This was the most hopeless game on paper coming in, and the on court result proved it.
10-day signee Malik Williams basically walked onto the team and immediately had to start because the Raptors only dressed eight players. Garrett Temple and Jalen McDaniels were also starters for the first time this season. Javon Freeman-Liberty, Jordan Nwora and Mouhamadou Gueye made up the bench. None of those guys were with the team/in rotation a couple of months ago. Meanwhile the Timberwolves own the best record in the Western Conference.
Shoutout to the sickos who not only tuned in to watch regardless. I’m patting myself on the back here.
The Raptors opened their season against the T-Wolves back in October. Just compare the starting lineup back then.
After a competitive first quarter that ended with Toronto only down four, things predictably fell apart. The Raptors were outscored 110-66 for the rest of the game. Williams did have two blocks in his first action as a Raptor but missed all seven of his shots. That’s no knock no him, its just the situation. JFL and Nwora were the most productive, Nwora finishing with 14 points, 13 boards and five assists. But that duo combined for 9 turnovers.
Meanwhile Anthony Edwards, Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker combined to make 15 threes. Ant broke out of a 0-19 slump behind the arc over the previous three games. The game sunk to new lows when Josh Minott threw down a fast break dunk (unnecessarily) in the final seconds, putting Minnesota up 48. The Raptors previous worst loss was 46.
Not much for Darko Rajakovic to say after reaching new levels of futility.
Up Next: Toronto travels to Milwaukee, who is coming off a truly bizarre two game losing streak to Washington and Memphis.
