Tenacious Hornets sting Raptors with team effort
Slow start proves costly for NBA champs as lowly Charlotte fights hard for upset
Normally, the stinker comes when a team returns home from a West Coast road trip.
It looks like the Toronto Raptors got that stinker out of the way a little early with a 99-96 loss to the lowly Charlotte Hornets on Friday night at Scotiabank Arena.
In truth, this was really only a stinker for about a half, when the Raptors couldn’t make a shot. But having had their way with the reigning NBA champs for that long and having established a healthy lead, the Hornets decided they were going to fight for this one all night.
The issue was eventually decided by a foul call against the Raptors’ Rondae Hollis-jefferson, who basically threw Terry Rozier to the hardwood on the inbound, earning Rozier a single free throw and possession of the ball. Rozier calmly sank the free throw to break a 96-96 tie. On the following inbound, the Raptors fouled again, this time sending Devonte Graham to the line for two more and an eventual three-point win.
Give the Hornets full credit for this one.
They were up and at the Raptors from the opening tip, and even when it looked like the home side was going to reel them back in, the Hornets would make another run to re-establish their lead.
It wasn’t until the final four minutes that the Raptors really looked like they might get back in this one.
On one of the poorest shooting nights of the season, and playing without Fred Vanvleet and Serge Ibaka as well as Marc Gasol, the Raptors needed every ounce of perseverance just to make this a game.
It was the start of the second half when Pascal Siakam decided enough was enough and started attacking the basket. He still missed his fair share of shots, but the aggressiveness was rewarded with trips to the free throw line, and suddenly Siakam was back in the 20s in the box score.
On its own, that still wasn’t enough, as the Hornets weren’t about to give it up easily.
It took a pair of Kyle Lowry three-pointers in the final two minutes just to get the score back to even with 1:24 to play.
Lowry then drove the lane past Bismack Biyombo before switching to his left hand for the layup, giving the Raptors a two-point lead with 1:14 left.
It was the last time the Raptors would hold the lead.
All five Charlotte starters finished in double digits, none with more than Rozier and Graham’s 18 and none with fewer than Biyombo’s 13.
It was a full team effort. Lowry finished the night with 21 points, one shy of Norm Powell and two less than Siakam, who finished with team best 24 points.
Nine of Lowry’s points came in the final two minutes as he tried to put this one in the win column by himself.
The Raptors now embark on a five-game, 10-day road trip through the west beginning Sunday in Denver.
MORE OF THE SAME
The Raptors welcomed two players back to the lineup on Friday night in advance of their game with Charlotte, but it wouldn’t be the Raptors if it was just guys coming back.
Powell returned from a broken bone in his left hand, while Patrick Mccaw is back after a bout with the flu that cost him three games.
On any other day, that would be cause for celebration, until the news dropped that both Vanvleet and Ibaka wouldn’t be available.
Vanvleet is out with soreness in his left shoulder. Ibaka has soreness in his right knee.
It’s almost predictable this season that the Raptors will be short-handed.
What it meant on Friday night with the Hornets in town was a rare start for Hollis-jefferson at centre in place of Ibaka, who was filling in for the injured Marc Gasol.
Vanvleet’s misfortune opens a door for Powell to step right into big minutes after a nine-game absence with that left hand issue.
The Raptors have played a total of two games this year with their full complement.
And if you just included the top seven players in Nurse’s rotation — that would be Lowry, Vanvleet, OG Anunoby, Siakam, Gasol, Ibaka and Powell — the Raptors have played just 17 games of the 59 so far this season with all seven healthy.
With Ibaka already replacing Gasol and now joining him on the bench in street clothes, the real issue for Nurse on Friday night was ensuring he didn’t run out of bigs.