By Canadian Press

Toronto Raptors, minus Jonas Valanciunas, drop 96-91 decision to Kings

Nov 6, 2016 | 4:45 PM

TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan missed a pair of free throws with about two minutes left to play Sunday, bouncing the ball in anger after his first uncharacteristic miss.

DeRozan saw his streak of consecutive 30-point games end at five, Jonas Valanciunas didn’t play due to injury, and the Toronto Raptors dropped an ugly 96-91 loss to Sacramento in a game the two-time all-star summed up as “just one of them nights.”

“It’s a long season,” said DeRozan, who led the Raptors with 23 points. “It was one of those nights where you can’t make a layup. We can’t get too down on ourselves. There’s a lot to learn from with the way they were guarding me and Kyle (Lowry).”

Former Raptor Rudy Gay led the Kings (3-5) with 23 points, while DeMarcus Cousins added 22 and 14 rebounds.

Lowry had 15 points and 10 assists, while rookie Pascal Siakam added 10 points for the Raptors (4-2).

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“I honestly don’t know what happened. I can’t even give you a good explanation,” Lowry said. “But I know I’ve got to play better and the team has to play better. It’s only one loss but I put a lot of pressure on our team because we’re one of the better teams and I put a lot of pressure on me because I’m one of the better players.”

The Raptors had a horrible shooting night — 36 per cent from the field, and 23 per cent from three-point range. Still, they led for most of what was a sleepy affair.

But the Kings roared back to take the lead late in the third quarter, and were up 68-66 heading into the fourth.

Gay, who was shipped to Sacramento in December of 2013 for Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes, drilled back to back three-pointers to put the Kings up by four points with just under five minutes to play. The Raptors responded and when DeRozan scored on a turnaround jumper, it put Toronto back up by a point. 

But Gay answered DeRozan’s two missed free throws with a pair of his own, and it was a four-point Kings lead with a minute to play. 

The Raptors couldn’t buy a basket over the final minute as fans beat a hasty exit from the Air Canada Centre. A Lowry three-pointer with 12 seconds left made the score more respectable, but it was too little too late for Toronto.

“We were out of kilter the entire night offensively, off rhythm,” said coach Dwane Casey. “They did a good job of sending bodies off of our young guys on to DeMar, on to Kyle, on to our shooters and we didn’t do a good job of making sure we got off it quick enough to move the basketball.”

The Raptors sorely missed Valanciunas, especially the big man’s presence on the boards. The Lithuanian centre, who’s listed as day to day, suffered a contusion on his knee earlier in the week, and then experienced some swelling pre-game.

“The knee was kind of sore for the last week, I didn’t remember anything that happened specifically (to hurt it),” Valanciunas said. “Doctors examined carefully and told not to go.

“Every day was getting worse and worse, it’s not about pain, but there was some liquid inside the knee, some swelling.”

Jakob Poeltl earned his first start in place of Valanciunas, and fellow rookie Siakam had a decent night.

Casey said Siakam’s strength is his speed, he can always outrun his defender.

“That’s his gift. He’s as fast as anybody we have,” Casey said.

Siakam did it a few times Sunday, including one sprint up the court that he finished with a huge alley-oop from Lowry, reaching way behind his head to catch the ball.

Asked if Lowry should look for him more on the fast break, Siakam said: “I would if I were him because it’s an easy assist. He’s a great point guard and his vision is great and every time I run I expect the ball. It encourages me to keep running and if we can get two or three baskets like that every game it would be cool.”

The Raptors sauntered out to a 10-point lead on a three-pointer by Terrence Ross in a pedestrian first quarter. They led 23-20 going into the second.

An alley-oop by Siakam put Toronto up by 11 in the second, but the Kings fought back to cut the lead to just three points. A three by Cory Joseph at the buzzer sent the Raptors into the dressing room at halftime up 50-44.

The Kings ended the third quarter with a 9-2 run.

The Raptors are in Oklahoma City on Wednesday then Charlotte on Friday before returning home to host the New York Knicks on Saturday.

Lori Ewing, The Canadian Press