Fred VanVleet scored 28 to assist energy the Raptors previous the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves 122-107 on Saturday for Toronto’s third-straight win.
Pascal Siakam and Jakob Poeltl every had a double-double for the Raptors (35-36), who wore their black and gold OVO jerseys to match the Scotiabank Arena courtroom.
The Raptors prolonged their season-high residence profitable streak to seven.
Siakam scored 27, pulled down 10 rebounds and added six assists. Poeltl had 14 factors, 12 within the first quarter alone, and 11 boards.
Naz Reid scored 22 off the bench for Minnesota (35-37), which misplaced its third recreation in a row. Jaden McDaniels added 18.
Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who’s from Toronto, scored 4.
WATCH | Massive dunks by Anunoby, Barnes assist lead Raptors previous Timberwolves:
Massive dunks by Anunoby and Barnes lead Raptors previous Timberwolves
Toronto defeats Minnesota 122-107 for his or her third consecutive victory. OG Anunoby and Scotties Barnes deliver the followers at Scotiabank Arena to their ft with large slam dunks.
VanVleet acquired off to a scorching begin, scoring 15 within the first quarter, together with drilling a three-pointer with 4:58 left within the body to place Toronto up by 4. He and Poeltl have been a potent perimeter-paint risk, combining for 27 factors to assist the Raptors to a 32-26 lead within the first body.
Poeltl scored a season-high 12 factors within the quarter. His earlier excessive for a single quarter was 10 on March 2 in opposition to the Washington Wizards.
OG Anunoby acquired off a buzzer-beating three-pointer to deliver the sold-out crowd of 19,800 to their ft and provides the Raptors a 66-58 lead on the intermission.
Kyle Anderson’s jumper early within the third quarter pulled Minnesota to inside two. After exchanging a number of area objectives, McDaniels drilled a three-pointer to deliver the guests to inside one.
A driving Reid layup with 4:16 left within the third gave the Timberwolves a lead — albeit by only a level — for the primary time since 6:13 into the sport.
The lead swung forwards and backwards between Toronto and Minnesota for the remainder of the third quarter.
Montreal’s Chris Boucher blocked Reid’s shot with 36 seconds left within the quarter then, on the different finish of the courtroom, he transformed a move from Siakam right into a three-pointer. On the following Timberwolves’ possession, Gary Trent Jr. stole the ball from Jordan McLaughlin and broke away on his personal for an uncontested layup and a 94-85 Raptors lead heading into the fourth.
Scottie Barnes made a layup two minutes into the fourth, forcing Minnesota to take a timeout with the Raptors holding a 13-point lead.
Toronto did not look again after that, persevering with to press each time Minnesota scored. A two-handed Poeltl jam, his first factors for the reason that opening quarter, adopted by a Trent three-pointer gave the Raptors a 19-point lead and despatched dozens of followers to the exits.
It additionally prompted Toronto head coach Nick Nurse to place out a few of his depth gamers, together with Joe Wieskamp who had already performed earlier within the day for Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League affiliate.
Raptors rookie centre Christian Koloko fractured his nostril late in Thursday’s 128-111 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Koloko was listed as questionable earlier than Saturday’s recreation however performed 9 minutes with a protecting masks on.
“We simply completely put all these questionable guys as ‘in,”‘ mentioned Nurse earlier than the sport.
The Raptors journey to Milwaukee to tackle the Bucks on Sunday evening.
