The Toronto Raptors looked to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves for the second time in as many nights. The last time these teams faced each other, Kyle Lowry went off for 40 points and DeMar DeRozan was sitting out (rest). Today, Dwane Casey decided to switch the roles by playing DeRozan and resting Lowry.

Anthony Bennett replaced Patrick Patterson in the starting lineup and played admirably. His defense was great, as he was hitting his shots and setting great screens. Patrick Patterson, on the other end, had another bad game which brings up the question, is he a starting caliber power forward? From what we've seen, he is not. 

In many post-game interviews, Dwane Casey made it clear that their focal point is defense. They know they can score and want to address their biggest weakness from last season, their defense. Surprisingly, the Raptors played their best defensive outing in a game they lost.

The Raptors began the game out hot, hitting shots, running the pick and roll, and playing some lockdown defense. They arguably had their best defensive outing in the second quarter of tonight's game. Cory Joseph started in place of Lowry and proved yet again that he is going to be a focal point to Toronto's transition defense. He ran the pick and roll with Anthony Bennett and that Canadian connection was quite effective. He tied for a team-high three assists, while his backcourt mate was just terrible. DeMar DeRozan was chucking contested shots and is now shooting a horrid 27 percent in the preseason.  

DeMarre Carroll had a great game, even if it doesn't look that way on the box score. His defense on Andrew Wiggins, who previously went off for 22 points in the first half, was fantastic. He held Wiggins to 3 of 10 shooting.

Jonas Valanciunas, better known as JV, had a better outing tonight. He wasn't biting on Karl-Anthony Towns' pump fakes and even showed some nice moves. 

Tonight was the debut of the Raptors' 905 (D-League) squad. They played the entire fourth quarter, which shows one of two things. Either Dwane Casey is very confident with these rookies, or he doesn't care at all about the preseason. Either way, this is a great learning opportunity for these rookies, and although they are lost, this will ultimately benefit them in the long run. 

This game came down to the wire, with a final score of 89-87 in favor of the Wolves.