The Toronto Raptors defeated Sacramento Kings last night. Nick Nurse’s team once again showed great offensive potential in a 124-120 victory, which kept the champions undefeated at home since the campaign started.
The result was tight, but the Raptors were ahead almost during the whole game. The guests from California dropped 20 downtown hits, and if it weren’t for that, the champs would solve this match even earlier.
“I don’t know how many threes they had, like 20 something? That’s too much,” Pascal Siakam said after the game. “We can definitely do a better job on defense and just run them off the three-point line, especially the guys that we know are shooting.
Ultimate 12 minutes were interesting to see, as Sacramento went down to just three or four points on a couple of occasions, putting the pressure on the hosts who eventually dealt with it very good. It was Serge Ibaka, who shined in the final quarter scoring 10 from his total 21 points.
On the other side, Bogdan Bogdanovic pulled the Kings in that period. The Serbian sharpshooter posted 13 of his 22 buckets then, but that wasn’t enough for something more. Sacramento was down 91-77 with 3:04 left in the third but managed to come back and to threaten the hosts.
“I think our team, even though we lost and we’re not happy about that, we showed growth again,” Walton said. “I’m happy (with) the direction we’re moving. This is a tough place to play, it’s the NBA champs and they were making a lot of shots.”
Harrison Barnes had a team-high for the Kings, 26 points, hitting 4 threes, all that in 39 minutes. Bogdanovic came in off the bench, delivered 22 buckets with 6 threes, while Buddy Hield had 21 and 5 threes, along with 8 boards. De’Aaron Fox was having his usual night near a triple-double with 17 points, 9 assists, and 7 boards.
The Kings were 20 of 44 from downtown.
Meanwhile, the hosts hit just 14 three-pointers, but from 29 shots recording 48.3%. Overall, their shooting efficiency was very high, posting 55.1% from the field.
Kyle Lowry had 24 buckets and 6 assists, Siakam 23 with 12 boards and 5 dimes, while Ibaka had 21 and 6 rebounds.
OG Anunoby posted another solid performance with 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, but the strong forward added three blocks to that. He continually improves from game to game, and the Raptors might get another precious jewel.
Marc Gasol and Fred VanVleet had 12 points each.
A worrying thing is a fact that the Raptors had just two offensive rebounds for 48 minutes. On the other side, the Kings had 12 of those.
Up next, the Toronto (5-2) head for a five-game tour throughout the Western Conference. Their first opponents will be the New Orleans Pelicans this Friday. After that Nurse and the crew are traveling to LA, where they have back-to-back games against the Lakers and the Clippers. Following this, Toronto meets Portland and the Dallas Mavs.
Meanwhile, the Kings (2-6) have one more game on their short trip through the East. Luke Walton’s team will face the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.
