TORONTO \u2014 \u201cAs soon as I got the rebound.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Toronto Raptors<\/a> point guard Immanuel Quickley<\/a> made up his mind about what he was going to do in the final possession against the Indiana Pacers.\u00a0<\/p>\n There were 11 seconds left in the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n Raptors centre Jakob Poeltl had just come from across the lane to swat his old friend Pascal Siakam\u2019s potentially game-winning lay-up off the backboard, and the floor was scrambled in what was a tie game that the Raptors probably didn\u2019t deserve to win, at least on paper.\u00a0<\/p>\n Teams that shoot 5-of-25 from the three-point line and 38.9 per cent overall on their way to scoring just 97 points in the super-charged offensive era of the NBA don\u2019t win too many games like that.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Raptors hadn\u2019t scored fewer than 100 points in any game this season. Their lowest total in a win before Wednesday was 110.<\/p>\n But here they were, score tied, with a chance to steal one. So Quickley (15 points, five rebounds, six assists) did the smart point guard thing and got the ball to Brandon Ingram<\/a> and got out of the way. And Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic fought the urge to call a timeout, instead trusting the players on the floor to figure things out.\u00a0<\/p>\n Quickley knew the ball was in good hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a tough cover,\u201d he said of Ingram. \u201cHe\u2019s (six-foot-eight), can shoot it off the dribble, off pull-ups. He\u2019s a heckuva player, especially one-on-one.\u201d<\/p>\n Good decision. Ingram walked the ball calmly over half got into a few rhythm dribbles against Siakam, the former Raptor, before creating some separation, rising up and cashing the game-winning field goal with 0.6 on the clock.\u00a0<\/p>\n The normally laconic Ingram acted as if lightning was charging through his body. Scottie Barnes<\/a> jumped on his back. Ingram\u2019s celebrity girlfriend, rapper GloRilla, was only slightly less animated.\u00a0<\/p>\n What did he say when he was yelling at the crowd?\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m here,\u201d was Ingram\u2019s PG-13 version after capping off a 26-point, eight-rebound night with his first game-winner as a Raptor. \u201cThat\u2019s the cleanest I can say it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n No argument as the big shot secured a 97-95 victory and improved the Raptors to a perfect 4-0 in NBA Cup play while improving their record to 14-5 with their ninth straight win.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n What looked like a risky, borderline desperate acquisition when the Raptors traded for Ingram despite a long injury history and a much shorter history of playing on winning basketball teams has instead looked inspired.<\/p>\n The three-year, $120-million contract extension was a sound piece of business. Ingram has had his fingerprints all over three wins in the past 10 days that were decided late and in the Raptors’ favour because of plays he made in the final moments.<\/p>\n But as for why the Raptors are here?<\/p>\n In possession of the longest winning streak since Toronto won a team-record 15 straight in 2019-20, having won 13 of their past 14 and sitting in second-place in the Eastern Conference?<\/p>\n A lot of it has to do with adaptability.\u00a0<\/p>\n With RJ Barrett (knee) out, Rajakovic decided to try rookie Collin Murray-Boyles<\/a> as a starter after giving the nod to Ja’Kobe Walter<\/a> on Monday night in Barrett\u2019s first game missed after suffering a sprain the night before.\u00a0<\/p>\n That was because the Raptors were hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Walter would give them another option against Cavs star Donovan Mitchell. It was a smart choice as Walter was part of the reason Mitchell was held 14 points below his season average.\u00a0<\/p>\n But against the Pacers, Rajakovic wanted to go a little bigger, to match up better with Siakam and Jarace Walker, Indiana’s big wings.<\/p>\n That didn\u2019t work out quite as well, as the Raptors’ rookie picked up two quick fouls. Back out came Walter, who has been gaining confidence by the week, and demonstrated just that in the game\u2019s crucial run: a 25-3 spurt bridging the end of the second and the start of the third quarter where Toronto went from trailing by 11 to leading by 13 midway through with eight minutes remaining.\u00a0<\/p>\n Walter hit three triples, assisted on another basket and had a steal that set up another score, all in the space of seven minutes as he finished with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting while adding a pair of steals in his 33 minutes. Walter was having a hard time finding minutes even 10 days ago, but the Raptors don\u2019t beat the Pacers without him.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe knows that we have his back, and he’s a product of this organization,\u201d said Rajakovic. \u201cSo he understands the culture and how we want to play, both on offence and defence and he brings the juice to the team every day. So really, really happy for him.\u201d<\/p>\n There were minutes given to Jamison Battle and Ochai Agbaji as Rajakovic tried to find a combination that could work when the basket seemed to keep moving.