Toronto Raptors: Top five performances from an emotional week eight

2. Marc Gasol

Opponent: Brooklyn Nets

Stat line: 17 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks

Let’s call it as it is. Marc Gasol has not had a great season for the Raptors. His defense, rebounding and ability to stretch the floor continue to be valuable, but Gasol has not produced to the level he is capable of. With that being said, he played really well against the Brooklyn Nets and their two-headed center lineup in Jarrett Allen and DeAndre Jordan.

The Raptors were just coming from a blowout loss to the Clippers, so Gasol predictably wanted to come out this game and help the Raptors jump out to a fast start. He not only scored the first basket of the game but he scored five points and assisted on six points in the first quarter alone. Gasol’s impact was felt throughout the game. Even when he wasn’t scoring, he was able to tally two points and four rebounds in the second quarter as the Raptors were leading by five at halftime.

It was more of the same for Gasol in the third as he continued to clean up the glass for the team grabbing six rebounds to go along with seven points. He finally finished off the night in a fairly comfortable fashion as he grabbed three rebounds in the final quarter.

Marc Gasol finished the week with averages of 11.7 points, 11,7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.3 blocks per game. Combined those numbers with his ability to produce in all the unmeasurable areas of the game and you have a fantastic performance. He will do all the dirty work for a team and will almost never get any recognition for it.

If Gasol can bounce back to this level of production it will have a huge impact on the Raptors moving forward.