In the first game of the night, the Toronto Raptors defeated the Sacramento Kings. The star of the game was once again DeMar DeRozan, who was lucky in one phase.
After the Toronto Raptors lost their last four games against the Sacramento Kings, Dwane Casey’s side were highly motivated from the outset, with the Canadians staying one step ahead of their opponents throughout the game and ultimately winning in a confident manner.
The Kings played their offense almost exclusively via Zach Randolph (19 points, 11 rebounds) – the success was limited. Some turnovers and broken placements enabled the Raptors to start a 20:5 run at the beginning, which was initiated mainly by Serge Ibaka (20 points) and the strong DeMar DeRozan (25 points). The two were supported by Sophomore OG Anunnoby, who benefited from DeRozans’ support (7 assists in the first half, 9 in total).
However, the kings came into the match better and better up to halftime and even took the lead in the middle of the second quarter with 35:34. The star performer in this phase was Buddy Hield (17 points from the bank) who scored six of his eight throws in the first two sections and ensured that his team was only eight points behind at halftime. The performance of De’ Aaron Fox (6 points, 3/8 FG) was disappointing, who had already scored six balls for the break, missed none of his four throws and was unable to get any better in the second half.
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In the third quarter Bogdan Bogdanovic (15 points) and Z-Bo shortened to 69:64. The Canadians can thank Ibaka and DeRozan for the fact that the game did not fall at this time. But: The shooting guard could have been ejected because he hit Bogdanovic in the scramble away from the ball in the face. It would have been a hard setback for the Canadians, as Kyle Lowry caught a mixed day (15 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists)
In the final quarter, the kings were unable to significantly reduce the backlog. One reason for this: too many turnovers. The Raptors scored 27 points with a total of 17. In the Crunchtime, Casey also relied on Jakob Poeltl (9 points, 4 rebounds), who paid back his confidence with a decent performance.