Raptors 114 – Minnesota T’Wolves 105: finding the range
By Brian Boake
The T’Wolves always seem to find their game against the Raptors, and this match was no exception.
In a hard-fought game where one could be forgiven for not knowing which was the contending team and which the also-ran, the Toronto Raptors managed to pull away at the end. The Minnesota Timberwolves were growling and snapping all night, but had no response for the home team’s flurry of 3-balls late in the fourth quarter. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan performed like the All-Stars they are, and Toronto won its third straight game.
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Minnesota began the game with accurate shooting, and ran out to a 9-point lead after 6 minutes. Shortly after, Terrence Ross and Patrick Patterson entered the game, and the Raptors offense caught fire. Toronto scored 37 points in Q1, and they were the leaders by 9. They gave all of that back in Q2, as Andrew Wiggins made some fine buckets, and Cory Joseph needed to hit a 3-ball at the buzzer to regain a 3 point bulge.
The T’Wolves scored the first nine points of Q3 before DeRozan stopped the run following a timeout. The Raptors regained the lead with better defense and the insertion of Bismack Biyombo. He would end the game with 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
The referees were having a off-night, and their display of inconsistency reached a nadir when Lowry’s foul on a fast break was “upgraded” to a Flagrant-1 – then TRoss got booted. He received a pair of T’s for…well, I don’t know what for. He was called for an offensive foul on Tyus Jones, then didn’t return the ball nicely to the zebra. One of those T’s should be rescinded by the League office. Norman Powell took TRoss’ spot for 5+ minutes and didn’t hurt the cause.
On a Zach LaVine 3-ball, the T’Wolves were within 1 point as Q3 closed. The Raptors were in danger of having their 8-game home winning streak snapped by these precocious kids. However, Toronto stretched the lead to 8, only to have Minnesota bounce back to tie. Then magic occurred, as Lowry and DeRozan each drained a pair of long balls. The T’Wolves were finally done.
The Raptors backcourt combined for an eye-popping 70 points and 16 assists, as CoJo, Kyle and DD all were brilliant. Jonas Valanciunas was the victim of some dubious foul calls (are you detecting a pattern here?) and played less than half the game. He still managed 14 and 7. Patrick Patterson is still looking for his shot, but was plus_23 on the night.
Minnesota was led by Wiggins’ 26 points, though he coughed up the ball 6 times. Karl-Anthony Towns, who destroyed the Raptors two weeks ago, was held to 16, and was not a force on the boards. Even Rookie of the Year candidates play like rookies sometimes.
The Raptors absorbed the opponents’ runs, and made the shots when they were most needed. There are worse games to build on as we prepare for tomorrow night’s Clash of the Titans. The Cleveland Cavaliers hit town.