January 2022 – Page 15 – The view from left field

Report: Kyrie Irving expected to return for Nets-Pacers on Wednesday — ProBasketballTalk | NBC Sports

New York City still isn’t allowing Kyrie Irving to play Brooklyn Nets home games due to its vaccine mandate. Irving’s next eligible game: Wednesday against the Pacers in Indiana.
Report: Kyrie Irving expected to return for Nets-Pacers on Wednesday — ProBasketballTalk | NBC Sports

Report: Rockets suspend Kevin Porter Jr. and Christian Wood vs. 76ers — ProBasketballTalk | NBC Sports

Porter and Wood have special talent. They also both have histories of immaturity.
Report: Rockets suspend Kevin Porter Jr. and Christian Wood vs. 76ers — ProBasketballTalk | NBC Sports

Warriors’ Draymond Green agrees that he deserves MVP consideration — Monterey Herald

Led by two-time MVP Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warriors have reestablished themselves as an NBA juggernaut and added to an already impressive résumé with convincing victories over three of the top teams in the Western Conference within the last two weeks. Curry scored 46 points in a win over the Memphis Grizzlies, 33 in…
Warriors’ Draymond Green agrees that he deserves MVP consideration — Monterey Herald

Lakers squeak by Minnesota on big shots by Carmelo Anthony, Avery Bradley — Daily Breeze

Los Angeles Lakers forward Carmelo Anthony drives as Minnesota Timberwolves forward Nathan Knight (13) gets airborne on a fake during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles, Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu) Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) drives past Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jordan McLaughlin (6) during…
Lakers squeak by Minnesota on big shots by Carmelo Anthony, Avery Bradley — Daily Breeze

Watch Thunder’s Josh Giddey become youngest in NBA history to get triple-double — ProBasketballTalk | NBC Sports

LaMelo Ball had set the record last year.
Watch Thunder’s Josh Giddey become youngest in NBA history to get triple-double — ProBasketballTalk | NBC Sports

RAPTORS 120, KNICKS 105

TORONTO & NEW YORK POSTGAME VIDEO: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2j8fgl17gig3szo/AAB_ze09Pd9gbmQ4iXZXs3URa?dl=0

TORONTO RAPTORSPOSTGAME NOTES

FINAL SCORE: TORONTO RAPTORS 120, NEW YORK KNICKS 105

DATE: JANUARY 2, 2022

	FINAL SCORE	RECORD	HIGH POINTS	HIGH REBOUNDS	HIGH ASSISTS
New York	105	17-20	Fournier – 20	Gibson – 7	Toppin – 6
Toronto	120	16-17	VanVleet – 35	Siakam – 14	Siakam – 7

KEY RUN

The Raptors went on a 20-5 run beginning at the 6:49 mark in the third quarter to push their lead to 24 points (86-62) with 3:08 remaining in the third … Toronto outscored New York 40-29 in the frame and led by 15+ points for the rest of the game.

KEY STAT

Toronto shot .477 (41-for-86) from the field and outscored New York 52-36 in the paint … Entering tonight, the Knicks had held opponents to fewer than 90 points in four consecutive games (Dec. 25-31).

RAPTORS NOTES:

With the win, Toronto improves to 16-17 this season and 9-10 at home … The Raptors are 3-0 against the Knicks this season and have now won 11 consecutive games at home against New York … Toronto has won seven of its last nine games at Scotiabank Arena … The Raptors complete a four-game homestand (Dec. 28 – Jan. 4) Tuesday night against the San Antonio Spurs.
Fred VanVleet finished with a season-high 35 points, including a season-best seven three-point field goals, and added five rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes … VanVleet has now scored 30+ points in three of his last four games played (Dec. 14-Jan. 2), averaging 31.0 points and shooting .476 (40-for-84) from the field during this stretch … He has scored 30+ points in five games this season, something he did six times in 52 games last season.
Pascal Siakam tallied 20 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in 35 minutes for his team-leading sixth double-double of the season … Siakam has scored 20+ points in four consecutive games played (Dec. 14- Jan. 2), averaging 24.5 points and shooting .519 (40-for-77) during this span … With his seven assists tonight, Siakam passed Morris Peterson for 10^th on the Raptors all-time assists list (966).
Scottie Barnes scored 13 points and added four rebounds in 30 minutes … Barnes returned to the lineup for this first time since Dec. 18 after missing three games due to health and safety protocols (Dec. 26-28) and right knee tendinitis (Dec. 31).

