In both East and West, the Raptors and Wolves are currently battling to avoid taking part in the dangerous end-of-season play-in. Woe to the vanquished, therefore, in this poster of all the dangers in the rankings…
Poster which turned to the advantage of the players of Toronto this night, authors of a second period canon to logically dispose of their counterparts in Minnesota (125-102). A success that was built collectively for the men of Nick Nurse, guided in particular by Gary Trent Jr. (29 points) and Pascal Siakam (12 points, 10 rebounds, 13 assists).
Above all, this victory for the Raptors combined with the success of the Nuggets and the defeat of the Cavaliers creates a rather large first gap in this race for the Top 6, in each conference.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— Toronto moves away from play-in, Minnesota moves closer. Ten days before the end of the regular season, trends are emerging in the standings and they are smiling for the moment at the Raptors, less at the Wolves. On the one hand, the Canadian franchise, 6th in the East, is now two games ahead of the Cavaliers, 7th. On the other, the Minneapolis franchise, 7th in the West, now has two and a half games behind the Jazz, 6th. Quite significant gaps at this stage of the competition and which may be difficult to fill.
— The Toronto collective at the rendezvous. Gary Trent Jr, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Precious Achiuwa, Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and Thaddeus Young. In total, no less than seven players scored 10 or more points on the Raptors side, brilliantly taking turns to fuel the Canadiens’ score. A real group effort, in attack and defense, to succeed in getting the upper hand over Wolves over the course of the game. And, as the playoffs approach, it can only make Nick Nurse happy to see that his team is performing so well…
— Minnesota took on water after the break. With a lead that climbed to +17 in the first half, before melting due to OG Anunoby’s hot shot and inside efforts from Scottie Barnes, Precious Achiuwa and Thaddeus Young, Wolves looked well in their game at the break. Except that the return from the locker room was very complicated for them, since they quickly suffered the law of the Raptors. Weighed down by their ball losses (22) and their missed shots (40% on the shot), Chris Finch’s men went wrong in attack, in addition to not being able to slow down Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr. and Pascal Siakam in defense .
LES TOPS/FLOPS
✅ The duo Trent Jr. – Anunoby. If we had to highlight two players from the impressive collective of the Raptors, it would probably be Gary Trent Jr. and OG Anunoby, the two best scorers of the team this night. Authors of 51 points in total, they were able to carry the attack of Toronto as it was necessary, while Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam were more behind in scoring. Of their respective performances, we note in particular the 13 points of Anunoby in the second quarter, to revive the Canadians on the scoreboard, as well as the 14 points of Trent Jr. in the third, to make them there. fly away.
⛔ D’Angelo Russell. It’s hard to expect much for Wolves, when their starting point guard has an awful 3/15 on shots and a no less awful 1/7 at 3-pts. Never in the rhythm, “D-Lo” thus confirms his bad pass of the moment, he who remains on five games in a row with less than 50% success in shooting. No coincidence that, without one of its barometers, the Minnesota franchise has been struggling lately…
THE FOLLOWING
Toronto (44-32) : trip to Orlando, on the night of Friday to Saturday (01:00).
Minnesota (43-34) : trip to Denver, on the night of Friday to Saturday (03:00).
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