4 Heroes, 2 Zeroes from Raptors' comeback win over Nuggets
Sometimes wins come by the skin of your teeth.
The Toronto Raptors handled the Oklahoma City Thunder fairly easily on Saturday night, but then had to turn around and play the next night against the Denver Nuggets. Denver, which has leaned into a team-building strategy of drafting multiple late-round players to build their bench over the last couple of seasons, started a fairly strong group of rostered players.
That group got out to an early lead that they would maintain for most of the game, with former Gonzaga guard Julian Strawther nailing his first three triples and the Raptors' outside shooting going cold to start the night. The score at halftime was 43-37 with Denver on top.
Toronto battled back in the third quarter, chipping away at the lead and then ultimately taking it entirely on the backs of a 13-0 run, with a shocking isolation possession from Jonathan Mogbo leading to a Euro-step through the lane for a beautiful finish.
Strawther kept the Nuggets close and then led a 10-0 run to take back the lead in the closing minutes, 81-79. Toronto answered with a Javon Freeman-Liberty shot to tie the game, then a trio of free-throws to seal the 84-79 victory. The Raptors are now 2-0 to start Las Vegas Summer League and needed 12 of their 16 players to outlast the Nuggets.
The Nuggets' Julian Strawther was by far the best player on the court for either team. Who stood out for the Raptors? And who fell flat? Let's look at four heroes and two zeroes from the Raptors' latest win.
Hero: Javon Freeman-Liberty
We'll start with the only player who was consistently attacking the paint for Toronto, Javon Freeman-Liberty. The young guard is fighting for his roster spot, currently a non-guaranteed deal and the 16th in line. His work in Summer League will go a long way toward deciding whether the Raptors keep him around.
Freeman-Liberty was fairly bad in the Raptors' first game, but he bounced back with an aggressive game against Denver, attacking the paint again and again. He was also more comfortable with his jumpshot this time around. He scored a team-high 16 points, including three points to take the Raptors from down two to up one in the final minute of the game. He added five rebounds, two assists, and steal and a block.