post-season before an ankle injury sidelined him. The 7-foot centre chipped in 32 points himself, most memorably a dunk over Pistons’ Boban Marjanovic in the second quarter that thrilled the sellout crowd. DeRozan and Valanciunas’ point totals made them the first teammates in NBA history to have 30- and 40-point nights in a season opener.

“History, baby,” Valanciunas shouted from his locker during DeRozan’s post-game interview with reporters about the milestone achieved, though he would tone down his enthusiasm during his own post-game comments.

“It’s 81 games to go. You should not get too excited. It's just the start. It’s nice to have a good start and win the game, but long season ahead of us,” he said.

That long season will continue Friday against visiting Cleveland Cavaliers, a rematch of last season’s Eastern final.

“It’s totally last year,” Casey said of the rematch. “They’re one of the best teams coming into our house, but last year was last year.”