Nick Nurse said that he would be on a minutes restriction and the Raptors forward finished yesterday’s game right at 25 minutes played.
Siakam’s road back to the court wasn’t easy, but he said his ability to return showed that he is “made of something.”
Siakam was immediately inserted into the starting lineup as Toronto embraced positionless basketball to the fullest.
Overall, he looked rusty at times, as expected when coming off an extended layoff. However, he hit his first shot of the season and was close to his usual self on the defensive end of the floor.
“I thought Pascal, for conditioning … didn’t look bad,” Nurse said after the game.
Nurse’s choice of starters (Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, and Siakam) was interesting. However, neither Khem Birch nor Precious Achiuwa has separated in the competition for center minutes.
So rather than trying to decide whether Siakam or Barnes was better suited to come off the bench, Nurse opted just to put both on the floor.
The length and versatility that an Anunoby, Barnes, and Siakam frontcourt provides the Raptors are tantalizing. As Siakam gets closer to All-Star form, that group could help keep Toronto in playoff contention.
VanVleet is another reason that Toronto is exceeding preseason expectations.
When the Raptors closed the first half, it was VanVleet who was the driving force. He pushed the pace and helped Toronto take advantage of the Brooklyn Nets’ porous transition defense.
He finished the game with 21 points and eight assists, continuing his solid start to his first year as the team’s orchestrator.
VanVleet believes that the team is more cohesive this year, which has helped them play well out of the gates and ease the process of bringing Siakam back along.
“Our chemistry is a little bit better. We’re a little bit tighter,” VanVleet said.
Yet, the combined firepower of James Harden (28 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists) and Kevin Durant (31 points, seven rebounds, seven assists) proved too much in the end.
This was Durant’s first game in Toronto since he ruptured his Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals.
Brooklyn outscored Toronto in the first (29-26), third (35-17), and fourth (28-26) quarters. In those three quarters, Durant and Harden powered the Nets offense.
Durant scored 12 points in the first and 13 points in the third, while Harden clinched the game with 16 points in the fourth.
Toronto’s defense made life difficult for both, but great offense beats excellent defense at a certain point.
Barnes, Anunoby, Trent Jr., and Siakam all spent time on each superstar. Still, Brooklyn did a good job of using ball screens to force the Raptors into switches and provide Durant and Harden the opportunity to work against lesser defenders.
Despite the loss, this game should be looked at as a feather in the Raptor’s cap.
The second quarter, in which Toronto won 34-24, showcased the possibilities of this year’s team.
Nurse agreed. “I think the second quarter — that’s how you’d draw up what it had to look like,” Nurse said.
The length and athleticism were on full display. Barnes had a three-possession sequence late in the second, where he forced three turnovers.
First, he picked up Harden full court and hounded him until he had to pass to Joe Harris as an outlet, and then picked off Harris’ pass back. Next, he sprung a trap onto Durant as he attempted to post up VanVleet and knocked the ball away. Finally, in what is easily the most Barnes highlight of the season, he snatched the ball right out of Durant’s hands.
“We were everywhere,” Nurse said, “Every time somebody turned, somebody else was there, and then we were out and running.”
Nobody thought they would have gotten off to the start they have, and even though the final score looks a little one-sided, Toronto was right in the game until the very end.
A healthy and rehabbed Siakam could jumpstart this team to the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference, which looks a little more open than many thought through the first few weeks.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
