The Toronto Raptors took on Cairns Taipans of Australia’s National Basketball League in their second preseason game at Scotiabank Arena. It was the Raptors first preseason game at home after they opened up their preseason last week in Vancouver.
The Taipans were shorthanded in this one as they were missing a lot of their roster due to injury and illness.
The Raptors were missing a couple of players as well. Jakob Poeltl who was celebrating his 28th birthday missed this game due to an illness. Toronto was also missing Precious Achiuwa who continues to be out with a groin injury and Christian Koloko who’s out indefinitely with a respiratory issue.
However, the Raptors didn’t miss a beat against the Taipans. They dominated them from start to finish picking up a 134-93 victory
The Raptors got out to a 21 point lead in the first quarter and led by as many as 41 points. The starters did not play in the second-half and the Raptors experimented with a lot of different lineups.
Toronto used 17 players in this one. Javon Freeman-Liberty led all Raptors scorers with 15 points. He was followed by Scottie Barnes who had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
Chris Boucher who started for Poeltl finished with 12 points, O.G. Anunoby had 10 points and Pascal Siakam had a nice outing of 12 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
The Raptors new-look offense under Darko Rajakovic continues to impress. The ball movement was solid for Toronto as they finished with 34 assists.
Toronto shot it 51 percent from the field and 34 percent from three, but they were hitting their threes efficiently early on. The Raptors started the game by hitting their first three 3-pointers.
Jeff Dowtin Jr. saw his first minutes of the preseason and had a strong performance. He had 8 points and was a perfect 3/3 from the field.
Dowtin Jr. is on a non-guaranteed contract so these preseason minutes are important to him as he tries to secure a spot on the team.
Next on tap
The Raptors will take on the Chicago Bulls at Scotiabank Arena on Oct. 17. They will then travel to Washington to take on the Wizards to wrap up their preseason schedule on Oct. 20.
The Raptors begin their regular season on Oct. 25 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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