Toronto Raptors Hold on to No. 1 Seed VS Nuggets

The Toronto Raptors all but ended the playoff hopes of the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night, beating them 114 – 110.

Since the All-Star break, the Raptors and the Nuggets are the two best offensive teams in the NBA. In that period, the Toronto Raptors lead the league with 114.2 points per 100 possessions. The Denver Nuggets are third, with 113.5 points per 100 possessions.

After losing their previous two games, the Raptors put in an assured team performance. They were led by Fred VanVleet, Jonas Valanciunas and DeMar DeRozan, with 15 points each.

The Nuggets pushed the raptors for nearly the entire game. Denver had an 8 point lead with 11 minutes left in the 4th quarter, but Toronto’s strength in depth prevailed.

An up-for-it Nuggets team were led by Serbian big man Nikola Jokic, who ended the night with 29 points and 16 rebounds. Jamal Murray also scored 15 for Denver.

However, the Toronto Raptors bench outscored the Nuggets’ bench 53 – 29 to seal a comeback victory. Apart from an explosive Nuggets second quarter, they were held to 29% shooting from the floor by Toronto.

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Jakob Poeltl finished the game with 12 points and 8 rebounds. He had a tough start to the game – having to sit after picking up four fouls. After the game, Poeltl highlighted the confidence that the Toronto Raptors team has in itself.

“It’s mainly just all of us boosting each other,” said Poeltl “It’s like ‘don’t forget, we know we’re better than that. We’re better than we played in that game against the Clippers.’ So it’s really all about building confidence in each other.”

The Toronto Raptors now need just win to equal their franchise record of 56 wins in an NBA season. To beat this record, from the 2015-2016 season, they face tough games against the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers next.