When Toronto tipped off the season without superstar Kawhi Leonard, almost no-one believed the NBA defending champions would have any hope of repeating.
The Raptors apparently didn’t get the memo.
Toronto opens the playoffs on Monday against the Brooklyn Nets after bulldozing through the toughest schedule of the 22 teams in the NBA bubble seeding round (7-1), earning the second-best record in the NBA (53-19), and setting a franchise record for win percentage (73.6).
Persevering through a laundry list of injuries, and then a four-month layoff due to COVID-19, the Raptors’ season has come down to beating teams just four times. They believe they’re better at that than anyone.
“We know who we are and that we’re good enough to do it and that we’re tough,” said guard Fred VanVleet. “It’s going to be hard to beat us four times. If you can do that, we’ll shake your hand and congratulate you. But I think we all like our chances.”
The Raptors earned the No. 2 seed like they did last year, while Brooklyn is seeded seventh.
Toronto’s all-star guard Kyle Lowry said the Raptors have built a culture of winning. That ideology didn’t disappear when Leonard went to the L.A. Clippers last season.
“We’ve been continuously getting better every single season I’ve been here. . . on the same page from top to bottom,” he said.
And while Lowry and his teammates hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy last season in the Canadian team’s historic championship run, they didn’t plan on stopping at just one.
“That feeling is unmatched,” Lowry said. “Other than my children being born, I don’t think I’ve had a feeling like that, ever. And that’s the motivation to keep doing that.”
Lowry plays with a 100-miles-an-hour motor that is virtually unparalleled – especially at 34 years old. He had 19.7 points, 7.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds this season, earned a spot on his sixth consecutive all-star team, and led the league in charges drawn.
The undisputed leader on the floor and in the locker-room said the Raptors are “the same exact team” they were last season.
“We play hard. We go out there and we defend. We’ve got pros. We’re just trying to win every single game. That’s what we’ve always done,” he said.
“We play to provide for our families and do what we can for our communities,” he added. “But we play to win championships. We play for a higher level and now we’re playing for social injustices and keeping that conversation going. But we’re also playing to win a championship.”
No Raptors were named to either the NBA seeding round’s first or second teams announced Saturday. Nick Nurse was fourth in voting for top coach of the eight games.
If Toronto were feeling any disrespect, they’re used to it. In fact the roster is built out of players with “chips on their shoulders,” said VanVleet.
“I think all of us at some point have had to work for it. Nothing has really been given to us. We kind of take that identity,” he said. “All of our coaches kind of fit that. It’s our identity from the top down. Whatever narrative people will write about is what it’s going to be.”
After Leonard’s MVP performance in last season’s playoffs, much of the narrative have been around who’ll be the clutch player to close out games?
But this year’s roster had five players who averaged 15 or more points: Lowry, VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, Norm Powell and Serge Ibaka. According to Elias, the last team to do that with at least 50 games played for each player was the Buffalo Braves in 1973-74.
Is strength in numbers better than one superstar?
“We have a lot of guys who can take over at the end of the game. Maybe that’s better. Maybe that’s better than having one guy you can load up on,” VanVleet said. “We’ve got a bunch of different guys who can make shots. We’ll roll the dice and see what happens.”
This historical post-season at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., poses unique challenges, but also has some positives such as no travel.
Nurse said the verdict is still out on his thoughts on bubble playoff basketball.
“Right at this moment, it feels pretty similar. It’s actually felt a little easier to kind of get organized. Usually you’re flying back from Miami or something and you’re trying to recoup for a day, but we’re not. The coaches are all here. We go to breakfast, we get together, we start talking about the game plan,” he said.
He senses the extra energy and “blood pumping” that always comes with the start of the playoffs.
“(But) I just had a big thought of not doing this in front of fans,” Nurse noted. “Because as you know, man, that first game when the Raptors go to the playoffs and you walk into that arena and the fans get up, it’s really something. It’s really something for us to be a part of, and we’ll miss that, for sure.”
The Raptors faced the Nets in a thrilling 2014 post-season series, losing 104-103 in Game 7 after Lowry’s shot was blocked at the buzzer.
More recently, the Raptors beat Brooklyn six consecutive times before the Nets’ 101-91 victory in the final game before the all-star break snapped the Raptors’ franchise-record, 15-game winning streak.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2020.
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.
