NBA
Fast Raptors Start
After a terrible start against the Rockets, the Toronto Raptors needed to come out of the gates with a better effort — especially since the likely Rookie of the Year, 19-year old Luka Doncic, continues to improve every single game.
While Dallas shot 65% from the field in the first quarter, Toronto went 7/11 from 3 which resulted in a 38-32 lead at the end of the first. Doncic was steady, but it was his teammate, the 21-year old recent subject of trade rumors, Dennis Smith Jr, that impressed early on.
The Raptors built on this momentum in the 2nd quarter through their “threes and frees” strategy — adding 19 for 22 from the FT line. Kawhi Leonard had 19 at the half, and Doncic had 17. Toronto had a comfortable 70-58 lead, and the game looked firmly in hand.
Raps phone in the Third Quarter
The 3rd quarter looked like a completely different Raptors team. Right out of the gate, the team appeared flat and unfocused. They didn’t score a field goal until the 7:02 mark of the 3rd quarter! At that point, the 12-point Raptors lead had disappeared to make it a 1-possession game. Two minutes later, Dallas had their first lead of the game — making it 75-74 at the 5:11 mark.
The Raptors were so lazy & apathetic in this quarter. They were called for defensive 3-second violations on THREE separate occasions, resulting in two technical free throws being awarded to the Mavs.
At the conclusion of this embarrassing quarter, the Raptors were lucky to be within three points — as Dallas held only a slim 88-85 lead. While a 15-point turnaround is a terrible quarter by any metric, the Raptors deserved to be down by MORE. It was a quarter the fan base would rather forget.
The Luka Doncic Show
Needing better effort from the Raptors in the 4th quarter, the team instead was met with brilliant lob passes courtesy of Doncic, effortless drives and the poise of an All-NBA veteran in the body of a 19-year old rookie.
When Luka finally took a rest, the Raptors started to get back in the game mostly on the back of Kyle Lowry’s intensity. By the time Doncic came back in the game at the 3:56 mark, the Raptors had a slim 111-108 lead.
Doncic Runs Out of Gas
In the final 1:34 of the game, Doncic finally looked human. Having already played 35 minutes at that point, Doncic looked completely gassed. Some zone defense by the Raptors helped, but mostly it was Doncic’s workload and lack of teammate support that inevitably pushed the game in Toronto’s favor.
Toronto ended up winning the game 123-120, but the game was not as close as the final score appeared. Dallas clearly needs to find help for Doncic as the kid cannot play every minute on the court. He finished with 35 points in 36 minutes and had a triple-double. No other Maverick player scored more than 14 points.
Final result: Toronto 123, Dallas 120
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
Luca Doncic – 35 points, 14-24 FG, 12 REB, 10 AST
Kawhi Leonard – 33 points, 3 3PM, 10-11 FT, 10 REB, 3 AST
Kyle Lowry – 19 points, 5 3PM, 5 REB, 9 AST, 1 STL, 2 BLK, +9 (tied for team lead)
Next game:
Raptors play the Milwaukee Bucks @ 8 pm on Thursday, January 31st in Toronto.
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