Sports

Raptors’ Matt Thomas signals three-point boost

Published

5 years ago

January 6, 2020

TORONTO — Matt Thomas has played basketball in Wisconsin high school gyms, on NCAA Division I courts across the Big 12, and in rambunctious Liga ACB arenas around Spain. But he’s never touched an NBA G League floor.

Monday night, that’ll change as the well-traveled shooting guard will suit up with Raptors 905 for his first game action in six weeks, attempting to clear the final hurdle in a tedious recovery from a finger fracture that disrupted his debut NBA season.

“Yeah, it’ll be good just to get some timing back, get some game cardio, game conditioning,” Thomas said. “I’ve been doing a lot but you can’t really simulate a game with 5-on-5, playing against other guys, referees. So, it’ll be good.”

If all goes well, Thomas should be cleared to return to the big-league Toronto Raptors for Tuesday night’s tilt with the Portland Trail Blazers. That’s awfully good timing as it’s unlikely Fred VanVleet, a combo guard who’s played more minutes than any other Raptors player this season, will be available.

The 25-year-old tweaked a hamstring during Saturday night’s 121-102 win over the Brooklyn Nets, adding to the extensive catalogue of ailments he’s been playing through over the course of the season. He missed practice Monday to have the issue further evaluated, and while the Raptors are awaiting the results of that testing before saying anything definitive, VanVleet will be listed as “doubtful” for Tuesday’s game.

“We got hit kind of with the injury bug so far this season,” Thomas said. “But it’s something that comes with the game. It’s part of the territory.”

The tax bill of a relatively healthy NBA championship season has evidently come due for the Raptors, who are already playing without Pascal Siakam (groin), Marc Gasol (hamstring), Norman Powell (shoulder), and Dewan Hernandez (ankle). Plus, Serge Ibaka sat out 10 games in November due to an ankle issue, Kyle Lowry missed three weeks that same month with a fractured thumb, and Patrick McCaw played in only two of Toronto’s first 23 games as he battled a knee ailment.

Less than halfway through the season, undrafted rookie Terence Davis is the only Raptor to have appeared in all 36 of the team’s games. OG Anunoby’s played in 35, having missed an early November contest after being poked in the eye. And third-string centre Chris Boucher’s seen the floor in 33. VanVleet’s the only other Raptors player above 30.

“You just have to play through it. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves,” Thomas said. “No other team’s going to. They’re going to come in here and try to beat us. They don’t care what product we have on the court. So, we have to be ready. Everyone — all 15, 17 of us have to be ready to play.”

Thomas’s return will at least provide some much needed three-point marksmanship for a team that has suffered some truly horrendous shooting nights of late. That includes a 10-of-38 performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers on New Year’s Eve and a disastrous 6-of-42 showing against the Miami Heat.

That second one was particularly difficult to watch as Miami frequently utilized zone coverages on defence, which clogged the paint and left plenty of room on the perimeter for the Raptors to shoot. And miss.

“Yeah, that Miami game was tough. It’s hard to sit out. But it’s even harder to sit out as a shooter when we’re struggling like that,” Thomas said. “But that will never happen again — going, I think it was 6-for-42? We were getting good looks, it just was one of those nights shots didn’t fall.”

Such is the varying nature of three-point shooting, and it was no surprise to see the Raptors turn their fortunes right back around 48 hours later in Brooklyn when they hit 13-of-32 from beyond the arc against the Nets. Even in spite of some extremely woeful shooting nights this season, the Raptors still sit fifth in the NBA in three-point percentage (36.8), averaging more than 13 made threes per game.

What matters more than the results of Toronto’s shots from beyond the arc is the process of how often the Raptors are able to get players uncontested looks from those areas. And the last two games showcased a nearly perfect process. Of Toronto’s 32 three-point attempts, 30 were classified as open (closest defender within four-to-six feet) or wide-open (six-plus feet) by NBA.com. Against the Heat, it was 40-of-42.

And we can keep going. Over Toronto’s last 10 games, 85 per cent of its three-point attempts (298-of-349) have been classified as open or wide-open. Nearly half (160-of-349) have been wide-open. The shots are there — they’ve just got to make them.

The return of Thomas, who shot 47 per cent from distance over his two seasons in Spain, ought to help in that regard. The last six weeks have been frustrating for him, as he’s been patiently waiting for the fracture in his non-shooting hand to heal. What made it difficult was he knew he could play. He’s been running full practices with the Raptors for weeks. But an unfortunate collision in the chaotic environment of an NBA game could have sent the injury back to square one. So, the team waited for it to heal fully before clearing him to return.

“It’s hard. I’ve had injuries before — I know how it works. But this one specifically, with just a finger on my non-shooting hand, it was tough,” Thomas said. “Because there was a point a few weeks ago where I could start doing things with a pretty heavy splint on. And you feel like you can play. But, obviously, the risk of it getting re-injured and potentially needing surgery if it got aggravated again, it just wasn’t worth it. But it was tough. As a competitor, I want to be out there.”

