WWWWWWWWWWWWWWIN STREAK
Nets put up a fight, but Raptors hang on to win 14th in a row
Raptors forward Pascal Siakam battles for the ball with Nets forward Taurean Prince on Saturday night at the Scotiabank Arena. Siakam scored 20 points as the Raptors won 119-118. Fred VanVleet led the Raptors with 29 points and Terence Davis also had 20.
The Toronto Raptors had just enough gas in the tank to extend their franchise-record win streak to 14 games on Saturday night, beating the Brooklyn Nets for their second 119-118 victory in four days.
A backcourt of Fred VanVleet and Terence Davis, who made his first home start in place of injured all-star Kyle Lowry, combined to score 49 points on 51 per cent shooting in the battle-hardened Raptors’ third game in four nights.
“We knew it. We talked about it in a couple of timeouts: Man, we gotta gather everything we’ve got when we get it inside and try to finish,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.
A breathless, end-to-end first quarter saw the lead change eight times, with the Nets up by three after 12 minutes. Without Lowry (whiplash) and Marc Gasol (hamstring), the home side finished the quarter with a new-look second unit of Patrick McCaw, Matt Thomas, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Chris Boucher and Oshae Brissett, who was recalled from the G League’s Raptors 905 after recovering from an ankle sprain.
The surprising five held the Nets scoreless for more than 4 1⁄ 2 minutes into the second quarter. Thomas led the bench with a career-high 15 points, including three of four from beyond the arc, in a career-high 22 minutes. Boucher chipped in nine points. In total, the second unit outscored the Brooklyn bench 27-11 in the first half.
“That group was awesome in the first half, right?” Nurse said. “They were incredible. They turned a lacklustre start to the game into an energetic game and they were great.”
Up 12 at the break, the Raptors held the lead until the final minute of the game when Brooklyn — led by Caris LeVert’s 24-point second half — tied the score, putting the streak in jeopardy.
But like they have so often, the defending champions found a way.
VanVleet scored eight points in the last 5 1⁄2 minutes. Siakam had 20 points on the night and drew a foul on Brooklyn forward Wilson Chandler with 22 seconds to play, then hit a free throw for a onepoint lead.
Brooklyn’s last possession fell apart — LeVert missing a pull-up jumper, then Joe Harris failing to convert a layup — and the streak was preserved.
á Pain in the neck: Lowry was ruled out after suffering whiplash when he crashed into teammate Serge Ibaka’s bottom half during Friday’s win over the Indiana Pacers. Nurse, however, didn’t seem to think it would be a longterm injury: “He’s not playing tonight, not dressing, But he’s OK, I think.”
á Dynamic duos: The last time the Raptors faced the Nets in early January, LeVert was just returning from thumb surgery and played a season-low 15:43. On Saturday night, he led Brooklyn with a season-high 37 points. The Raptors were very aware of the threat he posed next to point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who was good for 21 points. It’s the kind of one-two punch that Nurse is familiar with, deploying Lowry and VanVleet when they’re both healthy. “Well, (LeVert’s) aggressive, right?” Nurse said before the game. “And he scores. He’s talented, skilled, certainly not afraid to attack and put it up, and he’s long. He’s got a lot of characteristics with his size, his kind of quickness. He’s got some stop-start hesitation stuff that’s difficult to guard. Just gives them another really good threat off the dribble.”
á Up next: The Minnesota Timberwolves roll into town Monday after trading Canadian Anthony Wiggins to the Warriors for guard D’Angelo Russell. Russell’s availability is in question, though, after missing Saturday night’s 142-115 win over the Los Angeles Clippers because of a right thigh contusion. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.