A pair of teams from the Atlantic Division tangle on the hardwood in search of a victory in one of the boroughs of the Big Apple. The Toronto Raptors are on the road as they make the trip to take on the Brooklyn Nets Friday night. Toronto held on for a 108-105 home win over Cleveland Wednesday night in their season opener, managing to barely cover the line as a 2.5-point favorite. Brooklyn found themselves on the wrong side of a 130-108 beatdown at the hands of the Pelicans at home in a game they were favored by three points in Wednesday night. In the all-time regular season series between the teams, the Raptors own a 60-44 advantage. Last season, the teams split four meetings with Toronto taking the last two, including a 109-108 home win in the most recent matchup on March 1, 2022.
Toronto had their ups and downs in the opener against Cleveland but managed to come up with a victory at home over a new-look Cavaliers squad Wednesday night. The Raptors hope to take their game on the road and pick up a division win on the way to a 2-0 record to start the year. Against Cleveland, Toronto was in a back-and-forth affair as they led by six after the opening quarter and by as many as 11 in the first half only to trail by six at halftime. The Raptors trailed by eight after three quarters before clamping down on the defensive end of the floor. Toronto outscored Cleveland 32-21 in the fourth quarter to pick up the victory. A late 13-2 run turned a 97-92 deficit into a 105-99 lead with 1:33 to play and they hung on for the win.
In the contest, Toronto shot 41.9% from the field, including 13 of 30 from beyond the arc, and knocked down 23 of 32 free throw attempts. The Raptors held a narrow 41-38 advantage on the glass and overcame the Cavaliers shooting 49.4% in the game in part by forcing 17 turnovers in the contest. Pascal Siakam led six Raptors in double figures as he contributed 23 points, 11 rebounds and three steals before fouling out. Gary Trent Jr. put up 19 points, O.G. Anunoby added 18 points, seven rebounds plus five assists while Scottie Barnes chipped in 15 points and seven assists in the win. Fred VanVleet had 15 points, five assists plus four steals while Precious Achiuwa kicked in 10 points and five rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench. Toronto hopes to get more bench production as the reserves contributed only 18 points in a combined 60 minutes of floor action. The Raptors’ reserves shot just six of 19 from the floor in the contest.
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