TORONTO – For Fred VanVleet, rejoining the band was a perfect fit for the Toronto Raptors guard.
VanVleet scored a season-high 35 points in the Raptors’ 120-105 win over the exhausted New York Knicks on Sunday, a game in which all major Raptors looked healthy and playing together for the first time in the 2021 campaign. -22.
The Raptors started the season understaffed as Pascal Siakam missed the first 10 games while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. Then a hip injury brought OG Anunoby down for a month, and COVID-19 swept the Raptors roster in late December.
Rookie Scottie Barnes was the last out of league health and safety protocols, and a sore knee prevented him in the Raptors’ win against the Los Angeles Clippers on New Year’s Eve. But he came back against the Knicks to give the Raptors a full roster.
“I think we feel good about our group throughout the year,” VanVleet said. “I just like our spirit, our chemistry and the enthusiasm we have for the game. It will take time to get where we need it, but hopefully if we keep climbing in April and May, we are in our prime, and that’s the goal.
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“To start (2022) with everyone back, and hopefully we can leave a couple here playing good basketball, this is where you want to be. We have to continue to improve individually and collectively, and I think we will be a difficult team to beat if we can continue to grow towards the end of the year ”.
The victory pushed the Raptors (16-17) past the Knicks (17-20) and into an entry tournament spot at the end of the regular season.
VanVleet scored 31 points Friday to give him 30 or more points in consecutive games for the first time in his career. He has accomplished the feat five times this season.
Against the Knicks, Siakam was next with 20 points, followed by 14 from Anunoby and 13 from Barnes.
VanVleet fired an efficient 11 of 17 in his three-quarters of action, including a deadly 7 of 13 from beyond the 3-point arc. He benefited from having Siakam’s aggressiveness on a low level and having all the other talents around him.
“You just want to have more weapons and have the upper hand at all times,” VanVleet said. “It will probably take a while to get the chemistry and flow, the pace was a bit off at times, but I thought we were pretty focused for most of the game.”
The Raptors achieved their second consecutive victory since the provincial government decided last week to once again empty sports stadiums and concert halls as a measure of COVID-19.
But playing in front of about 100 family and friends didn’t stop Barnes and others from keeping their energy level high from the bench.
“I thought generally our team had good energy,” Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said. “They were very active from the bank. We’ve talked about creating our own energy because there aren’t many in the arena, and I thought our guys really did a good job training and cheering and just supporting each other the whole way.
“I would say that the other night when Scottie didn’t play, he was also very active and energetic in that part. And that’s good spirit. And sometimes you have to create your own fun. “
The Knicks were without Kemba Walker (left knee), Derrick Rose (right ankle surgery), Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson. The latter two were added to the league’s list of health and safety protocols on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
Frenchman Evan Fournier led the Knicks with 20 points, followed by Toronto’s Canadian RJ Barrett and Obi Toppin with 19 each.
This Canadian Press report was first published on January 2, 2022.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
Reference-globalnews.ca