The Boston Celtics just can’t seem to get a clean bill of health. Kemba Walker, who has missed the last five games with a sore knee, practiced Monday and could play in a limited capacity Tuesday against the Brooklyn Nets, according to the Celtics. Obviously, that’s very good news for a Celtics team that went…
However, the positive update came alongside news of Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum both missing practice due to undisclosed illnesses. Their respective statuses for Tuesday night are uncertain.
DENVER — A short-handed group of Raptors, powered by a career game from OG Anunoby, scratched and clawed against a Western Conference powerhouse, but couldn’t quite seal the deal to start a tough trip on Sunday night. Toronto fell 133-118 in a wire-to-wire loss that was closer than the final score indicated. Anunoby had seven […]
DENVER — A short-handed group of Raptors, powered by a career game from OG Anunoby, scratched and clawed against a Western Conference powerhouse, but couldn’t quite seal the deal to start a tough trip on Sunday night.
Toronto fell 133-118 in a wire-to-wire loss that was closer than the final score indicated.
Anunoby had seven steals — tied for the most by any NBA player this season — plus a career-high 32 points to lead Toronto in an eye-opening performance against No. 2 seed Denver, but without top two centres Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka, all-star Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic feasted, finishing with a 23-point, 17-rebound, 10-assist triple-double. Jamal Murray of Kitchener, Ont., got off to an incredible start for the Nuggets, connecting on all five of his first quarter three-point attempts for a quick 17 points to finish with 22. Denver hit its first nine treys of the night, yet never ran away with a game it simply had to have since it came on the heels of a brutal loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, after which the team had been called out by head coach Michael Malone.
“Obviously they were challenged to come in and be ready to go and they certainly were,” said Raptors head coach Nick Nurse.
And without so many key players, particularly up front, Toronto just couldn’t match up with one of the NBA’s best — and deepest — squads.
“I just think it seems like it catches up with you just a little bit here and there and that’s kind of just the difference in the game. Like, there’s a put-back here and put-back there and just some pretty easy offence when (Jokic) just goes down and parks in front of the rim and they throw it into him,” Nurse said. “There’s not much we can do because of the sheer size and strength of it.”
Still, a humble Jokic credited Toronto’s efforts and scheming.
“Their bigs did a good job being aggressive. They were pressuring the ball, they were pressuring every screen, it was really tough to get through. They were really aggressive, but I think we did a really good job of cutting, finding our open shots,” Jokic said. “They were collapsing in the paint a lot. They were giving up a lot of threes attempts. I think they are second in (the NBA) in defending those, but we made a lot of good shots and that’s why we won the game.”
The sublime Jokic and the explosive Murray playing like one of the league’s best combos was expected — that happens far more often than not — but all-star starter Pascal Siakam turning in one of his worst games of the season (15 missed shots, including 6-of-7 three-point attempts) was not. Jerami Grant completely outplayed a frustrated Siakam and puncutated his 16 point, six-assist night with a monster one-handed dunk against fill-in Toronto centre Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who played a tough game despite being undersized, particularly against Jokic.
“A little out of rhythm,” was how Nurse described Siakam’s game. “It looked like he was on his way to driving and he’d pull up mid-way and not get a very good look up or whatever. Just didn’t quite get (there). His three-balls were pretty clean looks, most of those, and those weren’t really falling and most of his drives just were not quite the rhythm of getting by or getting to a spot and getting on balance and things like that. He had a tough night there.”
Siakam concurred: “I gotta play better. As (a) leader of the team, you gotta play better, you can’t have games like that and I feel like it’s been too many of those. I’m not playing well, obviously. I’m missing a lot of shots, easy stuff, you know, shots I usually make you. I can’t afford to not make those shots and especially when I get in front of the rim, you know, I’ve gotta be able to finish that. Yeah, I’ve gotta play better.”
While Denver was missing former all-star power forward Paul Millsap, Toronto’s injury list continues to dwarf that of most opponents. Fred VanVleet and Ibaka missed their second straight games, while Gasol was out yet again due to his hamstring issue.
