The heroic Toronto Raptors continue to fight against all the odds. They would beat the Charlotte Hornets in less than 24 hours since losing at home against the Trail Blazers. The NBA champions showed an incredible will, beating the hosts 112-110 after an exhausting fight and overtime.
Serge Ibaka hit both free throws with five seconds to go until the overtime to set up the final result. The strong center ended the night with 23 points and 11 boards. However, although his hits may close this one, the hero of the night was an undrafted rookie, Terence Davis, who had 23 buckets his career-high, followed by 11 boards and five assists.
He was the absolute star of the night, replacing all the injured players and posting a performance that pretty reminded all the teams that they had a chance to take this guy in the draft but decided not to use it.
“He was really good,” Nurse said of his new member of the starting lineup. “This isn’t that easy to figure out who to play with all these guys out constantly and trying to figure out some ways to keep guys ticking.”
The game in North Carolina was extremely intense, with both sides changing in the lead and not allowing the other to gain the momentum.
We saw one big push of the Hornets at the end of the third and the start of the fourth, once they made a 22-2 series, which saw them going from -10 to +10. However, the fighting spirit of the champs emerged to the surface, who responded and got away following a thrilling ending as the winners.
The hosts were disappointed with the outcome, and their head coach James Borrego explained why his team lost this match.
“You have to keep playing for 48 minutes, and that’s the bottom line,” Borrego said. “No matter if you’re up or down, you have to keep playing.”
Among the Hornets, Terry Rozier and Miles Bridges stood above others. Rozier scored 27 points, and this was his fourth straight game to reach this limit. Bridges had 26 with 9 boards.
The rookie PJ Washington was also superb as he played for 40 minutes, posting 12 points and 12 rebounds with 6 assists.
Among the Raptors besides Ibaka and Davis, OG Anunoby played well. He had 19 points with 7 rebounds. Kyle Lowry and Patrick McCaw spent 43 minutes each on the floor. Lowry again had a slow shooting night with 4 hits in 13 tries, totaling up to 15 points and adding eight assists. McCaw meanwhile scored 13 buckets with 11 assists and 5 rebounds and had a major role when it came to organizing Toronto’s offense.
The guests posted 34 assists, with almost one third coming from McCaw.
Raptors are now heading back home, to meet the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday at the Scotiabank Arena. After that, they have a clash with the Thunder in OKC on Wednesday.
The Hornets are starting a four-game road trip throughout the West, which begins in Utah, then continues in Phoenix, Portland, and closes in Denver. The first match with the Jazzers is this Friday.
