TORONTO — Dwane Casey liked what he saw from his Raptors, and wants to see it more often.
DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points, Kyle Lowry added 19 and Toronto snapped the San Antonio Spurs' four-game winning streak with a 97-94 victory on Wednesday night.
Casey has seen this before. Solid victories at Oklahoma City, at Washington and at Atlanta have been followed up by less-than-desirable efforts at Orlando, against Phoenix and against Denver.
So even a victory over the Spurs did little to bring a smile to Casey's face.
"We have to build a consistent identity of playing this way if we're serious about doing anything," he said. "We can be up and down and get happy on the farm and do all this on one night and come back and lay an egg the next night.
"We have to make sure we tend to our business and keep this same concentration, execution in the next game."
Toronto won despite taking just 64 shots, the seventh time in franchise history that the team won attempting 64 or fewer and the first time since a 2009 win over Detroit. The Raptors made them count, connecting on a season-high 57.8 percent.
It was the first time all season that San Antonio, the NBA's best defensive team in terms of points allowed per game, permitted an opponent to shoot 50 percent from the floor.
"I don't know how we only shot 64 times but it worked," Lowry said. "Don't get used to it though."
DeRozan shot 10 of 15 as Toronto's starters combined for 79 points. The Raptors had 27 in the first quarter, their most this season at home.
"We just came out and took good shots," Lowry said.
Toronto led by as many as 13 at one point and the Spurs could get no closer than three down the stretch.
"They played well, give them credit," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "It's not a certain play, or anything new that happened. They played sharper than we did and I thought they were more aggressive than we were.
"It's as simple as that; there's no hidden mystery there."
Manu Ginobili scored 17 points but forward Kawhi Leonard was clearly still feeling the after-effects of a bout of gastroenteritis that saw him sit out Monday's 51-point victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Leonard played 27 minutes, scoring nine points and adding seven rebounds.
"Towards the end of the game he started to look fairly normal again, but he obviously wasn't himself," Popovich said.
NO HOME COOKING
The Spurs, who are 11-0 at home, fell to 7-5 away from the AT&T Center.
QUOTABLE
"We saw him at 18 or 19, I don't know how old he was when he got there. He was very raw. You could see all his energy and toughness, but he was very raw. Now you see him as a man, and a well-developed player and it's a good thing." Ginobili, on facing former teammate Cory Joseph for the first time as rivals.
TIP-INS
Spurs: The game marked a return to the Air Canada Centre for Matt Bonner, who played for the Raptors from 2004-06, and Spurs assistant GM Sean Marks, who played there from 1998-2000. ... Ginobili and Toronto's Luis Scola are former teammates on the Argentina national team.
Raptors: For the third straight game, Toronto played a team with an NBA MVP in its lineup. After succumbing to reigning MVP Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors on Saturday and beating Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, the Raptors knocked off Tim Duncan's Spurs. ... Through the first four games in December, Toronto's backcourt duo of DeRozan and Lowry is averaging 49.5 points per game, while shooting .451 from the field. ... DeMarre Carroll (right knee) and Lucas Nogueira (left ankle) both missed their second consecutive games. ... The Raptors are 7-6 against Western Conference teams this season.
UP NEXT
Spurs: Host Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.
Raptors: Host Milwaukee on Friday.
