TORONTO – Jaren Jackson Jr., scored 25 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 98-91 win over the Raptors on Tuesday, giving Toronto its third straight loss.
Pascal Siakam had 20 points to beat the Raptors, who, losing several key players including OG Anunoby, fell to 2-8 at home. Toronto (9-13) has won just three times in its last 13 games.
Scottie Barnes had 19 points, while Fred Van Vleet finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, the team’s best, and Yuta Watanabe had 15 points on the Raptors’ second night of a seven-game one-season home run.
Dillon Brooks of Mississauga, Ontario contributed 17 points for Memphis (11-10).
Six nights earlier in Memphis, the Raptors rallied in the second half to beat the Grizzlies 13.
However, there were no late-game heroics on Tuesday.
The Raptors got off to a horrible start. They lost 17 points in the first half. His offense moved like mud.
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They finally showed some life in the third quarter, closing in on a point with a 14-2 run that was punctuated by a steal from Barnes. The Raptors rookie slowed down and looked at Steven Adams, a Memphis big man behind, before scoring.
Barnes’ taunting prompted former Raptor-turned-analyst Alvin Williams to say on the broadcast: “Scottie has to stop doing that. It was a great play, but you have to attack ”.
When Siakam fouled his fifth with 1:31 left in the third, Chris Boucher, who was placed at the end of the bench recently, substituted and scored with a dunk at the bell to send Toronto in the fourth losing 70-67. .
His momentum was gone in the fourth, however, and when Brooks scored on a 27-foot shot with 8:01 left, Memphis was back up for 11.
The Raptors rallied again, and Barnes had a pair of 3s 12 seconds apart to make it a four-point game with 19.5 seconds to go, but Brooks hit a pair of free throws to nearly secure the win for the visitors.
Injuries continue to plague Toronto. Anunoby was out for the seventh straight game with a hip injury, while the Raptors also lost Gary Trent Jr. (calf), Khem Birch (knee) and Goran Dragic (personal license).
The Grizzlies were missing star guard Ja Morant, who is expected to be out for several weeks with a sprained left knee.
The Raptors were unable to generate anything on the offensive side in the first half, shooting 4 of 19 from three-point range. They made just eight shots in the first quarter and dropped 10 points on five turnovers. They stayed 27-18 in the second.
Adams’ layup capped an 11-0 run that put the Grizzlies by 17 points midway through the second, prompting some boos from the Scotiabank Arena crowd. The Raptors headed into halftime with a 50-39 loss.
Their 39 points in the first half were near the season low – they scored just 37 against Washington on opening night.
At “Canada Basketball Night,” the Raptors honored former players Miranda Ayim, Brady Heslip, Jevohn Shepherd and Joel Anthony and former Raptors and Canada boss Glen Grunwald.
The Raptors host the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.
This Canadian Press report was first published on November 30, 2021.
© 2021 The Canadian Press
Reference-globalnews.ca