Grades following Toronto Raptors’ hard-fought win over Brooklyn
The Toronto Raptors continued their record-setting run, picking up their 14th straight victory on Saturday night, with a 119-118 win over the Brooklyn Nets.
The Toronto Raptors are on a roll for the ages. The Raptors dominated the Brooklyn Nets through three quarters before the Nets really put a scare into them down the stretch. But ultimately Toronto stuck together and pulled out a franchise-record 14th straight win.
Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert did as much as they could to put an end to the Raptors’ winning streak but came up short. Dinwiddie had a 21-point, 11-assist double-double and LeVert turned in a career-high 37 points on a tidy 12-for-18 shooting from the field. But even without Lowry, the Raptors were able to knock down 40-percent of their shots from 3-point range (14-35).
Pascal Siakam and Ibaka weren’t as dominant as they have been as of late but Toronto is playing so well at this point that no one or two players’ performance can swing things too much. Nick Nurse deployed Matt Thomas, Chris Boucher, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Patrick McCaw off the bench and that group was a huge part of the Raptors’ 33-18 second quarter.
At some point, Siakam—who was 1-for-5 in the fourth quarter in which Brooklyn made a huge run—will need to shoot better. Had this game gone to overtime, things could’ve gone differently as the momentum was starting to shift the Nets’ way. Against a better team, the Raptors’ streak would’ve been in serious jeopardy but the Nets simply dug themselves into deep of a hole going into halftime.
Saturday’s win was extra impressive because it was yet another shorthanded victory, something the Toronto Raptors have become specialists at these days. Though Lowry is out due to a fairly new injury, Marc Gasol was taking shots pregame, a very encouraging sign. Toronto continues to prove that their title defense is very real but the Nets were a worthy opponent. How did the Raptors grade out in Saturday’s record-setting win?