[ad_1]
The Toronto Raptors took advantage of one of the NBA's easiest programs in the quarter-finals, setting the league's best record as the month of November draws to a close.
Now, the Raptors are tough, 10 of their next 12 games competing against teams over .500. Toronto started this difficult stage with a 122-114 win over the surprisingly good Tuesday Memphis Grizzlies.
After a campaign of 22 to 60 in 2017-2018, the Grizzlies have regained all their relevance thanks to a joker mentality that is based on a solid defense and the resurgence of the efforts of veterans Marc Gasol and Mike Conley.
After being dragged through much of the night, the Raptors reversed the trend in the second half and scored their sixth consecutive victory. Here are some takeaways from a wild game in Memphis.
Leonard the animator
Kawhi Leonard fought his attack for most of the night and sealed Toronto's victory with his playmaking skills.
The Raptors and Grizzlies exchanged shots throughout the fourth quarter, and Leonard found Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet in hijacked positions, giving the Raptors a six-point advantage and four minutes to play. Leonard then gave VanVleet another hat-trick with two minutes remaining to extend the advantage to 116-109. Memphis never approached this dagger.
Leonard completely chilled the game with his own three-pointer to finish with a solid line of 17 points, 10 rebounds and five badists in a single round. This shows how much the former MVP can make the difference, even if his scores are not at their best.
Bizzaro Bigs
Memphis has one of the main NBA centers in Gasol. For a coach who likes to tinker with his line-ups based on clashes, it seemed that Nick Nurse would launch Jonas Valanciunas to counter the size of Gasol.
This was not the case since the nurse gave Serge Ibaka the mandate to start things, and this seemed to bear fruit earlier. Gasol was forced to cover Ibaka, the Raptors were able to capitalize and quickly took the lead 8-0 in the first minute and a half of the match.
The Grizzlies reacted and took control of most of the match, but Ibaka had an effective offensive night, scoring 16 points on 7 out of 11 shots. Valanciunas only saw 14 minutes but finished with nine points to him. Gasol managed to get the best of the big players from Toronto on the other end, recording a record 27 points.
Blues first half
A quick look at the score in the first half would give the impression that the Raptors were rolling: 58% of the shots were fired, 50% at the range of three points and 10 decisive points against the The most radical defensive team of the Association. The score at half time? 71-59 Grizzlies.
Nine turnovers and a poor defense heavily injured the Raptors in the first 24 minutes, allowing the worst-performing team in the league to score 71 points in Toronto. For the context, the Grizzlies averaged 103 points per game.
It seemed that Memphis was in a position to lead his defense to an easy victory, but the Raptors refused to turn around …
Return the script
By entering the third quarter, the Raptors found themselves in a unique position. The nurses' club is usually the one with a double digit advance, and not the opposite. While Toronto tends to let his opponents return to the matches instead of throwing their throats, it was their turn to do the rally on Tuesday.
After losing up to 17 points in the third quarter, the Raptors managed a 20-8 pbad in the middle of the table to resume the game. In particular, VanVleet was a key scorer in the Raptors return win, and he seems to have moved away from his slow start with four consecutive double-digit performances.
The 24-year-old finished the night with 18 points on 6 shots. Lowry finished with 24 points, his best team result, and added six badists for a good measure.
[ad_2]
Source link
