TORONTO – Fred VanVleet looked like he had finally run out of gas.
The Raptors’ guard played the entire third quarter, scoring 18 of his – at the time – 46 points and helping his team take a commanding lead over Orlando. The frame came to an end with VanVleet sprinting the length of the court to chase down Terrence Ross, stripping him of the ball at the rim and preventing a buzzer-beating layup.
He crouched down in the paint, elbows on his knees. He should have been exhausted, nobody would have blamed him if he was, but that wasn’t the problem, as it turned out.
“No, I didn’t run out of gas, I saw that, somebody said I ran out of gas, but I was hit below the belt,” VanVleet revealed following his historic night – a 54-point masterpiece in Toronto’s 123-108 win over the Magic.
VanVleet set a Raptors’ franchise record for most point in a game, passing his former teammate DeMar DeRozan, who scored 52 in 2018. This wasn’t a typical 50-point performance, though, which is what made it – and what makes the player behind it – so special.
In most cases, when a player is having the game of their life offensively and seeing the ball go through the rim as much as VanVleet did on Tuesday, you might expect them to come down and jack up as many shots as the 48-minute window will allow. Some would mail it in defensively, thinking only of where their next three might come from.
However, the 26-year-old needed just 23 field goal attempts, hitting 17 of them. He drained 11 of his 14 three-point tries – tied for the seventh-most any NBA player has ever made in a game, and coming one shy of Donyell Marshall’s team record – and he knocked down all nine of his free throws. No player has ever reached the 50-point plateau with a higher true shooting percentage (100.1). In other words, you probably won’t see a more efficient offensive display.
“It was easy,” VanVleet said. “No disrespect to the Magic, but I mean for most of those I was open. They were in rhythm. They were clean looks. They were within the offense. That’s why I was able to remain patient and still pass out of double teams and not take bad shots, because of the way I got all my points.”
As well as he shot the ball, and as much as he scored, he almost certainly expended more energy on the defensive end, where he recorded three steals and three blocks and continued to make his case as one of the league’s best two-way guards.
Effort plays like the strip steal on Ross to end the third quarter have become a regular part of VanVleet’s game. Even if the jumper isn’t falling, like when he shot 1-for-7 from long range in the first of two wins over Orlando this week, Toronto can still bank on him making an impact defensively. On nights like this, his boundless energy and effort just make the offensive output that much more impressive.
“It’s his makeup, it’s his character, that’s the way he plays,” said Nick Nurse, who’s team improved to 9-12 with the win. “I think of all the guys on the team this year, he’s been ready and he’s played both ends and he’s played solidly almost every night out. It’s how he plays. It’s a credit to him and it’s awesome he plays that way, for sure.”
“He’s a winner, simple as that,” said Kyle Lowry, who quietly recorded his 15th triple-double as a member of the Raptors on Tuesday, with his 10th assist setting VanVleet up for his record-breaking bucket. “He wants to win, and he wants to help his team win at the highest of levels. That’s how he’s been special. He’s been a guy that just plays hard and does whatever it takes to win basketball games.”
As VanVleet was finishing up his post-game interview on the team broadcast, Lowry and the rest of the Raptors’ players were waiting by the door in the visitor’s locker room at Amway Center. When he walked in they showered him with water bottles. Lowry, a mentor to VanVleet from his rookie season in Toronto, was the first to give him a hug and would present him with the game ball.
There aren’t many players around, especially young ones, that would elicit that kind of reaction from their teammates, guys that have the respect and admiration of everybody in the room. But if you aren’t rooting for VanVleet, or you can’t appreciate his story and how far he’s come, then you’re truly missing out.
His 54 points were the most scored by an undrafted player in NBA history, passing the great Moses Malone, who had 53 points back in 1982. In 2016, VanVleet famously bet on himself after all 30 teams passed on him, most of them multiple times. He clawed and scraped his way onto the Raptors’ roster and honed his craft in the G League before blossoming into a Finals hero and NBA champion, and signing a four-year, $85 million deal this past off-season.
“Y’all know how I feel about him, that’s my little brother, man, and I’m proud of him,” Lowry said. “You can’t put into words the amount of work that went in there… I’m happy to be a part of the process. I was more hype than he was trying to get [him] 50 points. Words can’t describe how I feel right now.”
“I pride myself on trying to play the right way,” said VanVleet. “When you play with a pure heart and a clear conscience and a clear soul, some good things happen for you, and your teammates will be happy for you.”
If the Raptors are going to turn their disappointing season around, they’re going to need a spark. These two wins were a start, even if they did come against the lowly Magic. Toronto had lost three straight going into this two-game series with Orlando, and will play eight of the next nine contests away from its home base in Tampa. When you’re struggling, as this team has for most of the campaign, you’ll take what you can get.
It’s been a while since they’ve experienced something like this, though – a moment of joy that can bring them together as a team. Perhaps VanVleet’s big night can be their spark.
“They were more excited all night than I was, and that’s a testament to this group and this team and the direction that we’re going and just the love we have for one another,” VanVleet said. “The win was big, for sure, but just those moments, it’s hard to kinda get together with all these COVID protocols and things like that, the team vibe, but moments like that bring us all closer.”
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