KNICKS NOTES:

With the loss, New York falls to 17-20, including 10-9 on the road … The Knicks finished their four-game road trip (Dec. 28- Jan. 2) with a 2-2 record … New York will return home to host Indiana on Tuesday night.
Evan Fournier finished with a team-high 20 points (6-14 FG, 4-10 3PT, 4-4 FT) in 26 minutes … Fournier has led the Knicks in scoring four times this season, most recently Dec. 21 vs. Detroit.
RJ Barrett scored 19 points, adding four rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes … Barrett averaged 17.0 points and shot .429 (24-for-56) on New York’s four-game road trip (Dec.28-Jan. 2).
Obi Toppin recorded a career high-tying 19 points and added a season-best six assists in a career-high 45 minutes … Toppin’s other 19-point performance came Dec. 10 vs. Toronto.
The Knicks tallied 11 steals tonight, led by career-highs from Alec Burks (5) and Quentin Grimes (4).

2021-22 SEASON-SERIES		ALL-TIME RECORDS
DATE	SITE	RESULT		RAPTORS WINS	KNICKS WINS
11/01/2021	New York	W 113-104	Overall:	58	43
12/10/2021	Toronto	W 90-87	at Toronto:	34	16
01/02/2022	Toronto	W 120-105	at New York:	24	27
04/10/2022	New York

Another day, another DeRozan buzzer-beating, game-winning 3 for Bulls — ProBasketballTalk | NBC Sports

DeRozan is the first NBA player to hit buzzer-beating game-winners on back-to-back nights.
Another day, another DeRozan buzzer-beating, game-winning 3 for Bulls — ProBasketballTalk | NBC Sports

Warriors keep pace at top of Western Conference with road win over Utah Jazz — Marin Independent Journal

As Warriors coach Steve Kerr said prior to this one, it’s good to be back in the mix. With their second undermanned win in a week’s span against their company at the top of the Western Conference, the Warriors have done as much as they can to prove they belong. Golden State hung on for…
Warriors keep pace at top of Western Conference with road win over Utah Jazz — Marin Independent Journal

Brad Stevens hopes for a clearer picture — Boston Herald

As poorly as they’ve played — as mediocre as they have been — the Celtics are part of a large underachieving glut in the middle of the Eastern Conference. Atlanta and the Knicks — two teams the Celtics were expected to chase this season — are mining the same middle ground. Indiana has fallen off…
Brad Stevens hopes for a clearer picture — Boston Herald

BELLEVILLE 2, MARLIES 1

TORONTO MARLIES (11-10-1-1 – 24 Points)
BELLEVILLE SENATORS (12-12-0-0 – 24 Points) vs.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 1, 2021

	1	2	3	OT	FINAL
BELLEVILLE	0	1	1	–	2
TORONTO	0	0	1	–	1

GAME SUMMARY | GAME SHEET | PHOTOS | SCRUMS

SCORING SUMMARY

Belleville: R. Jarventie (4) (M. Guenette, E. Sokolov), R. Chartier (3) (R. Jarventie, M. Guenette)
Goaltender: K. Mandolese (24/25)

Toronto: M. Abramov (2) PP (F. Kràl, M. Hollowell)
Goaltender: E. Källgren (27/29)

ON THE SCORESHEET

Mikhail Abramov put the Marlies on the board 6:30 of the third period on the power play. He has nine points (2 goals, 7 assists) in 23 games this season.
Filip Kràl recorded the primary assist on Abramov’s third period goal. He has assists (5) in four consecutive games.
Mac Hollowell picked up the secondary assist on Abramov’s third period goal. He has five points (1 goal, 4 assists) in 10 games this season.
Erik Källgren stopped 27 of 29 shots he faced. He is 5-4-0 this season with a 2.57 goals against average and a 0.923 save percentage.

OF NOTE

This is the second time in franchise history Toronto has played on New Year’s Day. The club faced off against St. John’s during the 2011-12 season, winning 3-1.
Toronto went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and 1-for-6 on the power play. Toronto is 7-6-1-0 when scoring on the power play and 7-5-0-0 when not allowing a goal on the power play.
Belleville had a 29-25 edge in shots in all situations. Joey Anderson and Brett Seney led the Marlies with four shots on goal. Toronto is 8-7-1-1 when outshot by their opponent.
The Marlies are 6-7-1-1 against North Division opponents and 3-1-0-0 against the Belleville Senators. Toronto has outscored Belleville 16-8 this season.

RECORD WHEN

Tied after 1                              2-2-0-0
Trailing after 2                         1-8-0-0
January                                   0-1-0-0
Saturday                                  5-5-0-0
1 Goal Game                            4-2-1-1

MARLIES LEADERS

Goals               11 (B. Seney)
Assists            18 (J. Duszak)
Points              19 (J. Duszak)
PPG                 4 (J. Ho-Sang)
Shots               55 (B. Seney)
+/-                    +6 (B. Seney)
PIMS                50 (R. Clune)

POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On tonight’s game:

In the first period, it felt like we got off to a much better start even then we did in the last game against them. We had a hard time getting to their net but I felt that for the most part, we were possessing the puck and controlling the game and things were in our favour. We definitely needed to find another level to find opportunities at the net and around the net. It was tight all the way down through and it was really good to see Abramov get a goal there. He’s a player who’s just been working so hard since the beginning of the year. He’s developed so much and added a lot to his game and rounding it out. In terms of the guys who hadn’t scored yet in this league, he had something like the highest expected goals for. He’s just been unlucky at times. It was good to see him finally get one. He deserves it.

