VanVleet, Anunoby help Raptors beat disastrous Rockets

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Wednesday night was quieter than usual at Scotiabank Arena. But to be fair to paying customers, the Raptors didn’t give them much to get excited about.

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Against the young and inexperienced Houston Rockets, the Raptors took a long time to come on, letting Houston hang out until late in the 4th quarter before winning 116-109.

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Only OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet and Otto Porter played well for the Raptors, but that was enough against one of the weakest rosters in the NBA.

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Anunoby had 26 points, eight rebounds and three more steals, while VanVleet had 32 points, while Porter was big in the fourth quarter, taking a 1-point lead to 7 with back-to-back 3-pointers and 14 total points as the Raptors improved to 7-. Changed 5.

Jalen Green led the Rockets with 21 points.

Houston are playing very hard, but after an NBA-low 20 wins last season, they started the season with just two wins in 12 games. That’s not the worst thing in the world, though, given the strength of the upcoming draft, though a year ago he fell to the third pick, so lottery luck will be required.

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That pick was Jabari Smith Jr., who was seen as a great shooter but only hit 30% of his attempts in his first 10 games before putting in a decent performance against the Raptors. .

A year ago, they chose high-scoring guard Jalen Green over eventual Rookie of the Year Scotty Barnes and potential Cleveland big man Evan Mobley.

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After finishing last season with great basketball, Precious Achiuwa has high hopes for the 2022-23 season. from himself and head coach Nick Nurse and the Raptors’ front office. Acquired from Miami in a sign-and-trade for Kyle Lowry, the former first-round pick spent the season before playing well in the playoffs and becoming one of the most improved players in the NBA in the second half. I started slowly before. He believed he was ready to become an impact player again.

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Achiuwa’s 3-point percentage was 50% in February and 39% in March, but he hit only 19% heading into Wednesday this year.

Still, according to Nurse, it was the struggles on the defensive side that led to his reduced playing time.

“He needs to play better,” Nurse said before the game. “I always talk about playing hard[on defense]and not running. Crazy, doing everything, one night he doesn’t do much of it.

“I just had a long meeting with him and showed him a lot of films. Minutes is not what I envisioned for him this year.I told him so.I’m assuming mid to late 20s or later.But if he doesn’t run our stuff better defensively ,I can not do it.”

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Nurse said he’s OK with Achiuwa’s offense, even though his shots haven’t fallen yet.

“He was great (after watching the video). Precious is a great guy. When you’re sitting there watching the clip, you can say anything other than ‘I agree, coach, you can play better than this.’ Very rarely. And I need and I want to,” Nurse said.

Achiuwa didn’t magically find his game on Wednesday. To make matters worse, he had to be rescued to the locker room in the fourth quarter after falling and did not return.

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Canada is almost here

Canada’s senior men’s basketball team is looking to qualify for next summer’s FIBA ​​World Cup. The team is basically already out, with his 8-0 win in the Americas zone qualifier, but a win over Panama or Venezuela in Edmonton on Thursday or Saturday will mark his third appearance in the last five events. becomes. Considering his 21st place in China in 2019 and his 22nd place in Turkey in 2010, expectations are high.

Nurse turned over coaching duties for the two games to good friend and Raptors assistant coach Nate Bjorkgren.

“I just got off the phone with him right before he got here. He gave me his pre-game speech. I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” Nurse quipped.

“It’s a tough game. We’re 8-0, they (Venezuela) are 7-1 and we can’t get any bigger in this pool. We know it’s going to be difficult,” Nurse said.

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“Pick them up, figure it out in a few days, throw it out and try to grab the win somehow. Hopefully that’s what they can do.”

If so, NBA players are scheduled to attend in the summer and they will.

around the rim

The Raptors game featured the first Indigenous Heritage Night for the Raptors. A variety of programs were prepared to celebrate Indigenous culture, including an amazing national anthem performance by Juno nominee Shawnee Kish and a drumming performance by Ninsey Churgu.

@WolstatSun