Birch shines in Canadian debut

TORONTO — The trip took place 12 years ago, but

remembers almost every detail. On Feb. 12, 2006, he attended the Toronto Raptors’ game at Air Canada Centre against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Birch was a wide receiver in those days, focused primarily on football, and the players on the court that evening —

and among them — seemed so skilled that Birch couldn’t envision following in their footsteps. That dream came later. And on Sunday night, it came true with a flourish.

Birch, a 25-year-old rookie, played for the Orlando Magic as they lost to the Raptors 112-101 at Air Canada Centre.

In his first NBA game in his home country, Birch tied a career high by scoring 12 points and set a career high by gathering 12 rebounds.

“I see him do this every night,” Magic coach

said. “Whatever the numbers look like, he just impacts the game in the right way: very active on the offensive glass and the defensive end of the floor with his activity. And he was really good tonight.”

Born in Montreal, Birch planned to have his own personal cheering section in the stands Sunday: a group of 15 people, including his mom, his dad, and his three brothers.

“She already told me they made matching shirts and stuff,” Khem Birch said before tipoff. “I’m not really a fan of that, but what can you do? You can’t get mad when people try to support you.”

Birch took a long road to reach Sunday’s moment, and that difficult journey made it even sweeter.

Although raised in Quebec, he attended two Massachusetts prep schools before he started college at Pitt. He transferred to UNLV, played two seasons there and entered the 2014-15 NBA Draft. No team selected him, and he spent the 2014-15 season playing for the NBA Development League’s Sioux Falls Skyforce.

He played overseas the next two years, suiting up for the Turkish team Usak Sportif in 2015-16 and the Greek team Olympiacos in 2016-17.

The Magic signed him to a partially guaranteed contract this past offseason, and Birch earned a regular-season roster spot.

“It’s a lifetime dream,” Birch said. “I put something on my bucket list — the NBA — and I accomplished it. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a lot of wins this year, but I’m always blessed to be here.” and all have in common, aside from giving the Raptors a significant depth advantage over most opponents?

All of them played on at least a few occasions for the 905, the Raptors’ G-League affiliate based in Mississauga, Ont., during the 2015-16 or 2016-17 seasons.

The 905 played a significant role in developing Raptors players.

Magic President Basketball Operations

spent four seasons in the Raptors’ front office, and he wants the Magic’s G-League affiliate to be as useful to the Magic of as the 905 have been to the Raptors.

“It’s been a great resource for us, a laboratory for us,” Raptors coach

said.

Late Friday afternoon, a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos to a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game was hit by a tractor-trailer, and the accident killed 15 people and injured 14 others.

A moment of silence to honor the victims was held before Sunday’s national anthems.

sank a 3-pointer during the first quarter, extending the Magic’s streak with at least one 3-pointer to 900 consecutive regular-season games. It’s the fifth-longest active streak in the NBA.