By the way the Toronto Raptors dominated the first three quarters of their match against the San Antonio Spurs, it appeared that the Raptors were on their way to an easy win at the Scotiabank Arena on Sunday.
But that certainly was not the case for the defending champs, as the Raptors allowed the visitors to rally from an 18-point disadvantage and steal a 105-104 win right from their fingertips.
The Raptors' floor general Kyle Lowry, who had 16 points and 15 assists in the disappointing loss, talked about his team's lack of killer instinct down the stretch, per ESPN's Tim Bontemps.
Kyle Lowry on what went wrong in the second half for the Raptors: “We just stopped playing.” Said the team played lackadaisical both in this game and in the loss to Portland earlier this week that saw Toronto blow a 14-point lead.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) January 13, 2020
This is the second time this week that Toronto blew a double-digit lead in the dying minutes of regulation, losing 99-101 to the Portland Trail Blazers last Wednesday. Fueled by a tribute video he received before the game, former Raptor DeMar DeRozan torched his old team with a game-high 25 points (7-of-12 FG) to along with eight rebounds in 35 minutes.
DeRozan also calmly iced the game from the charity stripe with 9.3 left in regulation to complete the mighty comeback. The Raptors, on the other hand, welcomed Paskal Siakam and Norman Powell back after dealing with respective injuries. Powell looked great with 20 points in 31 minutes, while Spicy P did struggle upon his return.
Siakam had 15 points, five boards, and four assists, but struggled from the field making only six of his 17 attempts from the field. The Raptors forward also muffed a potential game-tying lay-in with 19.2 ticks left in the game.
The Raptors are still fourth in the East with a 25-14 win-loss slate, but they have to do a much better job closing out games. The team is still missing the services of Marc Gasol and Fred VanVleet.
Follow Us
Subscribe