Fred VanVleet and Norman Powell aided Raptors to extend the lead to 2-0 against the Nets
Fred Van Vleet had 24 points, five rebounds and 10 assists recording his second straight double-double with points and assists. Norman Powell played for 32 minutes and was very impactful coming off the bench notching up 24 points, six rebounds and two assists. Pascal Siakam added 19 points, six rebounds and three assists and Raptors beat 104–99 Brooklyn Nets to extend their lead to 2–0.
In the first half, Nets star Caris Levert was in the role of point guard and facilitator and even if he was 3-of-13 from the field and had 12 points, he did exactly the same thing he did in Game 1, he was coming off the screen to pass the ball to open players, otherwise, he would drive to the paint and use his length. He finished the game with 16 points, six rebounds and eleven assists.
Both teams shot 39% from the field in the first half but Nets didn’t shoot well from the three-point line going 6-of-19 31.6%.
Joe Harris continues to play off the ball, comes off the screen and drives to the basket — he has changed his game a lot and he amplifies Nets offense. He had 14 points and 15 rebounds.
One thing that I noticed is that when Jarrett Allen is out, Siakam goes physical, pushes the ball and goes to the paint. Nets rim protector Allen is a great part of their defense and when they are without him, Raptors go to the paint way more often than when he is on the court.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot has been consistent with his shot and but today he shot 4/9 FG and 2/5 (3PT) with 11 points in the first half, while he finished the game with 17 points going 6-out of-16 from the field and shot 30% from the perimeter.
Powell struggled from the perimeter with 1-out of-6 by the perimeter but he continued to push the ball and got to the paint a lot and this way he really influenced Raptors’ offense today. He had 24 points, six rebounds and two assists shooting 11-out of-17 from the field. What a great production for the Raptors coming off the bench.
Marc Gasol struggles to guard opponent’s pick and roll — he can’t switch fast and teams get the advantage of it. He didn’t score but set some screens and had good energy out there.
In the second half with the score 53–50, Nets made a 10–3 run but the Raptors responded with Fred Van Vleet scoring team’s first 10 points and cut Nets lead to +2.
Van Vleet and Lowry seem to always be on the court making plays and delivering the ball to their teammates or pushing the ball high and getting a lot of attention by the Nets which allows them to pass the ball and put pressure on the opponent’s defense.
In the fourth quarter, Raptors were trailing by six points but made a 2–13 run to get the lead 85–93 with five minutes left in the game. At this point, they kept their defense tight and didn’t allow Nets to get back in the game.
Nets had 17 turnovers — a very critical factor that seems to be their weakness and they definitely have to take care of the ball better if they want to uplift their hopes to potentially tie the series.
Game 3 is on Friday.
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SteliosK24
This is my Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/NBA-Western-Conference-644047762388472/
And you can hit the follow button on this platform if you want.