Now, he gets a rehab assignment with the 905 to ensure he’s ready to go. It’s a cunning use of Toronto’s development team, which plays in Mississauga, only a 30-minute drive west of downtown Toronto. Thomas gets the chance to find his sea legs amidst high-level competition, while Raptors decision-makers evaluate how he looks after such a long layoff. In theory, it should help alleviate some of the rust that Thomas would have otherwise had to shake off in an NBA game.

Maybe that translates to Thomas having a little more gas Tuesday night. Maybe it prevents a slow pass on offence or a missed assignment defensively. Maybe it means he comes in feeling more comfortable shooting the ball in the rhythm of Toronto’s offence, which the Raptors would obviously benefit from. Regardless, Thomas is just happy to be back involved with NBA competition, rather than watching it from the best seat in the house.

“I tried to learn as much as I could. Sitting out, there’s different things that you can work on. My mind was one thing,” Thomas said. “Sitting, watching games, being up close, not having a jersey on — it’s just a different feel. Obviously, my number’s not getting called to check in, so you can really shut off and just try to learn. Trying to be around some of these guys, the vets, that have been around the league for a while, and learn things from them. I think in the long run, something like this could actually benefit me.”

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NHL roundup: Hurricanes beat Flyers 6-4 for seventh straight win

Published

1 hour ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Martin Necas scored a go-ahead goal with 29 seconds left and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-4 on Tuesday night.

It was the seventh straight win for the Hurricanes, who also got goals from Jack Roslovic, Jordan Martinook, Eric Robinson and Jackson Blake. Seth Jarvis added an empty-net goal in the final seconds.

Necas typically saves his game-winners for overtime, with nine in his career, but he was able to take care of business in regulation with his team-best seventh goal of the season.

Travis Konecny scored two goals and had two assists for the Flyers. Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett also scored for Philadelphia.

Aleksei Kolosov made 28 saves for the Flyers, who trailed 2-1, 3-1 and 4-3 but kept coming back. Carolina’s Pyotr Kochetkov struggled in net allowing four goals on just 16 shots.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:

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SABRES 5 SENATORS 1

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Bowen Byram and Tage Thompson scored 16 seconds apart to open the third period, and Buffalo snapped a three-game skid with a win over Ottawa.

Byram scored twice, JJ Peterka had two goals and an assist and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 37 saves.

Ridly Greig converted his own rebound in cutting Buffalo’s lead to 2-1 with 7:31 left in the second period. Linus Ullmark made 29 saves in dropping to 1-4 in his past five starts.

Buffalo went up 3-1 on Byram’s second goal 21 seconds into the third period. The defenceman’s shot from inside the blue line sneaked through Ullmark, with the puck rolling down the goalie’s pad, dropping into the crease and trickling across the line. Thompson scored when he crashed the net, was knocked over by defender Jake Sanderson and was lying in the crease when Alex Tuch’s shot went in off his shoulder.

—

MAPLE LEAFS 4 BRUINS 0

TORONTO (AP) — Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season in Toronto’s 4-0 victory over Boston.

Morgan Rielly had a goal and two assists as Toronto connected three times on the power play. William Nylander and Matthew Knies added a goal and an assist each. Mitch Marner had two assists of his own. Steven Lorentz rounded out the scoring into the empty net.

The Leafs played without captain Auston Matthews, who is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Jeremy Swayman made 23 stops for Boston, which was coming off consecutive weekend shutouts of the Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken.

Toronto’s porous 31st-ranked power play scored for the second time in as many games at 8:44 of the second period when Rielly fired through a screen. Nylander banked in his team-leading 10th goal of the season on another man advantage 1:14 later for a 2-0 lead.

The Bruins entered the game 8-0-0 in the regular season against their Atlantic Division rival dating back to Jan. 14, 2023.

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FLAMES 3 CANADIENS 2 (OT)

MONTREAL (AP) — Matt Coronato scored twice as Calgary came back to defeat Montreal in overtime.

Coronato tied the game with 2:46 remaining in regulation when he cruised into the slot and went off the post and in. He then buried the winning goal seven seconds into the extra period.

Connor Zary also scored for Calgary, which won its second game in seven outings. Dustin Wolf stopped 21 shots.

Joel Armia — with a short-handed goal — and Brendan Gallagher scored for Montreal (4-7-2). Armia also provided an assist, while Sam Montembeault made 32 saves as the Canadiens’ losing streak extended to four games.

Zary opened the scoring with his third 4:20 into the second period when he pounced on a loose puck in the slot and fired a shot past Montembeault.

Gallagher then slipped the puck between Wolf’s pads at 16:23 to level the score with his fifth of the season.

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BLUES 3 LIGHTNING 2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Kyrou, Alexey Toropchenko and Oskar Sundqvist scored to help St. Louis beat Tampa Bay 3-2.

Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for his 149th career win moving him past Jake Allen for second place in franchise history, just two wins behind Mike Liut’s 151.

