(Toronto) Pascal Siakam had his best offensive performance of the season with 35 points, but it wasn’t enough for the Toronto Raptors to extend their winning streak to nine. The Denver Nuggets played spoilsport by winning 110-109 on Saturday night.
Posted at 11:11 p.m.
The Raptors (31-24) had possession with 12.2 seconds on the clock. OG Anunoby grabbed the rebound on a missed three-pointer from Fred VanVleet, but Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic got up to block Anunoby’s shot.
Jokic led the visitors’ offense with 28 points and 15 rebounds. Siakam grabbed 10 rebounds in the loss for his third double in four games.
The hotly contested duel saw the two teams trade leads 16 times and draw seven times.
VanVleet contributed 25 points on offense, including a big three-pointer that put the Raptors within one point of the Nuggets with 18.4 seconds left.
Scottie Barnes had 17 points in the Raptors’ first loss since Jan. 26. The eight straight wins mark the longest winning streak since 15 straight wins between January 15 and February 10, 2020.
After the third quarter, the Raptors led 86-83 thanks to a VanVleet three-pointer. But Jokic, the NBA’s MVP of the past season, took matters into his own hands from there.
The seven-foot, 284-pound Serbian took advantage of the Raptors’ smaller roster to physically impose himself. He had 18 points in the fourth quarter in addition to grabbing three offensive rebounds.
Acquired by the Raptors just before the NBA trade deadline, Thaddeus Young was in uniform Saturday, but was not sent to the field by head coach Nick Nurse.
“I’m very excited to be here because it’s a team that plays with a lot of energy,” said Young. Throughout my career I have been a player of energy, of passion and they do the same thing. »
“Looking at the way the roster is built, I was like, ‘Oh, they’ve got a lot of long, athletic guys, I like that! “But above all, I think we have a good mix of veterans with leadership and young players,” he continued.
Young, 33, also revealed that he has known Anunoby for a long time. The latter was playing at the age of 16 for the AAU circuit team that Young supports in Memphis.
