Marc Gasol has been a cerebral playmaker and a force on the defensive end for the Toronto Raptors.
But it took some serious nagging from teammate Kyle Lowry for Gasol to shoot the ball. The Spanish big man obliged, and it’s paid off for the Raptors.
Gasol was a perfect 7-for-7 — including three three-pointers — on Wednesday, to help the Raptors to a 107-95 victory over Eastern Conference rival Philadelphia.
“I think there’s a plan of being more aggressive and looking at the basket as a first option, and after that, just playing out of that,” Gasol said after the game. “Some games, the ball is going to go in more, sometimes it’s not, but I’m someone that always looks for the next play, next action, and try to get guys involved, when sometimes I overthink the game, trying to get going some of the guys that are not getting going.
“By being sometimes too unselfish, you can be selfish in a weird way.”
Fred VanVleet scored 22 points, while Pascal Siakam had 18 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Raptors (30-14) to their fifth consecutive win.
Six Raptors scored in double figures. Norman Powell chipped in with 18 points. Lowry and Serge Ibaka finished with 16 each.
Fred VanVleet scored a game-high 22 points, shooting six for seven from long range, in Toronto’s 107-95 win. 1:47
Tobias Harris had 22 points to top the Sixers (29-17), who were missing all-star Joel Embiid in their first loss in five games.
Playing his fifth game back since missing 12 with a hamstring injury, Gasol’s efficient performance came in just 24 minutes of action.
“We’ve been on him a little bit [to shoot],” Lowry said. “I think he’s been on himself to make sure he’s looking for his own shot. Marc still can play basketball at a high level, and he’s proven it.”
Where should he shoot from?
“Wherever. We want Marc to put the ball in the hole,” Lowry said.
The Sixers led by as many as 14 points early in the game and were up by double digits in the third quarter before the Raptors gained any real ground on the Sixers.
When Rondae Hollis-Jefferson chucked a rugby pass to VanVleet as he was falling sideways, VanVleet’s three-pointer gave Toronto a two-point lead. Lowry’s driving layup on Toronto’s next possession capped a 20-6 Raptors run and sent Toronto into the fourth quarter up 76-72.
“Just got to play through some of that stuff once in a while, I’m just really proud that they dug in and played defence, gave themselves a chance,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.
Philadelphia’s Matisse Thybulle and Toronto’s Fred VanVleet battle for a loose ball during the first half. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
Midway through the fourth, Ibaka stole the ball off Ben Simmons and his two-handed slam put a punctuation mark on the play and had Hollis-Jefferson raising his arms gesturing for the Scotiabank Arena fans to cheer.
Powell’s layup on Toronto’s next possession made it a nine-point Raptors lead. Back-to-back Sixers baskets briefly sliced the gap to three, but consecutive VanVleet three-pointers capped a 10-0 Raptors run to put Toronto up by 13 — their biggest lead of the game — with 1:29 to play. A Siakam dunk with 24 seconds left clinched Toronto’s victory.
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Nurse was pleased with his team’s balanced attack.
“It tells you that we’re sending the ball to an open player,” Nurse said. “We’re not really going through the same guys. We’re moving it. We’re just finding the right reads, I think, a lot. And everybody’s getting their cracks at it.”
The Raptors lost Patrick McCaw to a broken nose early in the second quarter, when Norvel Pelle smacked him hard in the face when the two were battling for a loose ball. McCaw’s teammates motioned immediately for the medical staff. Clutching a towel to his face, he was helped him to the locker room. He was scheduled to see a specialist in Toronto on Thursday.
Embiid, who suffered a nasty finger dislocation earlier this month, underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament. The Raptors held the Sixers big man scoreless for the first time in his NBA career the previous time Philly travelled to Toronto, on Nov. 25.
The Raptors then lost in Philadelphia two weeks later.
While Toronto has won 15 consecutive home games against Philly, a rivalry is developing between the two squads who are battling it out near the top of the Eastern Conference. Kawhi Leonard’s famous four-bounce buzzer-beating winner in Game 7 of the conference semis fuelled it like a blowtorch. ESPN made the trip north to broadcast the game nationally in the U.S.
The Sixers connected on seven threes — several of them wide open — in the first quarter, and Mike Scott’s long bomb gave the visitors a 14-point lead late in the frame. Philadelphia led 35-26 to start the second.
The Raptors chipped away at the deficit in the second quarter, taking their first lead on Lowry’s reverse layup with 1:33 to play in the first half. The teams went into the break knotted at 50-50.
The Raptors are in New York to face the Knicks on Friday, then battle the Spurs in San Antonio on Sunday.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
