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Rapid Recap: Pizza For All! Raptors Put Away Magic 105 - 90

It wasn't Canada vs Sweden for Olympic Gold, but the Toronto Raptors moved six games above .500 thanks to a 105 to 90 win over the Orlando Magic.

By Brian.Hennessy
John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Spo

If you had a chance to watch the Gold Medal hockey game this morning, chances are a matchup between the Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors was probably going to be an underwhelming affair regardless of the result. With that said, the Raptors had a chance in this game to push their record to 6 games above the .500 mark for the first time since February 24, 2010. Thanks to an inspired second half performance by Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, who combined for 52 points on 18-30 shooting, the Raptors got the job done by reaching the century mark and winning ACC ticket holders a free slice of pizza. 

Early on, the Raptors looked determined to get their young center, Jonas Valanciunas, involved offensively but he struggled to find any success in the post against Nikola Vucevic. In his 7 minutes of first quarter play, Valanciunas failed to register even a single field goal attempt despite getting a number of touches in the post. Further contributing to the frustrating start was the Raptors lack of ball security. For a team that's averaging the 5th fewest turnovers per game this season, the Raps uncharacteristically gave up 10 turnovers in the first half alone.

The one bright spot for the Raptors in the early going was the play of Amir Johnson, who led the team with 10 first half points on an efficient 5 of 6 shooting, while managing to pull down 6 rebounds. Unfortunately, Johnson was subbed out of the game after seemingly rolling his ankle with 5:41 minutes left in the 3rd quarter and did not return for the rest of the game.

In the third quarter, Kyle Lowry happened.

To be fair, Lowry didn't do it alone. Terrence Ross and DeMar DeRozan both came out of the locker room to open the second half with a little extra bounce in their step. Toronto's wings combined to score the Raptor's first 18 points of the half. This seemed to flick a switch in Lowry's head, as he went on to score 17 of his game-high 28 points in the last six and a half minutes of the third quarter. Lowry ended the quarter with a step-back, fading three pointer at the buzzer, extending the Raptors lead to 15. Dagger.

By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, momentum was clearly in favour of the Raptors. Orlando couldn't manage to close the gap, as Lowry and DeRozan continued to carry the offensive load for Toronto. Also to note in the fourth quarter, we got our first look at Masai's newest acquisition, Nando De Colo. The former San Antonio Spur only saw the court for about 5 minutes so I can't really critique his play. I can say, however, it was good to see him dribble out the final seconds of yet another win for your Toronto Raptors.

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