Who was going to help? Who was going to quit watching Fred VanVleet revving the engine to the red line, fuel tank on empty, and get themselves up to speed?
The Toronto Raptors were staring down a four-game losing streak Thursday night, but VanVleet wasn’t having it.
From the minute the ball went up he was determined to lift his team and avoid following up a dud outing against Boston with another in Philadelphia.
But he needed someone else to step up. Someone off the bench. Anyone.
The Raptors responded. The fight was there. Chris Boucher found his game for the first time this season. Scottie Barnes came to life in the third quarter and Svi Mykhailiuk did his part down the stretch and off the bench.
And then OG Anunoby took over as the primary ball-handler to make two textbook plays late in the shot clock and late in the game to set up threes for Gary Trent Jr. and then — who else — for VanVleet, whose sixth triple of the night with 24.8 seconds left iced it as Toronto closed a gutty effort on an 8-0 run.
The Raptors’ 115-109 win improved Toronto to 7-6 on the season with one more home date (Saturday) before a daunting six-game road trip after that.
VanVleet finished with a season-high 32 points on 11-22 shooting while adding seven assists in 40 minutes. But he got some assistance, too. Boucher came off the bench for a season-best 17 points; Barnes had 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists; Anunoby had 20 points and four assists and Trent Jr. had 20 with four assists also.
The Sixers were without some key pieces but were lifted by Tyrese Maxey who had 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, though it was not enough to halt the Sixers’ losing streak which is now at three as Philadelphia fell to 8-5.
Toronto played to their maximum to take an 81-78 lead into the fourth quarter. They switched to zone defence and got some support for VanVleet, who had carried them through the first half. Barnes looked for his shot a bit more in the half-court and had a nice sequence when he dribbled himself open into some mid-range twos while also finding his way to a couple of scores on the offensive glass. He chipped in with three assists also.
There was some welcome signs of life from Boucher who has struggled badly after missing all of training camp with a dislocated finger and finding himself in a battle for playing time since. Boucher looked like his old self with a trio of dunks and his recognizable manic energy.
The Raptors needed it after it was determined that Pascal Siakam would be rested for the second night of the back-to-back after playing two games since being cleared following off-season shoulder surgery.
The rest of the Raptors had to carry the load.
The Raptors were fully expecting to have their will tested, even though the Sixers have been dealing with COVID-19 issues: MVP candidate Joel Embiid and all-defence prospect Matisse Thybulle both missed their third and fourth games, respectively, due to health and safety protocols, while Tobias Harris returned after a six-game absence. Sharpshooter Seth Curry — shooting 48.3 per cent from three this season — returned after missing one game.
The Sixers have created an identity this season as a team that plays with freedom — they came into the game with the NBA’s top-ranked offence, even with point forward Ben Simmons unavailable.
But Raptors head coach Nick Nurse was not interested in excuses pre-game.
“I think that tonight you got to be ready to go early, right? You got to really be ready to run. Both ways. I think throw everything else out, you know, back-to-back on the road — whatever you want to throw in there, they’re coming fast anyway, but you better be ready to run and get your defence set up or it’s gonna be tough to guard them,” Nurse said. “So I think it’s especially true tonight you got to really shake off the last game quickly. Get determined and do, you know, some hard things. You got to run, you got to hit on the rebounding. Gotta handle the ball with strength, you got to play through hits to score. You got to execute with some mental toughness. Those kinds of things on a night like tonight early.”
VanVleet — the NBA’s leader in minutes played — was game to bring the fight early less than 24 hours after the Raptors lost in Boston. He decided that he would unravel the Raptors’ offensive woes by looking for his own number early and often.
He assisted on the Raptors’ first basket, grabbed a defensive rebound and drove the ball the length of the floor for a lay-up on his next touch, hit a three, knocked down a pair of free throws and then knocked down another three before the game was five minutes old. He scored 15 points in the first quarter as the Raptors hung tough, trailing 30-27.
VanVleet then went on to play all but 38 seconds in the second quarter. Late in the half he took another hit and was sent to the floor for the umpteenth time, but this time spread his arms wide and lay there for a while, grateful for a chance to recover.
His best efforts weren’t enough. The Sixers used a 16-4 run to open up a 10-point lead late in the second quarter before Toronto cut that in half with scores on the last two possessions before the break.
VanVleet simply didn’t have enough help. There wasn’t another Raptors player in double figures scoring by halftime as Toronto’s season-long shooting woes continued. Raptors other than VanVleet (5-of-11) were shooting 36 per cent and 25 per cent from three.
It didn’t help too that the Raptors botched away several opportunities in transition with Precious Achiuwa and Boucher combining for a couple each.
But VanVleet was determined to will his teammates to a bigger effort. Eventually, they joined him.
Fred VanVleet’s determined effort inspires Raptors in win over 76ers
Source: Pinas Ko Mahal
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