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.
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.
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.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
