The Toronto Raptors demolished Washington Wizards, setting a new franchise record scoring 140 points in tonight’s win. Nick Nurse’s team allowed 111 buckets but was fantastic in the offensive aspect of the game.
The Raptors scored 22 three-pointers in 43 attempts, 51.2%, and were 57.1% from the field overall. The number of threes is also a franchise record for the champions.
Among all the players, Marc Gasol stood above hitting 6 long-distance shots, and missing just one. The Spanish center, who led his national team to a gold medal at the recent FIBA World Cup in China, was more than eager to play. The reason – he didn’t play for the whole month due to his hamstring injury.
“Sitting for a few weeks kind of makes you itch a little bit and makes you want to really play and get back and help your team win,” younger of Gasol brothers said.
He would end the night with 20 points, 6 assists, and five dimes, all that in 29 minutes. Gasol was one of the crucial players during the Raptors’ playoff run last season, as he fantastically adapted to Nurse’s system and also added another dimension on both sides of the court. He was recently in the middle of the rumors, which claimed that he might end in Detroit in exchange for Andre Drummond.
Toronto was constantly up, and apart from scoring the first baskets in this contest, the guests from DC always trailed. Everything was clear following the first period, once hosts reached a 38-23 lead. However, that wasn’t enough and they continued even harder in the second sequence, making a 14-0 run, which pulled them away to 52-28.
Washington managed to cut the deficit to 14 points at the break, but the visitors never truly endangered the domination of the champs who created the difference whenever they wanted.
The final period saw the Raptors reaching a 33-point edge, which was the highest of the event, with the guys from the bench kept pounding without mercy.
Two players who weren’t in the starting lineup delivered 20 buckets. Norman Powell had 28, shooting 10 for 17. Terence Davis scored 23, and these two added 9 threes combined.
All five guys from the starting lineup delivered double-digit digits in the scoring columns. Apart from Gasol, OG Anunoby scored 18 with 6 boards, Siakam had just 12, and Kyle Lowry 11 with 8 dimes.
Serge Ibaka contributed with 15 and 8 blocks.
On the other side, we had Troy Brown Jr., with 22 points and 8 rebounds, leading the way for the poor guests, who simply can’t find their game since the campaign started. Washington had high hopes for these few seasons but everything turned out to be a huge failure.
Isaac Bonga had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Bradley Beal 14, but he played just 23 minutes.
Washington (13-28) goes back to DC now to meet the Detroit Pistons, and after that travels to Miami to face the Heat.
Toronto (27-13) has two consecutive road games, the first in Minneapolis and the second in Atlanta, before coming back to Canada to clash with the Philadelphia 76ers.
