When a team has a season in which they win a lot of games, some of them are going to be really fun to watch, some of them are going to be stressful and ultimately rewarding, and still others are the type that the team is just happy to be done with. For the Raptors, for most of the night, Thursday night against the Suns appeared to be solidly in that last group.
With Kawhi Leonard sitting out for load management, and Jonas Valanciunas and OG Anunoby remaining absent from the lineup in this one, the Raptors still looked like the heavy favorites over the Suns. Kyle Lowry was said to be sitting as well earlier in the day, but was made available closer to game time and ended up playing.
The Raptors came out firing, with the starters establishing a nice pace at the beginning and jumping out to a big lead that they carried throughout the first half, as it was clear that Toronto was the more talented team. Whether it was Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry picking apart the defense with their passing, or the Raptors finding space on back-cuts, it felt like there was always room to attack the Phoenix defense, and the Raptors were more than happy to take what was offered.
In the second half, however, the energy dried up for the home team. The Raptors looked like they were just going through the motions for much of the third and fourth quarters, managing enough offense to keep the game within reach but surrendering the lead at the end of the third and not taking complete control again, as the Suns found enough shot-making to make a game of it against a Raptors squad that didn’t like interested in being there any longer. CJ Miles delivered some huge shots for the Raptors, coming through with 13 points and hitting 3 of 5 from downtown, to help keep it close, but it never felt like enough for the Raptors to become comfortable, and the game went into the final minute tied after a pair of Pascal Siakam free throws. From there, Ibaka scored off a Fred VanVleet pass for the lead, but then committed a foul at the other end after Kelly Oubre Jr. and Kyle Lowry traded misses on jumpers, leading to two free throws for Mikal Bridges to tie the game with 13 seconds to go.
Nick Nurse put the ball in the hands of Pascal Siakam for the final possession, with the idea that Siakam could create his own space off the dribble to create a shot to end the game, and Siakam came through, attacking the paint and hitting a tough layup over DeAndre Ayton to deliver the victory.
The numbers in this game were reasonably balanced for the Raptors with six players in double digit scoring, and the team struggled again overall from long distance, shooting just 7-28 from downtown, but they still managed to find enough to get it done, and when you win a lot of games in a season, sometimes that’s what you have to do when you run into a game where the motivation doesn’t come automatic.
