The Toronto Raptors defeated New Orleans Pelicans on the road with 122-104, but the price for that triumph was way too high. Nick Nurse lost two very important players.
Kyle Lowry fractured his recently recovered thumb on his left hand, while Serge Ibaka sprained his ankle pretty bad. The initial prognoses about the degree of the injuries and their absence from the court are still not issued, but it appears that the two players might have to pause for several weeks.
“Originally, we thought it was something in the nail bed because the nail bed turned black and blue,” Lowry said. “We got some X-rays, and we sent the X-rays off to the doctors, and there was a small fracture in the thumb.”
Lowry picked up an injury when contesting Derrick Favours for an offensive rebound. Ibaka, meanwhile, wanter to block Brandon Ingram’s layup and ended up on the floor, screaming from pain. He would appear after the game with a walking boot.
This is a severe setback for the Raptors, who were in solid shape since the season began.
As for the game against the Pelicans, the champs didn’t have any problems. Apart from the first period, which was close, ending at 30-all, the Raptors were dominant during the whole time. They made a 15-0 run to open the second, and easily extended that advantage to 66-41 with 4:18 to go until the break. Eventually, the result after the first halftime was 75-53 for the visitors.
Nurse’s crew would keep the rivals at the same distance in the remaining two quarters, and the best the Pelicans could do was coming down to 103-92.
Toronto had phenomenal Pascal Siakam, who dropped 44 points, had 10 boards and was 17 for 28 from the field.
“He’s got the green light to make any move he wants at this point,” Raptors coach Nurse said. “No, I’m serious, man. We’re just trying to get him to see how far he can go here. Drive it, post it, shoot the three, drive it in transition, play pick and roll; we want him to get as many reps as he can.”
It will probably stay like that in the near future due to the injuries mentioned above. Siakam had a massive help form OG Anunoby who delivered 5 threes in 7 attempts. The Raptors forward would end the contest with 21 points, and 7 boards. Norman Powell had 18 buckets, and Fred VanVleet 12, along with 11 dimes.
Raptors made 19 threes in 43 attempts, 44.2%.
Among the hosts, Ingram scored a team-high 27 points, with 7 rebounds. Jrue Holiday had 16, and 6 assists and boards each. Frank Jackson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 13 both.
Pelicans (1-7) didn’t start the season as planned, and everything was interrupted because of Zion Williamson’s injury. They will play the second of back-to-back nights this Saturday in Charlotte against the Hornets.
The Raptors (6-2) are meeting the league-leading Los Angeles Lakers this Sunday night at the Staples Center. Following that, they have contests with the Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers, and the Dallas Mavericks.
