Got his first career start in this one! He had a few impressive defensive stands against the much larger Karl-Anthony Towns, especially when Towns was driving towards the rim. He didn’t score well or set particularly good screens, but he was massive on the defensive end. Fought hard.
Ran a nice pick-and-roll with Boucher, and when the defense sold out to recover to a popping Boucher, Bembry kept the ball and glided in for the dunk. Then cut for a dunk before dripping in a one-handed runner off the glass. His offense tailed off after that, as he missed triples and chose poor driving angles to attack rotations. Slung some passes, though.
He opened the game by absolutely burying Karl-Anthony Towns in the post and finishing a physical layup. Then, it got rough. He faded away, letting his teammates do the damage during the early romb. But when the game got close in the third quarter, he tried to isolate over and over and couldn’t get anything going. Redeemed himself with some of the best defense he’s ever played in the fourth quarter, as well as a block on a 3 and then runout for a dunk to tie the game late. Hard to grade.
Will he ever miss again? Powell isn’t just on a heater, though. He is becoming fantastic at orbiting around drives to create open passes for his triples, which allows him to get up so many attempts. His defense is improving dramatically from the lows of the early season. When he wasn’t getting touches on offense, he went and got the ball off the offensive glass. Dude has basically become the NBA’s version of Mariano Rivera. He was always there to hit a triple when Toronto’s offense stagnated.
Put in most of his energy on the defensive end, clogging lanes, digging, doing his usual goodies. He stripped players from behind and stopped fastbreaks by himself. Normal stuff. Finished very poorly, though, as he opened up a number of layups to contests from Towns and others. He hit some key triples in the third quarter, but he clanked some big ones in the fourth. Just gassed, man. Chalk it up to fatigue.
He was very indicative of the difference between the first two halves. Was great in the first, playing phenomenal defense. Struggled in the second as he tried to anchor some rough lineups. Gave very little on offense aside from a few big screens.
Got himself some first quarter minutes, and he opened his game with an impressive defensive stand, challenging a Ricky Rubio 3 and forcing an airball after digging in on a drive. Ran a nice pick-and-roll with Baynes and created an open free throw line jumper. Took a couple head-scratchers, but he did go to the G League to get his confidence up, so no criticism there. Was not able to dig Toronto out of its hole in the third quarter.
Played some big defense in the fourth quarter. Struggled to contain Towns in the post, of course, but that’s not his fault at all. Was part of Toronto’s late comeback, which was needed. Very little criticism, despite the muted box score numbers. Energy, he gave it.
Pray for him. Dunk of the decade came at his expense. Otherwise, he’s back, baby. Played great defense, and played offense with pop, especially in the first half. Cut, passed, vibed. He blew up Minnesota’s pick-and-rolls by exploding into the gaps (which, that’s how Norm hurt his shoulder last year, but when it works, it looks good.) Was on the floor during the fated third quarter, which really dragged his plus-minus down.
Didn’t play much until the fourth and started raining some clutch triples. He hit the go-ahead 3 with 30 seconds left in the game. Nick Nurse was searching for someone to crack the game open, and Davis finally delivered as late as someone could.
Entered the game during the third-quarter collapse, and he promptly threw a skip pass 30 feet in the air. So. You know. Also, wasn’t ready to shoot when he came off screens.
Back after a long year off. Congratulations to him. Rusty, as expected. But wonderful to see him back on the court. Tonight for Pat was just about being there. No criticism.
Want to know how much the Raptors need Anunoby? Just watch that one.
Nick Nurse
A tale of two halves. Toronto was incredible in the first and tragic in the second. Tough to know how much of the good or the bad to put on the coach. But the team played defense throughout. I thought Nurse left some rotations to wither and die in the third quarter for too long, which allowed the lead to dry up and turn into a deficit, but you have to trust your guys to pull it out against the Wolves.
Things We Saw
One point over eight minutes in the third. One. There’s obviously a lot of fatigue at play here, and some emotional dissonance after the two big Bucks wins. Still. Sucky to see, at the very least.
Credit to Siakam for his defense in the fourth quarter. He had a really, truly rough third, and Jaden McDaniels was putting him in jail defensively. He fought back and found a number of ways to be a positive.
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.
