The Toronto Raptors found a familiar face in Pascal Siakam, who returned from injury Monday at Scotiabank Arena, and took the opportunity to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 100-88.
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The crowd favorites were little tested, taking the lead in the first quarter, never losing it afterwards. They even maintained a gap of at least 10 points with their rivals for most of the second half.
In his first game in just over three weeks, Siakam did well with 18 points and 11 rebounds, in addition to adding five assists. Head coach Nick Nurse, however, said that his star player’s minutes would be counted and he finally spent 30 min 11 s on the floor, after his absence of 10 games.
Instead, it was OG Anunoby who led the offense with 20 points, while six Raptors players amassed 10 or more points.
Quebecer Chris Boucher, however, was not one of those, he who stalled only one of his four shots, as well as three of his four free throws, for five points, in 21 min 45 s of play. Montreal’s Khem Birch was not much better, being shut out in just over four minutes.
On the side of the “Cavs”, Evan Mobley and Darius Garland ensured the reply, with 18 points each. The former added 15 rebounds while the latter managed 10 assists.
The Raptors will now head to New Orleans, where they will face the Pelicans on Wednesday.