The third time was the charm.
That...and an opponent that was missing its two best players, and turned the ball over 24 times.
Yep, the Toronto Raptors got their first win of the season, a 105 to 86 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, ending a two game losing streak to start the relatively fresh 2012-13 NBA Season. It wasn't a pretty affair, neither team was tremendous in execution at either ends of the floor, but after a close first half, the Raps pulled ahead midway through the third quarter and never looked back.
The Raps' starting back-court was lights out in this one as Kyle Lowry had 22 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assist and 3 steals and not to be outdone, DeMar DeRozan had 22 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. That's indeed the kind of production that synchs with his newly minted contract extension, and it was a joy to watch him punish the Wolves with an array of offensive attacks.
The duo were not only present individually on the box score, but also wreaked havoc in the passing lanes and were big reasons why Minny turned the ball over an abysmal 24 times.
Those turnovers absolutely killed the Wolves, who actually shot a better percentage from the field than TO, and got to the line 31 times to the Dinos' 17. As well, the Raps bench led by Alan Anderson's 18, kept the Wolves at bay, who didn't get great production from anyone but Andrei Kirilenko.
The Raps now take a breather tomorrow before heading to OKC to take on the Thunder and then to Dallas to face the Mavs, back-to-back.