Toronto Raptors forward Terrence Ross (31) battles Sacramento Kings guard Darren Collison (7) during the first half at Rogers Arena.Anne-Marie Sorvin
DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points to lead the Toronto Raptors to a 99-94 victory over the Sacramento Kings in their pre-season opener as the NBA returned to Vancouver for a day.
Jonas Valanciunas and newcomer Lou Williams, a nine-year veteran acquired by Toronto in June, added 12 points apiece. Terrence Ross and Tyler Hansbrough finished with 11 points each in front of a sellout Rogers Arena crowd of 18,630 that included former Canucks star Trevor Linden and B.C. premier Christy Clark.
Ramon Sessions led the Kings with 14 points, while DeMarcus Cousins and Darren Collison had 13 points each, and Canadian Nik Stauskas had 12 in his NBA debut.
The Raptors trailed the Kings 75-68 heading into the fourth quarter, but an unlikely three-pointer by Tyler Hansbrough — that brought the Toronto players off the bench in celebration —— tied the game 75-75.
Hansbrough connected on a pair of free throws with 1:40 to play to put Toronto up by one, then Lou Williams converted a three-point play and Toronto led by four with just over a minute to go, as the Raptors romped to victory.
The Raptors went a franchise-best 48-34 and made their first post-season appearance in six seasons. Their thrilling series against the Brooklyn Nets ended in a heartbreak — a one-point loss in Game 7.
The Raptors hope to go into this season riding the wave of momentum established last season, and coach Dwane Casey said the goal Sunday was to establish a habit of playing.
"We don't have everything in offensively and defensively, we just want to make sure we continue playing hard, continue to establish an identity as a defensive team," Casey said.
The Raptors are trying to firmly entrench the squad as Canada's team, and there was a real sense the team was in town this week with Raptors billboards overlooking downtown Vancouver streets and ads playing on TV screens.
"We The North" T-shirts and flags dotted Rogers Arena — normally home to the Vancouver Canucks — along with numerous teal Vancouver Grizzlies jerseys from the city's old team that moved to Memphis in 2001.
One row of fans held a big "Vancouver Wants NBA" banner.
The game marked a decent debut for Stauskas. The 20-year-old shooting guard from Mississauga, Ont., picked No. 8 by the Kings in last summer's NBA draft, played 26 minutes, connecting on his first shot attempt, a three-pointer.
Sim Bhullar, a seven-foot-five centre from Toronto, is in camp with the Kings, becoming the first player of Indian descent to sign an NBA contract. Bhullar subbed in for the final 19 seconds of the game.
The game capped the Raptors' west coast training camp. The team had spent the better part of the week training at Fortius Sport & Health in Burnaby, B.C.
Casey went with last year's starters — Lowry, Ross, DeRozan, Amir Johnson and Valanciunas — and the Raptors led 20-17 to end the first quarter.
Ross came off the bench to score eight points in the second — treating the crowd to a thunderous dunk — and the Raptors took a 47-42 into the halftime break.
Raptors rookies Bruno Caboclo, picked 20th overall in the draft last June, and Lucas Nogueira, didn't play.
They'll head to Sacramento to face the Kings again on Tuesday. They host the Boston Celtics at the Air Canada Centre on Friday. They'll host Atlanta in their regular-season opener on Oct. 29.