On Erik Källgren’s performance:

It was great. He’s bailed us out of a lot of situations in this one contest, let alone past games. He should feel good about the work that he’s put in and not worry about (this game).

UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

January 3 vs. Belleville – 3:00 p.m.
January 5 vs. Utica – 7:00 p.m.
January 10 vs. Springfield – 7:00 p.m.
January 12 vs. Belleville – 7:00 p.m.
January 15 at Hershey – 7:00 p.m.

MAPLE LEAFS 6, SENATORS 0

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (21-8-2 – 44 Points) vs.
OTTAWA SENATORS (9-18-2 – 20 Points)
SATURDAY, JANUARY 1, 2022
1 2 3 FINAL
OTTAWA 0 0 0 0
TORONTO 2 1 3 6
GAME SUMMARYhttp://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20212022/GS020567.HTM | EVENT SUMMARhttp://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20212022/ES020567.HTMY | FACE-OFF SUMMARYhttp://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20212022/FS020567.HTM

ON THE SCORESHEET

Justin Holl scored shorthanded for Toronto at 14:06 of the first period. Holl recorded his first goal of the season.
Ilya Mikheyev scored shorthanded for the Maple Leafs at 14:33 of the first period. Mikheyev scored his second goal of the game on a power play opportunity at 14:42 of the third period. Mikheyev has
recorded two goals this season and posted the first multi-goal game of his NHL career.
TJ Brodie scored for Toronto at 7:18 of the second period. Brodie recorded his second goal of the season. Brodie also registered the secondary assist on Holl’s goal and Mikheyev’s first goal of the
game. Brodie has recorded eight assists this season. Brodie recorded his first multi-point game of the
season and is currently on a three-game point streak (2G, 3A).
William Nylander scored for the Maple Leafs at 13:41 of the third period. Nylander posted his
second goal of the game at 17:14 of the third period. Nylander posted his second multi-goal outing of
the season. Nylander is currently on a six-game point streak where he has posted 10 points (5G, 5A).
David Kämpf posted the primary assist on Holl’s goal. Kämpf registered his sixth assist of the
season. Kämpf has posted three points (1G, 2A) through the last three games.
Alexander Kerfoot recorded the primary assist on Mikheyev’s goal. Kerfoot also registered the
secondary assist on Brodie’s goal and Nylander’s first goal of the game. Tonight marked the second
occasion of Kerfoot’s NHL career where he has posted three assists during a game. Kerfoot also tied
his single-game career-high of three points, which has recorded on five occasions. In recording three
assists during tonight’s game, Kerfoot posted the 100th assist of his NHL career.
Morgan Rielly registered the primary assist on Brodie’s goal. Rielly posted his 23rd assist of the
season. Rielly has recorded an assist in five-consecutive games (8A).
Travis Dermott recorded the primary assist on Nylander’s first goal of the game. Dermott registered
his second assist of the season.
Ondřej Kaše posted the primary assist on Mikheyev’s second goal of the game. Kaše recorded his
eighth assist of the season.
Jason Spezza registered the secondary assist on Mikheyev’s second goal of the game. Spezza posted
his fifth assist of the season.
John Tavares recorded the primary assist on Nylander’s second goal of the game. Tavares registered
his 20th assist of the season. Tavares is currently on a six-game point streak where he has posted
eight points (2G, 6A).
Rasmus Sandin posted the secondary assist on Nylander’s second goal of the game. Sandin recorded his ninth assist of the season.
Jack Campbell stopped all 23 shots he faced in tonight’s victory. Campbell posted his fourth shutout of the season and eighth of his NHL career.
SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets)
1st 2nd 3rd TOTAL
OTTAWA 4 (4) 9 (5) 10 (10) 23 (19)
TORONTO 11 (5) 15 (10) 13 (11) 39 (26)
SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets)
1st 2nd 3rd TOTAL
OTTAWA 7 (6) 13 (8) 17 (17) 37 (31)
TORONTO 22 (12) 32 (20) 20 (17) 74 (49)
ON HOME ICE
The Maple Leafs are 13-4-1 at home this season.
Toronto’s all-time record is 63-56-3-13 in 135 games against the Ottawa Senators and 36-22-2-8 in
68 games played in Toronto.
Toronto is 11-5-1 against the Eastern Conference this season and 7-2-0 against the Atlantic Division
this season.
MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS
Shots 7 (Mikheyev)
Shot Attempts 8 (Matthews)
Faceoff Wins 11 (Tavares)
Faceoff Win Percentage 100% (Kerfoot, Nylander – 1 won, 0 lost)
Hits 3 (Marner, Biega)
Blocked Shots 3 (Dermott)
