Valanciunas has emerged Raptors’ hero through two post-season games

TORONTO – Jonas Valanciunas is celebrating a dunk, his arms flexed, muscles bulging, eyes wild, mouth open in a primal scream. He looks like a Spartan warrior from the movie “300.”

The image tells the story of Game 2, of how the 23-year-old Lithuanian carried the Toronto Raptors to a desperately needed victory over the Indiana Pacers.

Two days after early foul trouble “limited” him to 12 points and 19 rebounds, Valanciunas exploded for 23 points and 15 boards Monday, prompting Pacers star Paul George to say “He’s been huge. Literally. He’s the one that’s causing us problems right now.”

Heading into Tuesday’s playoff action, Valanciunas was the league leader in rebounds, and his solid performances marked the first time he’d grabbed 15-plus rebounds in back-to-back games in his career.

The Raptors drafted the little-known Valanciunas fifth overall in 2011, but then kept him in Lithuania for another year to mature. It also normally takes big men longer to adapt to the NBA, and in the moments after the biggest game of his career, Dwane Casey — the only NBA head coach Valanciunas has ever played for — grinned like a proud father.

“Everybody wanted that kid to be a superstar when he first got here. He wasn’t ready. But again, nobody comes to this league and sets it on fire,” Casey said. “He’s grown, he’s developed, he’s worked his butt off. I’m really proud of him. It makes me feel good to see him develop like that, play the game. It makes him feel good to not be worried about Valanciunas, about his own security, about his team’s history of post-season defeat, about all the winds that have blown around this team to get to this playoff place.

“He’s not a finished product,” Casey added. “He’s going to get better. Sky’s the limit for that young man.”

Valanciunas has done extra work with different coaches in past off-seasons. He spent time two summers ago working on his running with coach Jim Radcliffe at the University of Oregon. He’s also worked at length with Seattle SuperSonics legend Jack Sikma on his face-up game.

“I just want to win, and I’m doing everything to win the game,” Valanciunas said. “I don’t judge myself by: I’m playing good, I’m playing bad. The last play is the last play, you’ve gotta go there and do your job, you’ve got to give everything.”

As the Raptors met at Biosteel Centre on Tuesday, part of the message was to get Valanciunas ready for the next game. The Pacers will look to make adjustments for Thursday’s Game 3 in Indianapolis. They’ll be gunning to throw Valanciunas off his game.

“That’s one thing we talked to JV about understanding: now they’re going to come after you and get the ball out of your hands and you’ve got to make plays for everybody else to get easy buckets,” DeMar DeRozan said. “That’s what it’s all about, every game is completely different, they’re going to adjust to whoever’s hot, whoever’s got it going and that’s where we pick and choose our spots to take advantage of it.”

DeRozan said Valanciunas is a great example of Toronto’s depth this season. While he and fellow all-star Kyle Lowry have been woeful shooting in two games, others have stepped up to fill the void.

“That’s what it’s all about, honestly,” DeRozan said. “That’s the beauty of our team, anybody can get hot. . . you see what JV’s been doing these first two games. That’s the beauty of the depth we have on this team, guys step up whether it’s scoring or on the defensive end, or whatever it may be.”

The Raptors’ 98-87 victory ended a seven-game post-season losing streak for Toronto, and eased the angst felt by fans still stinging from their four-game sweep at the hands of the Washington Wizards in the opening round last season.

The Raptors are set to fly to Indiana and into enemy territory on Wednesday, and Casey said it’s no time to rest easy. His main message Tuesday was: “We can’t exhale.

“My whole thing today. . . when you win one game and the situation of losing seven in a row, the first thing you want to do is exhale. We can’t exhale, we can’t relax. We won the game, but we can do better.”

Game 4 is Saturday at Indiana, then the series returns to Toronto for Game 5 on Tuesday.

The Raptors, who finished No. 2 in the East, are gunning for only their second playoff series win in franchise history. They beat the New York Knicks in five games in the opening round in 2001.