Raptors upset at home

TORONTO (CP) — The Toronto Raptors’ smooth start to the NBA season hit a bump on Monday night.

The visiting New Orleans Pelicans downed Toronto 126-110, handing the Raptors only their second loss of the young campaign — and first at home.

Toronto’s defence was out of sorts, allowing opponent season-highs in points allowed (126) and field goal percentage (.545).

At the other end, its offence sputtered — especially from three-point range where the Raptors made just 13-of-45 attempts.

“Tough night. They did everything better than us,” said Pascal Siakam, a bright spot for Toronto (12-2) with a team-high 22 points on a day where he was named Eastern Conference player of the week.

It marked the second straight game that Siakam has led Toronto in scoring.

Raptors coach Nick Nurse told his players it was one of those nights. “I just told them ‘Hey listen, they were really good. Sometimes you get your butt kicked in this league. Let’s get out of here, go home and let’s get ready to bounce back because we’ve got a bunch of games coming at us this week. We’ve got to forget about it ASAP, learn what we can learn. The ball goes up again here in a couple of days and we’ve got to be ready to fight a little harder,”’ said Nurse.

Toronto welcomes the Detroit Pistons and former coach Dwane Casey on Wednesday.

E’Twaun Moore had a season-high 30 points for the Pelicans (7-6), while Anthony Davis had 25 points and a season-high 20 rebounds, the fifth 20-20 game of his career.