Plagued by injuries all year, the Toronto Raptors finally seemed to be getting fully healthy entering the final month of the regular season.
Marc Gasol was back in the lineup Sunday following a 15-game absence and Fred VanVleet seems to be on the precipice of rejoining the club after being sidelined by a shoulder issue. As they wrapped up their five-game road trip against the Utah Jazz on Monday, the Raptors could almost taste a return to full health.
It took less than two minutes of game action against the Jazz for that dream to start looking less and less like a reality. reigning Eastern Conference player of the weekNorman Powell suffered a sprained left ankle after a brutal collision with teammate OG Anunoby and was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the contest.
With the deck seemingly stacked against them, the Raptors managed to overcome the early loss of Powell and grind out an impressive 101-92 win over the Jazz on the second night of a back-to-back. Here are four takeaways from the victory.
More than just a ticket
Nick Nurse had to fight before the ball was even tipped on Monday, with Utah security asking to see his ticket as he made his way to the court pre-game. Nurse’s work didn’t get any easier once the game was underway, as Powell’s early injury — and Anunoby heading to the locker room in the first quarter after losing a contact lens — forced him to adjust his rotations.
Once again missing Gasol, who sat out the tail end of the back-to-back for injury maintenance, and VanVleet, Nurse gave us another example of why he’s a serious contender for coach of the year honours by maximizing the talent available to him. Patrick McCaw logged over 42 minutes with Matt Thomas and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson also contributing when called upon. With the game on the line in the second half, Nurse decided to roll out a seven-man rotation to secure a fourth consecutive win.
Toronto improved to 23-9 on the road and put some more breathing room between itself and the Boston Celtics in the race for the coveted second seed in the East. Now 3 1/2 games up on the slumping Celtics with 18 to play, Nurse’s Raptors are the heavy favourites to finish the year at No. 2.
Big dogs step up
With the team desperate for scoring options, it was the Big 3 of Serge Ibaka, Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry that carried the load. Ibaka finished with 27 points and 13 rebounds, Siakam flirted with a triple-double with 27 of his own to go along with 11 rebounds and eight assists, and Lowry chipped in with 21 points, seven assists and five rebounds. The all-star point guard hit the biggest shot of the night on a deep three late in the clock to put the Raptors up by five points with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter.
Despite playing through foul trouble all night, Siakam had everything in his arsenal working as the 25-year-old knocked down two triples, attacked the basket effectively and even showed off his mid-range game. Perhaps most impressively, Siakam flashed his playmaking ability, which makes him nearly impossible to defend.
Matched up with the game’s best rim protector in Rudy Gobert, Ibaka was able to stretch the floor by connecting on five of his seven three-point attempts. He also seemed to come up with key plays whenever the Raptors were labouring offensively.
The minutes were heavy, especially for Lowry (42:40), but Toronto has until Saturday to rest up for a clash with the Detroit Pistons.
Reserve tank on empty
While the starters flourished, the Raptors’ bench once again turned in a brutal performance. Coming off a seven-point outing against the Sacramento Kings a night earlier, the reserves scored a collective 19 in Utah. Joe Ingles, the Jazz sixth man, outscored them on his own — and the host’s bench finished with 42 total.
Entering Monday, the Raptors were 24th in the league in bench scoring at 32.2 points per game — a number that will dip after Monday’s debacle. That lack of production won’t be sustainable going forward, and the Raptors will be banking on improved health to help restore the second unit.
Terence Davis and Chris Boucher were the two who particularly struggled, with each posting a minus-15 rating in just 5:33 of action. Neither saw the floor in the second half, with Thomas getting the nod over Davis. Thomas was a bit of a bright spot, finishing with nine points. The sharpshooter proved he can do more than just shoot threes by cutting to the basket and looking for his shot off the dribble.
All stars stymied
The Jazz boast a pair of all stars in Gobert and Donovan Mitchell but neither was a factor in this one. Mitchell tallied 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting and Gobert made just one field goal and finished with six points.
The latter was visibly frustrated all night and was eventually ejected from the game, along with Anunoby, after the two got mixed up with 40 seconds remaining.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
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.