Nick Perbix and Victor Hedman scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning who have lost three straight games.

Kyrou scored his fourth goal of the season 8:51 into the third period to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead.

Toropchenko scored his first goal of the season with 1:35 remaining in the second period to put St. Louis ahead 2-1 after Sundqvist tied the game with his first of the season 7:47 into the period.

—

ISLANDERS 4 PENGUINS 3 (SO)

NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Horvat scored the only goal in a shootout and New York rallied past Pittsburgh 4-3.

New York goalie Ilya Sorokin denied Rickard Rakell, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang in the shootout and finished with 32 saves. Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who trailed 3-1 midway through the third period.

Simon Holmstrom and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored in the third for New York. Horvat had two assists.

Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist to lead Pittsburgh. Crosby got his 598th career goal, and Michael Bunting also scored. Rakell added two assists.

Alex Nedeljkovich stopped 23 shots for the Penguins, who have lost seven of nine. They won their previous two following a six-game skid.

—

KINGS 5 WILD 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Trevor Lewis scored twice, Kevin Fiala added another on the power play and Los Angeles beat Minnesota 5-1.

Warren Foegele and Quinton Byfield also scored for Los Angeles, which was playing the second night of a back-to-back after a 3-0 win in Nashville a night earlier. David Rittich made 23 saves for the Kings.

Fiala, who was traded to Los Angeles in 2022 by Minnesota for a first-round pick draft pick and defenceman Brock Faber, scored his seventh goal of the season. He now has three goals and six assists in his last seven games against the Wild.

Minnesota, which had won three in a row, opened the scoring in the second period on Zach Bogosian’s first goal of the season. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 23 shots for the Wild.

—

JETS 3 UTAH 0

WINNIPEG, Man. (AP) — Nino Niederreiter scored twice in his 900th NHL career game and Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves to help Winnipeg defeat Utah 3-0.

It was Hellebuyck’s second shutout of the season and 39th of this career.

Gabriel Vilardi also scored for the Jets. Adam Lowry assisted on both goals by Niederreiter.

Utah ended a run of picking up points in three consecutive games (1-0-2).

Karel Vejmelka stopped 25 shots for Utah in its second stop on a four-game road trip.

Jets winger Kyle Connor had his franchise-record, season-opening points streak end at 12 games.

—

AVALANCHE 6 KRAKEN 3

DENVER (AP) — Arturri Lehkonen scored the go-ahead goal on a power play in his season debut and Nathan MacKinnon had five assists as Colorado beat Seattle 6-3.

Mikko Rantanen added two goals for the Avalanche, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Ivan Ivan, Nikolai Kovalenko and Chris Wagner also scored for Colorado.

Cale Makar had two assists but the star defenceman barely played in the second half of the game and appeared to be slowed by an apparent injury during a brief shift.

MacKinnon and Makar extended their season-opening point streaks to 13 games.

Lehkonen played for the first time since off-season shoulder surgery.

Jared McCann, Jaden Schwartz and Brandon Montour scored for the Kraken.

—

CANUCKS 5 DUCKS 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Brock Boeser, Danton Heinen and Kiefer Sherwood had a goal and an assist apiece, and Quinn Hughes recorded his 300th career assist in Vancouver’s victory over Anaheim.

Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson also scored and Hughes had three assists for the Canucks, who have won six of eight. Kevin Lankinen made 21 saves in Vancouver’s sixth consecutive win over the Ducks.

Olen Zellweger scored a power-play goal early in the first period for Anaheim, which has lost seven of nine. Lukas Dostal stopped 31 shots.

Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko took shots from teammates again after the morning skate, and he could return to practice this week. The Southern California native and 2023-24 Vezina Trophy finalist hasn’t played this season due to a knee injury incurred late last season.

—

SHARKS 2 BLUE JACKETS 1 (OT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Alex Wennberg scored 3:11 into overtime and San Jose celebrated the return of No. 1 overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini with a win over Columbus.

Defenceman Jack Thompson scored his first career goal for the Sharks (4-8-2), who entered the night with the worst record in the NHL. San Jose has won four of five.

Celebrini, the top pick in the 2024 NHL draft, missed 12 games with a hip injury he sustained in the season opener Oct. 10 — an injury first incurred during the pre-season. Celebrini didn’t score and missed a shot early in overtime.

San Jose goalie Vitek Vanacek was fantastic in net, making 49 saves.

Blue Jackets right wing Kirill Marchenko scored for the second consecutive game. Columbus (5-6-1) has lost three straight.

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Canada’s Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Routliffe pick up second win at WTA Finals

Published

1 day ago

November 5, 2024

Anne Joseph

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.

The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.

The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.

Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.

The final is scheduled for Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.

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Allen nets shutout as Devils burn Oilers 3-0

Published

1 day ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.

The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.

Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.

KEY MOMENT

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.

KEY RETURN?

Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.

OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN

The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.

The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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