Toronto has been one of the NBA’s hottest teams in January. Fred VanVleet has been one of the league’s best guards this month. Though New Orleans remained within striking distance throughout Sunday’s interconference matchup and had a chance to prevail late, VanVleet’s clutch-time scoring allowed the Raptors to pull off a narrow victory.
VanVleet totaled 32 points, making what may have been the most critical basket of the night after New Orleans grabbed a 99-96 lead with just under two minutes remaining. After the Pelicans doubled Pascal Siakam, the forward dished out to VanVleet for a 30-footer that tied the game just before the shot clock expired. He sank a go-ahead trey on the next possession with 1:31 left, giving the Raptors the lead for good.
“Our guys, they battled, they competed,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green said of trying to overcome a deficit on the scoreboard. “It was really a hard-fought game all around. But it came down to offensive rebounding and second-chance points, and that’s one of the things that Toronto does well. They crash the glass, sometimes with four or five guys, and they look for kick-out threes. They hurt us down the stretch with those type of plays.”
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Toronto tracked down a pair of offensive rebounds, the first by VanVleet and second by center Khem Birch, with the Raptors already up by three in the waning seconds. Birch went to the foul line and sank a free throw with 5 seconds remaining, putting the hosts up by two possessions. Toronto won its season-best sixth straight game.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
New Orleans has been trying to solidify the backup point guard spot for much of the season. As Will Guillory of The Athletic tweeted during Sunday’s second half, “Jose Alvarado might be on the way to earning a permanent spot in the rotation.” The rookie from Georgia Tech immediately provided a spark by sinking two spot-up three-point buckets; in the second half, he provided sticky defense against VanVleet, pestering the floor general for 94 feet during one stretch.
BY THE NUMBERS
10: First-half New Orleans turnovers, keeping the Pelicans from a more productive start while shooting 49 percent from the field and going 7/17 on threes.
15-7: Toronto offensive rebounding advantage. Backup big Chris Boucher led the way with four offensive boards.
19/20: Raptors foul shooting. The Pelicans were also very good at 21/25, but the hosts were a bit better.
REVISITING FANDUEL KEYS TO THE GAME
BRING THE INTENSITY
This area did not seem to be an issue, with both teams showing no signs of a dip in energy or effort while playing front of a fan-less environment.
HOMECOMINGS
Facing his first NBA team, Jonas Valanciunas was excellent, particularly in the second half, using his size and skill to repeatedly get layups by setting up shop in the paint. Valanciunas finished with 20 points and 17 rebounds. Meanwhile, Toronto-area native Nickeil Alexander-Walker got off to a nice start with five quick first-quarter points. He finished with 11 points on 4/9 shooting
MATCHUP TO WATCH
New Orleans rookie Herbert Jones made a bigger imprint on Sunday’s game than Toronto counterpart Scottie Barnes, who had a pretty quiet night. Jones notched 13 points and went 2/4 from three-point range, while Barnes shot just 3/10 and had seven points.