The Toronto Raptors went the distance against the Charlotte Hornets and came away with the win in overtime. What did we take away from the game?
After coming up short against the Portland Trail Blazers one night prior, the Toronto Raptors were on the second night of their back-to-back, traveling to North Carolina to take on the Charlotte Hornets and hoping for a result that might reflect how the teams matched up in their previous contest, where the Raptors won convincingly.
Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be as simple as that. The Charlotte Hornets, who have surprised a few people this season, took the Raptors to hell and back before Toronto won the game 112-110 in overtime. As the scoreline suggests, this one went right down to the wire.
The Raptors were still without Fred VanVleet, which meant that Terence Davis – who played only eight minutes against the Blazers – would be starting at the shooting guard position. His first NBA start proved to be fruitful as he led the team with 23 points, adding 11 rebounds, and five assists.
All five starters got into double-digits for scoring and all played more than 36 minutes in the game, which makes sense considering the additional five minutes. Still, fatigue definitely played a part for the Raptors in the second half, but their never say die attitude, along with two game-winning free throws from Serge Ibaka – who missed his first three attempts at the line – was enough to pull victory out the bag.
It was a fun game overall, and now the Raptors have only one game in the next six days, which gives them sufficient time to recover and analyse this tough, tough game. What did we learn from it all?