Takeaways 2 (Holl)
TOI 23:16 (Rielly)
Power Play TOI 5:21 (Marner, Matthews, Nylander, Tavares)
Shorthanded TOI 2:23 (Kämpf)
Shifts 27 (Rielly, Brodie)
5-on-5 Shot Attempt Percentage 77.78% (Simmonds – 14 for, 4 against)
RECORD WHEN…
The Maple Leafs were 1-for-6 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill tonight.
Toronto is 15-2-0 when scoring the first goal of the game.
The Maple Leafs are 13-1-0 when leading after one period and 17-0-0 when leading after two periods.
Toronto is 13-4-2 when outshooting their opponent.
The Maple Leafs are 6-2-1 in Saturday games.
OF NOTE…
Per NHL Stats, Ilya Mikheyev’s shorthanded goal tied the Maple Leafs record for the two fastest shorthanded goals in a game (27 seconds). Previously recorded on November 16, 1986 at Chicago.
TJ Brodie recorded two shorthanded assists during tonight’s game. Per NHL Stats, the only other Toronto defenceman with two shorthanded assists in a game is Larry Hillman on Dec. 4, 1966.
John Tavares skated in his 900th career NHL game.
Ilya Mikheyev registered seven shots during tonight’s game, tying a single-game career-high.
TJ Brodie was on the ice for a team-high 22 Toronto shot attempts-for at 5-on-5.
Wayne Simmonds finished the game with a team-high 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 77.78
percent (14 for, 4 against).
UPCOMING GAMES:
Jan. 5 Leafs vs. Edmonton Scotiabank Arena 7:00 pm ET
Jan. 8 Leafs at Colorado Ball Arena 7:00 pm ET
Jan. 11 Leafs at Vegas T-Mobile Arena 10:00 pm ET
Jan. 12 Leafs at Arizona Gila River Arena 10:00 pm ET
Jan. 15 Leafs at St. Louis Enterprise Center 7:00 pm ET
Jan. 17 Leafs vs. New Jersey Scotiabank Arena 7:00 pm ET
Stats reflect official NHL stats at the time of distribution.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
HEAD COACH SHELDON KEEFE
On tonight’s game:
Sheldon Keefe: “I thought we did a good job early in the game not giving them any life or giving them any opportunities to get towards our net. Funny game for so many reasons, first game in a few weeks here
really for both teams pretty much and no fans and all that. Then right out of the gate we get two power plays in the first six minutes which when you haven’t played in three weeks, from my perspective, is kind
of a worst-case scenario. The players haven’t really had time to get engaged in the game and get going, then you’re on a power play. I’d much prefer that to happen when the game is moving but we weren’t able
to cash in early there. Then you’re on a kill and you kind of see it the other way with the other team’s power play, they aren’t sharp, they aren’t ready and then we capitalized on that. The way it worked out to
get those two shorthanded goals were big and to get those contributions from our defence, great for Justin Holl to score such an important goal to get us going. Brodie’s goal and his contributions throughout. I just thought we had a good effort from our defence as a whole tonight. Sandin, Biega, Rielly
those guys as well just did a really good job for us.”
JACK CAMPBELL
On playing for the first time after a long layoff:
Jack Campbell: “Yeah it was an impressive game by the boys in front of me tonight. They played superfast and doing everything coach talked about so fun time out there and great to be back.”
On the teams play in front of him tonight:
Jack Campbell: “The boys were awesome and it speaks volumes. Ottawa has been playing really well
and they’re really skilled offensively so when you hold them to 23 shots and not a ton of great looks it’s
just a credit to the boys in front of me.”
JUSTIN HOLL
On playing in front of an no fans:
Justin Holl: “It was a lot like last year, kind of one of those games where you’ve got to form your own
energy and kind of create your own juice as a team. I thought we did a pretty good job of that and the
guys seemed to have a lot of energy and looked good out there.”
On scoring his first of the season shorthanded:
Justin Holl: “We were laughing about it, Muzz and I in the locker room, we don’t score very often so
obviously when you do get on the jumbotron and my nose is double plugged so it was kinda funny.”

Red Sox Getting Praise For Vastly Improved Farm System In 2021 — NESN.com

The Boston Red Sox committed to one of their New Year’s resolutions this year. Per rankings from MLB.com, the Red Sox had the most improved farm system in 2021 after jumping 12 spots since the preseason. The publication had Boston at No. 24 (with just six teams below) in March on its preseason list. A […]
Red Sox Getting Praise For Vastly Improved Farm System In 2021 — NESN.com