The good news was Gasol worked up a sweat in a pre-game warm-up and could be able to go through a practice as soon as tomorrow in Phoenix, while VanVleet (shoulder) and Ibaka (knee) were in good spirits in the dressing room before the game.
“I think all of them are getting some work in, they’re just not ready for game activity,” Nurse said. “So we’ll just keep moving forward and hopefully at some point on this trip we’ll get one, two or three of them back.”
VanVleet said he hurt his shoulder when Giannis Antetokounmpo caught him on a screen in a recent game. VanVleet joked that given their foot or so height difference, Antetokounmpo probably caught him with his hip or something sturdy like that.
Toronto’s final West Coast trio of the year continues against the Suns on Tuesday, before a Finals rematch in Golden State’s new San Francisco arena on Thursday.
Anunoby became the first Raptor to notch at least six steals in consecutive games and the first to score at least 30 in a six steal outing, but it wasn’t enough.
“We hit first,” Murray said. “I think we were aggressive on defence too and we were at home so we had an advantage. But they pushed the pace and made it a fun game … They did a box-and-one, but that doesn’t change how we play. Still got some great looks and we ran away with it. If they’re going to do that, Joker’s going to be passing the ball 4-on-4, I mean, that’s even better.”
Denver led 73-69 at the half, with little defence played by either side, and 100-96 after three, before turning it on in the fourth, both early, with its reserves, and later with its starters.
Norman Powell had 24 points for Toronto in his second game back from his own injury.
NEW ORLEANS — Of LeBron James’ many talents, this one might remain underrated: The man has a sense for the moment. He felt that moment arrive with just over two minutes, as he grabbed a rebound securing a triple-double for the night, then seconds later pulled up for a 3-pointer over Zion Williamson — the…
California could indeed be the Land of Milk and Honey for the Maple Leafs.
Rarely have the state’s three NHL teams been this bad simultaneously, a combined 38 games under .500 before Sunday and well out of playoff contention. Now, here come the Leafs this week into the Pacific theatre, on a three-game win streak and looking to bolster their current five-point lead as third seed in the Atlantic Division.
But these are the mercurial Leafs were talking about, a team that has seemed safely on its way up many times this season only to veer badly off course. And there are rarely gimmies in the NHL, never mind expecting three in four nights. San Jose, the first stop on Tuesday, just shut out Pittsburgh 5-0.
“We have to win our games there,” coach Sheldon Keefe said. “It will be important for us to take this week (after beating playoff contenders Tampa Bay, Florida and Vancouver), feel good about it. We’re going against teams that when you look at the standings you think there’s real opportunity there for us. But we’ve been watching those teams, they’re playing good hockey and beating good teams.
“We’ve done pretty well on the road (a record of 18-14-1) and the sun seems to work in our favour.”
The Leafs under predecessor Mike Babcock also did well in California last year, sweeping all three, but that had only happened one other time for Toronto since San Jose and Anaheim joined Los Angeles in that NHL market in the 1990s. There’s a Kings-Ducks back-to-back later this week to complete the Leafs trip with Kyle Clifford and Jack Campbell returning to L.A. for the first time since last month’s trade. Keefe could let Campbell start in goal against his old team and have Frederik Andersen against his former Anaheim club the next night.
Thankfully for team morale, falling further in the rearview mirror is last Saturday’s loss to Carolina and 42-year-old fill-in goalie David Ayres.
“I’ve learned just what we’re capable of when we’re going about it properly with our preparation, habits and work ethic,” said Keefe of what has ensued since that stinging defeat. “We weren’t as sharp (against Vancouver) as we were on the road but, once again, it was finding our way through it and we stayed with it.”
Defenceman Cody Ceci will be on this trip to continue working through his ankle injury. He should be the first of three injured rearguards along with Morgan Rielly and Jake Muzzin to return.
Meanwhile, Tyson Barrie, Travis Dermott and even Martin Marincin showed enough offensive chops on Saturday to take the focus off the club’s defensive concerns.
