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Raptors Fall To Blazers, Leave Summer League Focused On The Future

Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com

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It has been a busy two weeks for the Toronto Raptors since touching down in Las Vegas. They held a training camp of sorts before the actual start of summer league. Then they won their first three games, with Norman Powell leading the way. On Thursday they were eliminated from contention when they gave up an 18-point lead to the Chicago Bulls, and on Friday they suffered a 72-64 loss in their final game against the Portland Trail Blazers. 

While the team will leave Vegas with a 3-2 record, bigger-picture goals were accomplished. Rookies Delon Wright and Norman Powell impressed with their play. Wright showed off his passing ability. Powell was officially signed by the team.

“We told the guys at the end that this was a successful summer league,” Jama Mahlalela said. “The goal of summer league is to see players grow and develop and that happened. The first set of games were really impressive defensively and really jelled as a team. [We had a] tough break in the Chicago game and today we were playing players that need experience.”

Wright sat out Friday’s contest because of the sore hamstring that sidelined him for the previous two games. The team also elected to sit Powell to get a final opportunity to evaluate some of the other players on the roster.  

Michale Kyser and Bruno Caboclo scored 12 points apiece with Drew Crawford adding 11 points. Phil Scrubb contributed eight points and seven rebounds off the bench. 

The Raptors were ahead by three with 3:37 minutes remaining, but went scoreless to finish the game as the Blazers reeled off 11 straight points, including three three-pointers from Andre Dawkins. 

Wright was only able to suit up for two games, but they were enough to get him excited for the season ahead.

“It was fun just being in the NBA atmosphere, playing against other good talent and learning the NBA game,” Wright said. “It’s real fun to finally get adjusted to it.” 

Calling it “surreal” to put on the Raptors uniform in his first game with the team, Wright said the practice sessions with the coaching staff helped to make him comfortable with the jump from college to the pros.

“They were able to coach me a lot during our training camp practices so I know what they are expecting and what they want,” Wright said. “It will help me moving forward when I go to camp.”

Though he would have preferred to be playing, an advantage of sitting on the bench was getting a first-row seat to watch his fellow rookie turn heads.

“[Norman] had a real good performance,” Wright said. “When you’re in the game you kind of don't get to see how good someone is playing but when you’re on the bench you can really see and I could tell he really worked on his game.”

Caboclo had a rough shooting night (4-for-16 from the floor), but kept fighting and played a team-high 31 minutes against the Blazers. His second summer league experience has included both highs and lows, but most important, he has shown much improvement from a season ago.

 “I feel more confident in my game,” Caboclo said. “I was skinny and a little bit scared, but now I feel more comfortable and believe in myself more.”

Caboclo said he enjoyed the guys on the roster and had made some friends for life. With summer league wrapped up he will head to Vancouver with Lucas Nogueira and rookies Powell and Wright for more training.

“We improved a lot,” Caboclo said. “We had a great defence. The last two games, we had some mistakes that made us lose, but I’m proud for my teammates.”