TORONTO — Pascal Siakam’s 37 points led all scorers in the Toronto Raptors’ 112-98 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.
Siakam also pulled down 10 rebounds and added a team-best seven assists as Toronto (26-30) won its third straight.
It was his fourth 30-point double-double of the season and 22nd of his career.
Fred VanVleet had 16 points and four assists, while Gary Trent Jr. scored 15.
It was probably the last time this particular Raptors lineup played together as the NBA trade deadline loomed on Thursday and Toronto was expected to be a seller.
Keldon Johnson had 22 points as San Antonio (14-41) lost its 10th straight game.
Doug McDermott had 13 points, with Josh Richardson adding 14 and former Raptor Jakob Poelt adding 12 points.
VanVleet found the net for the layup with 30.2 seconds left to play and then sank the free throw to give the Raptors a 34–24 lead at the end of the quarter.
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Siakam scored a season-high 18 points in the frame. His previous high was 17 points, which he set in the second and third quarters of Toronto’s 113–106 win over the New York Knicks on December 21.
Richardson tied the game at 45–45 with a tight jump shot with 4:54 left in the second quarter, prompting Raptors head coach Nick Nurse to call a timeout.
It hardly slowed San Antonio down, with the visitors keeping the game close. Richardson drilled a three-pointer with 22 seconds left in the half before VanVleet’s layup gave Toronto a 57–54 lead at halftime.
The Raptors were unusually irresponsible with the ball in the first half, committing eight turnovers for 11 points. Toronto entered Wednesday’s tilt with an NBA-best 11.7 turnovers per game.
They earned the win over San Antonio despite committing 16 turnovers.
The Raptors opened the third with a 10–4 run and continued to pull away throughout the quarter. Johnson made two free throws with nine seconds left in the third to cut Toronto’s lead to 88–75.
San Antonio could do nothing to further reduce that lead in the final 12 minutes of the game. Siakam hit a 17-foot jumper to make it 110–98 with less than a minute left to play. Montreal’s Chris Boucher made two free throws for his sixth and seventh points of the quarter.
Siakam grabbed his 10th rebound of the game on the final play of the game, sealing the win for Toronto.
INACTIVES – Raptors forward OG Anunoby and guard Otto Porter Jr. were both inactive for the game. On January 27, Anunobi sprained his left wrist in the Raptors’ 129–117 loss to Golden State. Porter is recovering from toe surgery.
Keeping Momentum – The Raptors earned a 4–3 record on a seven-game road trip, their longest of the season. Nurse said before Wednesday’s game that he and his coaching staff worked hard to avoid post-travel disappointment after a successful western swing.
The nurse said, “We got off the plane and did a very intense, intense, patient exercise yesterday.” “Usually we go ‘Take the day off, let’s not shootaround, recover from the trip.'”
UP NEXT – Toronto hosts the Utah Jazz on Friday night.
The Spurs travel to Detroit on Friday to play the Pistons.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on February 8, 2023.
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