The San Antonio Spurs had arguably its greatest comeback effort in Canada tonight, despite being absolutely pulverized by the Toronto Raptors for most of the game, then kicked back down when they tried to mount a rally. Eventually, somehow, someway, the Spurs pulled it off as Kevin Harlan exclaimed, "They've come all the way back to tie the game!" and soon thereafter, "Now, they take the lead--wow!"
The first quarter was a crushing 29-17 advantage for the Raptors. The Spurs scored better in the 2nd Quarter, but still were outplayed by 39-32. 68-49 was the halftime lead for Toronto, and it was more of the same in the 3rd Quarter, with San Antonio narrowly edging out the Raptors, 38-35, but the deficit was still 87-103. The 4th Quarter of the season came next, as San Antone trounced Toronto 39-15 to steal a road victory against all the odds, even as three Spurs players fouled out of the game (Fournier, Ingram & KCP).
Fred VanVleet was the definition of clutch, hitting both 3-PT daggers that tied the game and soon took away the lead, which seemed impossible throughout the game. He finished with 28 points & 9 assists, hitting 7 threes. Andre Drummond had 22 rebounds, 7 insane blocks (including one with the game on the line), 5 steals & 15 points. Brandon Ingram had 27 points before fouling out, with Fournier throwing in 20 points. KCP was the beacon of hope early on, scoring 19 points and hitting five 3PT salvos. Alex Caruso picked up the slack with VanVleet on the bench, scoring 10 points & dishing 7 assists.
In the hard-to-comprehend loss, Pascal Siakam received M-V-P chants as he strolled to 28 points. Ex-Spur, Derrick White scored 17 points. Chris Boucher had 17 rebounds and Kyle Lowry had 17 points. OG Anunoby chipped in 14 points. The Spurs buried 21 shots from 3PT territory, pulling off the upset despite giving the Raptors 41 free throw attempts.
