Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Raptors Spoil Jonas Valanciunas' Return to Toronto by Attacking the Pelicans' Big Late
It's been three years since Jonas Valanciunas last set foot in Scotiabank Area on December 9, 2018, three totally transformative years not just for our world, but for the Toronto Raptors and the NBA at large.
Back then, the Kawhi Leonard-led Raptors had a conventional look. Serge Ibaka's 29 minutes gave way to Valanciunas off the bench, each taking a turn manning the paint and locking down the interior for Toronto.
Oh, how things have changed.
When Valanciunas returned to Toronto for the first time Sunday night, now a member of the New Orleans Pelicans, the differences must have startled him. It wasn't just the lack of fans or the lack of a tribute video due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Toronto's lack of, well, anyone that looks even remotely similar to Valanciunas.
And yet, even without a traditional Valanciunas-esque big, the Raptors are finding a way to get by with versatility, switchability, and an ability to constantly attack mismatches. It's how they eked out a 105-101 victory over the Pelicans, Toronto's sixth consecutive win, by going right at New Orleans' 6-foot-11 center.
Fred VanVleet simply went into attack mode late, running pick-and-rolls with Khem Birch to expose Valanciunas, taking advantage of his immobile feet. The Raptors' guard nailed a pull-up three over Valanciunas' outstretched arms to put Toronto up three late and then sunk back-to-back threes, from 34 feet and 25 feet out to put the Raptors up good. When the Pelicans blitzed him late in the final seconds, VanVleet found Birch on the roll, whose missed floater was scooped up and put back in by Chris Boucher to seal the victory.
"We got ourselves in a situation there where we needed him to make some big plays and obviously he made about three really huge ones in a row," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said of VanVleet's late-game heroics. "Big shots man, big shots. Just great will, really, will to win."
For all the ills having an immobile traditional big can create these days, Valanciunas still had his way with the Raptors for much of the night. He burned the Toronto late, working a pick-and-roll with Devonte' Graham before Garrett Temple found him in the paint with a mismatch against Pascal Siakam that he turned into two points and a tied game midway through the fourth.
"I wish he didn’t get that many rebounds and pushing us around and stuff," Siakam said of his former teammate. "But it feels good (to see him), it feels good. Those memories, having those guys around, they definitely were some of the people for us coming in we looked up to. It’s pretty special and we got an opportunity to learn from them."
Valanciunas finished the night with 20 points, 17 rebounds, and one made three-pointer, but Nurse's big worry coming into the game, Valanciunas' offensive rebounding prowess, didn't end up creating issues for the Raptors. Instead, it was Toronto's undersized bigs, primarily Boucher, who created problems for the Pelicans on the offensive glass.
"Chris was great, man," Nurse said. "They got him for eight rebounds, I bet you he had another six or seven or eight that he tapped, he got up above everybody and tapped to one of our guys. If not, Jonas was probably gonna grab them. He got up above him."
Boucher continues to string together impressive performances without lighting up the scoreboard. His six points were coupled with eight rebounds and some impact defense Sunday.
Siakam in Attack Mode
Siakam showed no signs of hesitation Sunday night, getting downhill repeatedly on the Pelicans despite Valanciunas' size. He continues to look like his pre-pandemic All-NBA self. His improved health has allowed him to get back to his bread and butter, getting to the rim and drawing fouls or making layups.
"I think it’s part of it but also just taking whatever the defense gives me and feeling like I have an advantage every time I get on the floor," Siakam said. "I feel like with my shoulder, just starting to feel more and more comfortable."
Eight of his 29 points came within the restricted area, not to mention his 10-for-10 shooting from the charity stripe.
VanVleet Stays Hot Early
It may not have been the 37-10-10 kind of night VanVleet had on Friday, but Toronto's lead guard came out red-hot against New Orleans with 13 points in the first quarter en route to a 32-point performance.
Gary Trent Jr. Late Scratch
Gary Trent Jr.'s left ankle swelled up during pre-game warmups and he was ruled out just before tipoff.
"It was pretty surprising to me," Nurse said. "He went through the stuff pre-game and looked fresh as a daisy to me out there. Really bouncing and totally got me by surprise. But he went out to do his workout and was having trouble pushing off his left foot so they needed to take a look at it and decided to hold him out."
Highlight of the Night
The VanVleet to Precious Achiuwa took some time to figure out early in the season, but the two appear to have the alley-oop pass down pat these days.
"Thought that was the best game for him in a while," Nurse said of Achiuwa who had six points off the bench. "He has been (good in) the last couple, two at least, he’s looked really energetic and playing hard out there. Made some pretty good ball pressure plays out there, helped us in some stuff defensively."
Up Next: Phoenix Suns
The Raptors will wrap up their homestand on Tuesday night when Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns come to town for a 7:30 p.m. ET tipoff.
