The renewed Toronto Raptors achieved a close victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers after blowing a 19-point lead in the second half. Darko Rajakovic’s men won 124-121 in a heart-stopping finale that had to be decided from the personal line.
Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, recently transferred from New York, debuted with the Canadians starting as starters, and giving us an idea of what could be the exciting new ‘young core‘ of the Raptors with his new teammate Scottie Barnes.
Barrett was the one who caused the most excitement among the almost 20,000 attendees who went crazy at her presentation. His were 19 points and 9 rebounds in almost half an hour of play, shooting 6 of 12 from the field.
For his part, Immanuel Quickley scored 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in 28 minutes played.
“This has been very special,” RJ Barrett acknowledged to the microphones of ESPN. «Much better than any other time I have played here. “This has been something I will never forget,” he highlighted.
Pascal Siakam was the Canadians’ top performer with 36 points; supported by Scottie Barnes with 20 points, and by center Jakob Poeltl with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks.
«We have played good basketball. The guys were just enjoying themselves and encouraging each other,” Darko Rajakovic acknowledged.
With their victory, the Raptors recover from a painful loss against the Pistons where they ended their losing streak of 28 in a row. For its part, in Cleveland things are not going much better with its second consecutive defeat and the third in the last five games they have played after confirming the absences of Evan Mobley and Darius Garland at least until next February.
Caris LeVert stood out from the second unit with 31 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists; and Donovan Mitchell added 26 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.
(Cover photo: Mark Blinch/Getty Images)
2024-01-02 11:00:28
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