The Toronto Raptors finished off Monday night’s contest in Miami with a 27-14 4th quarter to complete the comeback and disappoint the home crowd at FTX Arena with a 98-90 victory.
A short corner fadeaway from Pascal Siakam followed by a dagger 3 in the final minute ultimately left the Heat with an insurmountable deficit. Siakam struggled to find a consistent flow from the field, finishing shooting just 31.8% on 22 attempts. Despite the inconsistency Pascal managed to find his way to the free throw line and hit 7 of 8 opportunities at the strike. Finishing with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, Siakam has shown subtle glimpses of growth but plenty left to be desired.
Some other notable performances include Precious Achiuwa’s 22-rebound double-double. His 18 defensive rebounds provided the majority of Toronto’s glass-work on that side of the ball. Fred VanVleet added 24 and 9 assists, while Gary Trent Jr. was able to contribute 18 while reliably providing 42 strong minutes for Nick Nurse, the most of any Raptor on the night.
While O.G. Anunoby certainly didn’t impress directly statistically with 6 points and 7 boards in 33 minutes, he managed to finish the game with a +16 +/-, the highest of anyone who touched the floor in the game.
The Raptors take their 2-2 record back home to Scotiabank Arena Wednesday night October 26th, when they’ll host James Harden, Joel Embiid and the 1-3 Philadelphia 76ers at 7:30 pm EST.
(Photo: Postmedia Network Inc., 2022)