The Toronto Raptors opened their brief three-game exhibition season with a 111-100 win over the Charlotte Hornets in front of no fans — which might have been only the second strangest aspect of the game.
Toronto gave up a 19-0 run in the first quarter and ended up leading 58-51 at half before going up by 19 midway through the third — a 38-point turnaround in the space of about 24 minutes. Does Gordan Hayward know what he’s gotten himself into?
Anyway, five takeaways from the Raptors’ 2020-21 debut:
1. The noise surrounding Lowry is nothing to worry about
It’s not wise to get caught up in any drama tied to what Kyle Lowry does in pre-season. It’s tempting, though. There was a minor stir across Raptors nation when the team announced that Lowry had been granted a “personal leave” and would not be travelling to Charlotte for Toronto’s exhibition games against the Hornets on Saturday and Monday. Lowry has yet to speak to the media and when Raptors rookie Jalen Harris was asked about Lowry’s influence through training camp, he said “we haven’t really seen him much.” So is this Kyle being Kyle or something more?
This is nothing to worry about. “It’s basically load management and just, just not really see any need to him on the trip. That’s it,” said Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, who was left to explain Lowry’s absence without coming out and saying his best player doesn’t really care about the pre-season.
The reality is that entering his 15th season, Lowry understands both what it takes to get ready for a season and how far he can push the envelope with regard to doing whatever he feels like doing, outside of being physically and mentally prepared to do his job. If Lowry doesn’t feel like speaking with the media — something he’s declined throughout training camp — he’s not doing media. If he doesn’t want to go to Charlotte because he’s got a weekend full of tee times in Tampa? What do you think he’s going to do? In the medium-term, it won’t matter.
“Listen, he’s in fantastic shape, maybe as good as I’ve seen him, especially at a start maybe like this,” said Nurse. “He really looks great condition-wise. No worry with him.”
History would suggest this will all be fine. At the start of the 2019-20 season, Lowry was doing a slow-motion holdout during training camp. He was showing up to workout alone but he had no plans to participate in any team activities until he got another year and $31 million added to his contract. He got his deal and in the end played just three of seven pre-season games and none until his extension was inked. It didn’t seem to matter as Lowry played 45 minutes in the Raptors overtime win in the season opener and then put up 29 points and seven assists in 40 minutes against the Boston Celtics in the second game on his way to another all-star season.
Lowry will figure this out and might even knock a stroke or two off his handicap in the process.
2. A condensed pre-season makes every moment matter to players fighting for a rotation spot
The NBA pre-season typically tends to drag, with seven or eight games spread over a month. About halfway through, it feels like the real games will never come. Not this year.
Like everything else in the rapid-fire 2020-21 season — where the draft, free agency and the opening of training came were compressed into about 10 days — the pre-season is coming on fast and will be gone just as quickly. Toronto will have just three exhibition games — two on this trip to Charlotte, then hosting the Miami Heat in Tampa on Dec. 18 — before their season opener on Dec. 23. It doesn’t leave much time for the coaching staff to see those outside the rotation trying to get in, so it creates its own kind of pressure. What’s a rookie to do?
“Just capitalizing on each [opportunity] … it’s limited games this year, limited pre-season games, so I just think each moment I’m out there, each second on the clock, I just try to maximize and take in everything that happens,” said Raptors second-round pick Jalen Harris.
But there are only 240 minutes to go around and Nurse has a lot of players vying for consideration after the predictable top seven or eight rotation pieces. He started five reserves for the second half against the Hornets – Alex Len, Terence Davis, Yuta Watanabe, Matt Thomas and Malachi Flynn. Harris ended up playing just eight minutes in the fourth quarter and didn’t make much of an impact, which was to be expected for a youngster getting a few minutes in garbage time. Making the most of his time from the crowd just trying to squeeze their way into the rotation was Paul Watson who had five points and three blocks in his 14 minutes.
3. Flynn shines in small sample-size debut
From the smallest of small sample-size department, the early returns on Raptors first-round pick Malachi Flynn look like he belongs on an NBA floor, like, right away.
The 29th overall pick was most impressive on defence in the early stretches of his 20 minutes. One play in particular stood out, as he squared up Hornets point guard Terry Rozier and stayed with him laterally as the veteran Charlotte guard tried to cross him over and attack the paint from the baseline side. Flynn kept low, kept his feet moving and didn’t reach and Rozier very quickly ran out of real estate and had to take a fading, off-balance jumper that didn’t have a chance.
Flynn started the second half and showed even more. He picked up his second steal and ran the break perfectly – holding the ball an extra beat in order to let Thomas sprint to the baseline corner for a wide-open three. Flynn looks like he’s going to be a threat from deep, too, as he knocked down three of his first four triples. And the notion that Flynn is somehow not athletic should be put to rest as well. He might only be six-foot (barely) and 185 pounds (barely) but he’s very quick and fluid and seems to get even quicker with the ball in traffic.
Perhaps even more impressive than his positive plays were the lack of any negative ones. It’s one game – an exhibition game at that – but Flynn looks like he belongs.
“I throw him in the same group as a good basketball player, you know he does a lot,” said Nurse after the game. “He penetrates, he pressures the ball, he understands where to be. He’s competitive, and then you know he’s got the shooting component to his game as we saw tonight as well. So again, he’s a good basketball player, and that’s key. It’s good you know you can throw as many good guys out there as you can that understand what you’re doing, and usually that goes a long way.”
4. Despite awful run, Raptors’ starters showcase several positives
Apart from a horrible start, the Raptors’ starters looked present and accounted for — that’s maybe the best way to put it.
Giving up a 19-0 run is never a good thing but any notion that Fred VanVleet’s four-year, $85-million contract will weigh him down in any way should be dismissed. He looked a step ahead, getting his hand on almost any ball he wanted to on his way to five steals in just 17 minutes. Newcomer Aron Baynes was as advertised, setting wall-like screens, stepping into a few awkward-looking threes and even drawing a charge. Norman Powell was trying to do a bit too much and let the game speed him up — it’s tempting to say some things never change, but clearly Powell shook that label last season, so I’m more than willing to overlook his early rustiness. Pascal Siakam knocked down three triples in six attempts, which — given his struggles at the end of last season and during the playoffs — was nice to see.
5. Thomas making his case for a bigger role in second season
The Raptors’ best player may have been Matt Thomas.
He arrived as free agent from Europe as a sharpshooter last season and certainly lived up to his advanced billing, as he connected on 47.5 per cent from deep, which would have led the NBA had he had enough attempts (he only got up 99 threes on the season while appearing in 41 games). But he’s looking for a bigger role and more minutes in a crowded wing rotation that features Powell, Davis, Flynn, Harris and DeAndre’ Bembry.
Thomas made himself heard as he looked equally comfortable running the offence as he did spotting up from deep. He was effective putting the ball on the floor and creating for others and the threat he presents as a shooter makes him a magnet that draws in defences and creates room for his teammates.
“I think that he’s a good player you know I mean? He kind of gets this ‘He’s a shooter,’ you know what I mean? He’s a shooter, obviously, but he’s also a good player,” said Nurse. “He cuts and he moves. He does the right thing on defence. He’ll get overmatched once in a while size-wise or strength-wise or whatever. But I think for as much as he does at the other end, and his good decision-making at both ends, I’m wanting to lock him into a role this year where he’s a big factor.”
Thomas finished with 16 points, five assists and two steals while shooting 4-of-7 from deep and was +22 for the night. There’s not much else he can do but keep doing it. If he does it’s hard to imagine Nurse not finding steady minutes for him. There’s just too much to like.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