“We know what we have to do to have the rest of the season (16 games) go the way we want,” said Dermott. “We’re getting on the right track now, we have some momentum, we just have to ride it. We’re heading into grind time, we’ll try and get three wins and see where it goes from there.”
A Dave Keon scoring record, no matter if the goaltender is absent, rarely gets matched.
But Zach Hyman — “the Sidney Crosby of 6-on-5” as Auston Matthews calls him — is set to pass one mark that the player voted best Maple Leaf in the first hundred years of the franchise had held since 1975.
When Hyman charged down the ice Saturday against Vancouver and buried his 12th career empty-netter, he tied Keon.
“That’s crazy, pretty cool,” said Hyman. “That’s a huge honour. Any time you get a chance to be mentioned in the same breath as Keon is pretty special.”
Hyman has played 298 Leafs games to Keon’s 1,062.
“They must have not pulled the goalie too much back then,” figured Hyman.
True, it’s done with far more frequency in the 21st century, much earlier in games and sometimes the goalie remains out after one empty-netter has been potted.
But that regular 20-goal scorer Hyman is always trusted to be out in the late stages to defend a lead puts him in position for such freebies. And rarely does Hyman fire wildly from long range to risk icings, staying in full checker mode and usually carrying the puck the whole distance to make sure it’s buried as he did Saturday.
“I don’t think about (the record) too much, I just take pride in it because that’s what seals the game 99.9% of the time,” Hyman said. “I’m happy that it results in a win.”
The presence of Frederik Gauthier and Martin Marincin on the roster is often cited as reasons the Maple Leafs aren’t to be taken seriously as playoff contenders. Read More
Walk into a locker room after a tough loss and one can often learn a lot about a team simply by keeping one’s eyes open. Friday night was one of those times. It was clear as soon as the room was open to the media that Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was taking this one rather hard and […]
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) shoots ahead of Memphis Grizzlies guards Yuta Watanabe (18) and Dillon Brooks (24) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill) Memphis Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas (17) plays in the second half of an NBA basketball game…
Toronto: P. Aberg (18) (J. Duszak, T. Kivihalme), P. Aberg (19) K. Gravel, M. Kapla), R. Woods (1) (K. Rubins, M. Hollowell), K. Gravel (1) (E. Korshkov, T. MacMaster) Goaltender: P. Gahagen (26/31)
Binghamton: M. Maltsev (10) (C. Conner, F. Zetterlund), N. Bastian (13) SH (B. Street, J. Melchiori), J. Kuokkanen (13) (C. Conner, E. Sharangovich), B. Street (14) PP (B. Seney, C. White), C. Conner (12) (J. Kuokkanen, E. Sharangovich) Goaltender: G. Senn (24/28)
ON THE SCORESHEET
Pontus Aberg opened the scoring at 1:37 of the first period and scored Toronto’s second goal at 5:01 of the second period. He has 14 multi-point games this season. Aberg has 50 points (19 goals, 23 assists) through 50 games.
Riley Woods scored Toronto’s third goal at 14:47 of the second period. This was his first career AHL goal. Woods has 37 points (13 goals, 24 assists) in 43 games with Newfoundland (ECHL) this season.
Kevin Gravel scored Toronto’s fourth goal at 5:24 of the third period and earlier had the primary assist on Aberg’s second period goal. This was Gravel’s first goal for the Marlies. Gravel has three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in 18 games with the Marlies.
Joseph Duszak recorded the primary assist on Aberg’s first period goal. Duszak has 14 points (2 goals, 12 assists) in his last 12 games.
Teemu Kivihalme registered the secondary assist on Aberg’s first period goal. Kivihalme has 16 points (3 goals, 13 assists) in 50 games this season.
Michael Kapla picked up the secondary assist on Aberg’s second period goal.
Kristians Rubins recorded the primary assist on Woods’ second period goal. Rubins has 14 points (2 goals, 12 assists) in 43 games.
Mac Hollowell registered the secondary assist on Woods’ second period goal. He has 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists) in 28 games.
