A icy water shower for Darko Rajakovic. The Raptors celebrated properly, in the locker room, their coach’s first victory after leading a bitter fight against the Wolves (97-94). A success which bore the mark of another newcomer to Canada, Dennis Schroder.
Author of 22 points (8/17 on shots) and 7 assists, Fred VanVleet’s replacement at the lead was particularly inspired in the final moments of a match where neither team took more than 10 points. advance. In control, the MVP of the last World Cup scored a 3-point basket six minutes from time.
And above all knew how to create the gaps to serve OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam behind the arc, the latter having scored two winning baskets in two minutes to give a key advantage to Toronto (93-86) three minutes from time. Just to save for him an overall active but clumsy evening (15 points at 5/17).
Scottie Barnes was everywhere!
Speaking of activity, Scottie Barnes did very well in the field by hitting everything and offering himself a career record in blocks (5). His last counter came 5 minutes from time in front of Shake Milton at the heart of a rather improbable sequence where Dennis Schroder almost scored against his side by saving the blocked ball.
Dominated by the size of the Wolves and therefore in rebounds (47-62), the Canadians compensated for this deficit by playing on their speed. Result: 34 points scored on the counter-attack against only 12 for Wolves. The latter had a bad offensive evening. If their opponents only shot at 40% success, they did even worse with a sad 34% overall.
With an impression of treading water in attack confirmed by their coach. “ We didn’t trust the moves we had seen throughout the preseason. We were never able to establish any rhythm », Regretted Chris Finch, whose team remained undefeated in pre-season (5-0), after the match.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– The bankruptcy of the Wolves leaders. Anthony Edwards had nevertheless started his evening very strongly. Embarrassed by OG Anunoby in particular, he subsequently lost the thread of his game. His big final double-double (26 points and 14 rebounds) struggles to mask his level of clumsiness displayed at mid-distance (8/27 on shots) . Also in double-double, Karl-Anthony Towns didn’t do much better, spraying too much from distance (8/25 have 2/10 from distance).
– The Wolves have not won in Toronto since… 2004. This is the longest ongoing losing streak in a city. The Wolves have not managed to win in Toronto since January 2004. At the time, they were led by Sam Cassell, Kevin Garnett and Latrell Sprewell, when the Canadiens relied on a young Chris Bosh. Minnesota players still managed to win more recently on the Raptors floor, it was in 2021 when Pascal Siakam and his team had to be relocated to Tampa due to restrictions linked to Covid.
THE FOLLOWING
Raptors (1-0): trip to Chicago, Friday.
Wolves (0-1): reception of the Heat, Saturday.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
