Raptors Can't Get Friendly Roll From Pascal Siakam In Loss to Timberwolves
The Toronto Raptors had their chance.
For the third time this season, they drew up a last-second play to get Pascal Siakam the ball with the game on the line. And for the third time this year, an unlucky roll cost them, falling 116-112 to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night.
"It looked like it unfolded exactly how we wanted it to," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. "We ran a misdirection play and cleared out that whole area for Pascal and he got right where he wanted to go and just unfortunate it just rolled off."
The Raptors did everything they possibly could to pull off the come-from-behind victory. They forced the last second turnover from Malik Beasley to open the door for a Siakam miracle, but the ball wouldn't fall.
“We worked our butts off to get there," Kyle Lowry said. "Pascal had a great look. The ball spun out. That’s something that happens. That’s basketball.”
It was the type of game the old Raptors wouldn't have lost. Toronto used to pummel bad teams, especially at home. Instead, the 2020-21 Raptors have repeatedly found ways to lose to below-average teams. This time, the loss came at the hands of the NBA's worst team, the Timberwolves who clinched just their seventh victory of the season.
Toronto's third-quarter issues reared their ugly head again. After seemingly fixing their third frame issues, the Raptors' bench unit couldn't contain the Timberwolves.
"It was one layup after another there," Nurse said. "Dug ourselves a little bit of a hole there."
Rookie first overall pick Anthony Edwards tallied 12 points in the quarter alone, sparking Minnesota on a 17-6 run that gave the Timberwolves a 12 point lead just seconds before the end of the quarter.
The Raptors didn't roll over. Lowry came alive in the fourth scoring 12 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter alone and he repeatedly got to the rim with ease against the Timberwolves' lackluster interior defence.
"I think he was getting us cranked up at the defensive end, we were starting to communicate and move a little better," Nurse said of Lowry. "[He] hit a big three. He was aggressive and kept taking it in there and drawing contact."
Lowry opened the door for Siakam's last-second chance, but the 26-year-old's up-and-down night continued with another miss from point-blank range.
With the loss, the Raptors fall three games below .500 and are clinging to the eighth seed in the East by just half a game.
“We’re three games under .500 and we could be six games over .500. It’s that small of a difference," Lowry said. "You’ve just got to continue to work and continue to just push and push and hopefully roll off some more wins in a row. I think that’s what we’ve missed this year, is just a consecutive win streak, a big five-, six-, seven-game winning streak.”
Powell Stays Hot As Anunoby Nears Return
With OG Anunoby nearing a return from injury, Norman Powell knows his days in the starting lineup are numbered but he's not going to make the decision to replace him in the lineup very easy. The 27-year-old Powell finished Sunday night with 22 points and was a Raptors-high plus-nine for the evening.
Up Next: Milwaukee Bucks
After just one home game in Tampa, the Raptors will be right back out on the road for a pair of games in Milwaukee against the Bucks.
