Coming back home suited well for Nick Nurse and his Toronto Raptors. The reigning champions demolished the Charlotte Hornets at the Scotiabank Arena, 132-96, giving their fans a nice present after coming back from a West Coast tour.
The guests were resisting the Raptors’ grip in the opening two periods, but as soon as the second half started, there was no way for them to avoid a loss. Toronto outscored the visitors from North Carolina 72-40 in that part, dominating in every aspect of the game.
“They came out and asserted themselves,” Marvin Williams explained the second half. “They imposed their will on us, and we were never able to recover.”
During the third period, the hosts made 7 three-pointers in 12 attempts, ultimately killing the morale of the Hornets, who didn’t have any solution on how to stop the barrage from downtown. In the end, Raptors recorded 20 threes, in 43 attempts, for excellent 46.5%.
Meanwhile, the defense was working quite well, limiting the rival to just 18 points and shooting 7 for 20. What was also a big advantage for the home team were the rebounds. Nurse’s guys had 53 of them, allowing 37 to the guests. From that, came out the domination inside the paint where Toronto outscored the Hornets 58-30.
In general, there was no area in which the home team didn’t have significantly better stats than their opponents. Raptors had an advantage in assists, 40-26, total turnovers, 11-20, fastbreak points, 20-5, etc.
Marc Gasol had a team-high 9 assists, Fred VanVleet had 8, Terrance Davis 7, Norman Powell 6, so it was pretty much a festival of sharing for the champions.
OG Anunoby had a team-high 24 points scored for the Raptors, but he almost picked up a severe eye injury, after being poked by Nicolas Batum. It was his second eye injury in a matter of days, following Kawhi Leonard’s hit in the match vs. Clippers.
Nick Nurse was pretty frustrated because of this, and he didn’t hide his anger while speaking with the reporters.
“I wish they’d catch the guy who does it once in a while,” Nurse said, upset that Anunoby did not get a foul call on either play. “That’s two games he’s been hit in the head and nobody sees anything.”
Pascal Siakam was in an all-round mood, with 20 points, 8 boards, 5 assists, while Norman Powell posted another great game with 17 buckets. VanVleet had 11 points, 4 steals and 4 boards.
The bench contributed a lot this Monday night. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 15 points with 8 boards, shooting 6 for 10 from the field. Davis had 16 missing just one three in five attempts. and Chris Boucher delivered a double-double with 11 points and boards each.
On the other side, Marvin Williams had 14 points, Bismack Buyombo 13, both of them off the bench. Miles Bridges had 13 as a starter, while Devonte Graham posted 11.
The Hornets (6-8) are currently on a four-game trip through the East, and have two more contests to play. The first one is this Wednesday in Brooklyn against the Nets, followed by a trip to DC and a game against the Wizards.
The Raptors (9-4) are awaiting the Magic, on Wednesday too.
