Shouting out the Raptors

(I’d meant to post this yesterday but beehiiv has a 12-hour window between publishing posts. I was not aware of that until right now.)

The Toronto Raptors are still 4th in the East after coming back to force overtime Sunday against the visiting Golden State Warriors.

I buried the lede. Scottie Barnes finished with 23 points, 25 rebounds (tying a franchise record), and 10 assists. The impressive performance gave him seven career triple-doubles.

Bismack Biyombo finished a March 17, 2016 win against the Indiana Pacers with 16 points and 25 rebounds. Before that, you’d have to go all the way back to February 17 of LeBron James’ rookie season (for perspective) when Donyell Marshall nabbed 24 rebounds in a 75-73 loss to the Chicago Bulls. He finished with 10 points and added four blocks.

The score of that game alone should tell you that the NBA game was completely different 21 years ago.

Fun fact #1: Chris Bosh came somewhat close to a triple-double that night (also his rookie season) with nine points, seven rebounds, and six blocks.

Fun fact #2: Antonia Davis, a Bull at the time, played excly 30 minutes and finished with zero points, but did grab 11 rebounds. Fixating on that highlights the (not-so) weird unpredictability of sports.

Back to yesterday’s game.

Being boosted by 27 points from Immanuel Quickley didn’t hurt, either. Despite finishing 0/8 from 3pt, Brandon Ingram added 26 points of his own.

Stephen Curry finished with 39 points, doing most of his damage in the third quarter - the most predictable time for a Warriors offensive onslaught. Of note, though, is the Raptors holding Curry scoreless in overtime and winning the extra period 19-5.

That’s the takeaway for me. It was a close game that went to OT, but you wouldn’t necessarily know that by looking at only the final score.

What a game for Scottie Barnes! Here’s hoping the team builds on this statement win.