(San Antonio) Led by an in-form Fred VanVleet on his return to action, the Toronto Raptors earned a much-needed win on Wednesday, beating the Spurs 119-104 at San Antonio.
Updated yesterday at 11:59 p.m.
VanVleet had 26 points, including 21 in the first half.
He had missed five games with a bruised right knee.
With six rebounds and two steals, the playmaker was three for eight for three-pointers and nine for 10 in free throws.
“I felt good,” VanVleet said. It’s much more fun to play than to be a spectator or to help the coaches.
“I started the match being very aggressive. In the second half they blitzed me a bit, so it became more about creating chances for the guys and keeping the defense sharp. »
Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes each provided 20 points, while Gary Trent had 17.
A host of reservists did well, including Precious Achiuwa. The latter had three long shots, en route to a 13-point night.
One of his three rebounds was purely spectacular, a reflection of the intensity of his.
The Raptors (35-30) snapped a three-game losing streak as they try to stay in seventh place in the East. The cushion is two and a half games ahead of Brooklyn.
On the horizon, Nick Nurse’s club will play Phoenix on Friday and Denver on Saturday.
At Spurs, Keldon Johnson scored 27 points, two more than Dejounte Murray.
Coach Gregg Popovich will have to wait to make history; he and Don Nelson remain tied at the top with 1,335 regular season wins.
It will be handed out – just like the Coyote mascot bobbleheads, which were to be handed out to the first 10,000 supporters. It didn’t happen, the result of a delivery delay.
“We have pride as professionals,” said VanVleet. Even with all the respect in the world (for Popovich), we didn’t want to be the club against whom it would happen.
“It was an additional motivation. And with the crowd which can get very loud here, it was important to have a good start to the game. »
VanVleet’s presence gave the Raptors a lot of energy; he set the tone with six points in the opening 3:38.
In a second quarter where the Spurs played better than in the first, VanVleet had six straight points, keeping his troops in the game.
He averaged 38.2 minutes per game this season, an NBA high. On Wednesday, he spent 34 minutes in action.
“He’s a general on the field,” Barnes said. He attracts the opponent and he makes it so that we have more space to rush to the basket. »
VanVleet is third in the league with 211 three-pointers.
At the half, it was 61-58 in favor of Spurs.
The score moved to 69-69 and the game remained evenly split, Barnes providing a boost with accurate and timely hooks, via the backboard.
A three-point shot from Achiuwa put the visitors ahead 81-75.
Coming from Trent, the same weapon gave Toronto an 87-79 lead, which finished the third quarter up 91-84.
Dalano Banton continued the effort with a steal and dunk combination, for the Raptors score 97-86.
The Toronto club kept the momentum going and with 2:40 to go, Achiuwa punctuated it all with another shot from long range. It was then 114-97 in favor of the Raptors.
Thad Young had seven points and seven rebounds, while Banton went for it by six points.
OG Anunoby missed their eighth consecutive game, following a broken right ring finger.
Malachi Flynn is also sidelined with an injury to the back of his left thigh.