Egor Korshkov had the primary assist on Gravel’s third period goal. Korshkov has 24 points (15 goals, 9 assists) in 39 games this season.
Tanner MacMaster collected the secondary assist on Gravel’s third period goal. MacMaster has three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in his last three games.
Parker Gahagen stopped 26 of 31 shots he faced in his first start for the Toronto Marlies. Gahagen is now 0-1-0-0 on the season with a .839 save percentage and a 5.16 goals against average.
OF NOTE…
Toronto has played on February 29 twice (4-2 win vs Hamilton, 2011-12, 2-1 overtime win vs Syracuse, 2007-08).
Toronto was 2-for-3 on the penalty kill and 0-for-4 on the power play.
Binghamton had a 31-28 edge in shots in all situations. Kevin Gravel led the Marlies with four shots on goal.
The Marlies are 15-16-3-1 against North Division opponents and 0-3-1-0 against the Binghamton Devils.
REGULAR SEASON LEADERS
Goals: K. Agostino (24)
Assists: J. Bracco (30)
Points: K. Agostino (44)
PPG: K. Agostino,N. Petan (6)
Shots: P. Aberg (133)
+/-: M. Salomaki (+14)
PIMS: G. Wilson (71)
RECORD WHEN…
Toronto is 19-7-2-2 when scoring first.
The Marlies are 7-10-0-0 when tied after the first period and 6-6-0-1 when tied after the second period.
Toronto is 18-14-1-2 when outshot by their opponents.
The Marlies are 10-7-2-2 in Saturday games and are 5-8-0-0 in February.
CURRENT POINT STREAKS
Joseph Duszak has points (1-1-2) in consecutive games.
Mac Hollowell has assists (3) in three consecutive games.
Egor Korshkov has points (1-1-2) in consecutive games.
MARLIES UPDATES.
Adam Brooks (concussion) did not dress for tonight’s game against Utica. He left Toronto’s game against Belleville on February 15 and did not return.
Kasimir Kaskisuo (hand) did not dress for tonight’s game against Utica.
Kalle Kossila (migraines) did not dress for tonight’s game against Utica.
Jesper Lindgren (high ankle sprain)did not dress for today’s game against Cleveland. Heleft Toronto’s game against Cleveland on January 24 in the third period and did not return.
Nic Petan (shoulder) did not dress for today’s game against Cleveland. He left Toronto’s game against Rochester on February 8 and did not return.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
February 27: Recalled defenceman Sergei Sapego from loan to Newfoundland (ECHL).
February 26: Recalled defenceman Calle Rosen from loan by Toronto (NHL).
February 25: Loaned defenceman Miles Gendron to Newfoundland (ECHL).
February 25: Loaned forward Matt Lorito from Toronto (NHL).
February 24: Traded forward Nick Baptiste to Belleville (AHL).
February 24: Recalled goaltender Parker Gahagen from Newfoundland (ECHL).
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH GREG MOORE
On tonight’s game: It was a frustrating hockey game. The guys competed the whole game. Based off of the things that we talked about and wanted them to execute, it was there. We got a lot of good looks but obviously, at this juncture of the season, we just need the points.
On whether the team had control of the game: There were moments of the first and second where we controlled the game and most of the third. To not come out with the results that we needed is frustrating. The guys definitely stepped up today and it was a good response from last game.
On playing as a cohesive unit: Everybody was bought into the game plan and today, we had more of an effort of making plays, possessing the puck through the middle but looking for our teammates. It wasn’t trying to go one-on-one and be individual. We were using all five guys on the ice and when you let the puck do the movement and we work off of each other and we support each other, the puck can move faster than one guy skating up the rink. That was there today and that was why we had better success.
NEXT GAME:
March 2 at Texas – 7:00 p.m. CT March 4 at Belleville – 7:00 p.m. ET March 6 vs Syracuse – 7:00 p.m. ET March 7 vs Syracuse – 7:00 p.m. ET March 11 at Bridgeport – 7:00 p.m. ET
The view from left field 