\u00a0<\/p>\n But perhaps the Raptors’ most impressive adaptation was that they kept competing even as they couldn\u2019t score.\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the biggest plays of the game was Barnes hounding the Pacers’ Bennedict Mathurin into an over-and-back violation with three minutes to play after Mathurin (15 points) was showing signs of going into his microwave routine with a pair of triples. A moment earlier, Walter had stepped in and drawn a charge against Mathurin.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Raptors couldn\u2019t shoot, collectively, but Barnes bulled his way to the free-throw line a career-high 14 times and made every single one.\u00a0<\/p>\n And then when they needed a bucket, they knew where to get it.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think at the end of the game, we just collectively (made plays),\u201d said Barnes, who finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and a crucial block down the stretch also. \u201cJak had a big block. I got the backcourt (turnover), Ja\u2019Kobe got a charge. Just constantly fighting, constantly trying to get those stops \u2026 (on offence) we know what we\u2019re going to get into, which makes it a whole lot easier.\u201d<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t an easy win, even if the injury-riddled Pacers dropped to 2-16 on the season. But by winning so often and so early, the Raptors are learning all the different ways to finish the job.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to win different ways,\u201d said Quickley. \u201cYou got to win when you don’t shoot well, you got to win sometimes when you turn the ball over, you got to win ugly. There\u2019s 82 games in the season, you’re not going to always shoot the ball well, but you can always play defence. You can always bring energy, effort and that’s what we did tonight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n That, and get the ball to the right guy\u2019s hands in the end.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sick Bay<\/strong>: Barrett was officially declared to have a knee sprain by the Raptors on Wednesday, consistent with all the messaging since he left Sunday\u2019s game against Washington limping after coming down on a routine fastbreak dunk. Barrett could be seen back-of-house after the game Wednesday, walking normally. He is expected to be re-evaluated at the end of the week, but is listed as day-to-day. Gradey Dick took a hard fall in the first half and didn\u2019t come back in the second half as he was being \u2018evaluated.\u2019 \u201cHe\u2019s fine,\u201d said Rajakovic. \u201cJust precautionary.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Siakam\u2019s present felt<\/strong>: It will be two years in January since Siakam was traded from the Raptors to the Pacers, but his ties to the community he played in for seven years run deep. His PS43 Foundation is still active, and on Tuesday night, Siakam was on hand for one of its most ambitious projects yet: an ‘EdTech Engine’ at DMZ \u2014 an on-campus tech start-up incubator at TMU. The evening was to recognize three different businesses that were part of the first cohort of fledgling companies that have come through the program, which focuses on finding tech-based solutions to solve problems in education. It\u2019s only one of a number of initiatives Siakam\u2019s foundation has taken on and supports on an ongoing basis. Being traded from the Raptors hasn\u2019t changed that.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been awesome man, it\u2019s been amazing,\u201d said Siakam. \u201cHaving something in your mind and wanting to create it and seeing it grow and evolve, it\u2019s super important. We always wanted to be different and do things in a way that I think haven\u2019t been done and this EdTech engine is part of that. It\u2019s super amazing seeing these founders, these start-ups and being able to help them create a community and have resources that could help thousands of kids \u2026 I\u2019m just super excited to be part of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Because of the Cup<\/strong>: The when and the who are still to be determined, but by finishing 4-0 in Group A the Raptors assured themselves a home game for the quarterfinal round of the NBA Cup, and for a young team trying to learn how to win and reignite a fan base that hasn\u2019t had much to get excited about for the past four years, it\u2019s no small thing. <\/p>\n \u201cI think it’s a great opportunity, right?\u201d said Rajakovic. \u201cIt’s an opportunity for us to play a game early in a season that gets you somewhere, that has more meaning than just a regular season game \u2026\u00a0\u00a0it’s gonna mean a lot. I think that this city and the love that the team is feeling and receiving our fans, it\u2019s going to be another festival of basketball here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 \u201cAs soon as I got the rebound.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s when Toronto Raptors point guard Immanuel Quickley made…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":408638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[1260,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-408637","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-nba","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115622451984443382","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}