Raptors show out in Casey's 300th Win

The Raptors come into this game on top of the Eastern Conference with a 0.5 game lead on the Boston Celtics. Boston will be hosting the new-look Cleveland Cavaliers right after this game. The Raptors look to keep it rolling with their 4-game winning streak going into Charlotte. Charlotte has lost the past three games and are in a slump. The Hornets were trying to trade Kemba Walker and Nicolas Batum at the trade deadline, but both players are still on the roster. The Raptors and Hornets are on two opposite directions in terms of where they are heading. One towards the top and the other to the bottom.

Dwane Casey becomes the first coach in Raptors franchise history to achieve 300 wins.

The Hornets came out of the gate strong as they took off to a quick 10-0 run. Unfortunately for the Raptors, OG Anunoby went down with an ankle sprain early in this game and did not return. Fortunately, Norman Powell was inserted into his place and the Raptors bench core stayed intact. Both teams were playing tough throughout the first half as either team could not reel off a huge lead. Charlotte's Kemba Walker and Dwight Howard carried the load offensively as they both scored in double-digits. The teams went into halftime with the Raptors taking a 62-55 lead.

Charlotte must have felt great after they jumped out to an early lead, but Raptor fans know how good this Raptors team is and a 10-point deficit would not phase a Raptors team of this magnitude. Toronto clawed back and took control over this game. The game changed in the third quarter. Toronto was flying around, active and playing the passing lanes as the Raptors held the Hornets to a 19-point third quarter. Jonas hit his second three ball on the game and has been consistently efficient from the outside. Dwight did not want to contest any of his shots as JV calmly dropped both jumpers. DeMar started to score from inside and outside while extending the lead to 23 points. DeMar and JV were in sync on offense as they both benefited from each other's play. Lowry had another efficient floor general game with 12 points, 7 assists and 0 turnovers.

Jonas Valanciunas scored early and often from both the inside and outside. JV ended with 21 points and 9 rebounds.

The Bench Mob were great in the first half with CJ Miles dropping in 3 threes as he looked to be in a groove early on. The Bench Mob did exactly what they always do and put this game out of reach. The lead fluctuated to 34-points in the fourth. The ball movement and player movement from the bench was beautiful to watch. Everyone was in sync and they were dropping bombs from the outside. Charlotte had to call multiple timeouts to slow down the runs but it was too much. Dwane Casey cleared the bench with 4 minutes left in this one as the Raptors were going to cruise to their 5th win in a row. New acquisition Malachi Richardson, who was acquired from the Bruno Cabocolo trade at the trade deadline, saw minutes in this one. He had one basket on the afternoon and was playing with high energy. Lucky kid as he went from the bottom of the Western Conference in Sacramento to the top of the Eastern Conference in Toronto.

Final Score - Toronto Raptors 123 - Charlotte Hornets 103

Dwane Casey collected his 300th win as the Raptors were all congratulating him as they walked towards the locker room. This Raptors team has the potential to go far in this year's playoffs, but they will have to bring it this year to prove the naysayers wrong. DeRozan grabbed the game ball to give to Dwane as a memento of this accomplishment. The Raptors were stingy on defense and the ball movement was fantastic once again. The ball was humming around and the Raptors were surgically dissecting the Charlotte defense. Every shot that went up looked good and they kept on dropping. Toronto will look to carry the momentum onto the next game versus the Miami Heat who the Raptors lost a nail biter to last time.

Bench combined for 55 points on the afternoon and closed out the Hornets early as they cruised to the win.

When you look at the end of game statistics between the two teams, it looks as though the Raptors were dominated. The Raptors lost the rebound battle, shot 13 less free throws, and shot less than Charlotte did. But the Raptors were on fire from the outside as they shot 18/37 from 3-point land. The Raptors have a couple things to work on for the next game especially the rebound battle as that is an Achilles heel of this Raptors team.

Pictures courtesy of: http://www.nba.com/raptors/gallery/rapshornets-021118