TORONTO – In the absence of Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes, O. G. Anunoby delivered a performance that led Maxi Kleber to label him as “a threat on all levels” as the short-handed Toronto Raptors showed their strength in depth by defeating National Basketball Association (NBA) scoring leader Luca Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks 105-100 on Saturday.
Anunoby scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter as the Raptors emerged victorious in a battle that came down to the wire.
Dallas’ Kleber described the 25-year-old forward as “a threat on all levels”, adding: “He can shoot the ball from outside, he’s really great on post-ups, he’s physical.”
Their coach Nick Nurse added: ‘’I think he’s going to sleep well tonight.”
Anunoby also put in a solid defence on Doncic, who scored 24 points and nine assists but matched his season low with just 15 shot attempts.
“He’s an amazing player,” the 23-year-old said of Anunoby. “I would say on both ends.
“He is the steals leader in the NBA, but offensively he got so much better. I’m impressed with his game; he’s an amazing player...
‘’I think he’s probably one of the nicest dudes in the league. He never talks trash, he never does anything. I tripped him, not on purpose, so that’s why I helped him up.”
While Anunoby did well guarding his star man, who was eight for 15 from the field and went two from four from three-point range, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd shifted blame from Doncic.
He said: “He did what he was supposed to do. He had two on him. That just shows the maturity. He didn’t force anything, he just accepted the double team.
“There’s no panic here. We’ve got to start continuing to be consistent on both sides of the ball.”
On what Dallas need to do better, Doncic said: “If they’re going to put two or three on the ball, we’ve just got to be aggressive, get to the rim, dunk it, pass out and just keep trusting the shots.”
Like Anunoby, Fred VanVleet also scored 26 points for the Raptors on his return after missing one game because of illness.
Besides 2020 All-Star Siakam and reigning Rookie of the Year Barnes, Toronto were also missing Precious Achiuwa and Otto Porter Jr.
Chris Boucher added 22 points and 13 rebounds for Toronto, who lost their two previous games.
Juancho Hernangomez added 10 points, as the Raptors gained a split in two games with the Mavericks this season.
The Mavericks saw Dorian Finney-Smith score 16 points, Spencer Dinwiddie add 15 and Christian Wood total 10 points.
Dallas led 29-24 after the first quarter, despite once being ahead by 15 points.
Toronto scored the first six points of the second quarter and upped the lead to six on Gary Trent Jr’s three-pointer with 3min 26sec left.
The Raptors’ advantage reached seven before Doncic finished the first-half scoring with a three to cut the lead to 54-52.
Toronto used an 8-0 run to take an eight-point lead with 9:19 remaining in the third quarter, as VanVleet’s lay-up gave them an 11-point lead with 4:08 left in the third. They led 81-73 after three quarters.
Finney-Smith’s three with 3:48 remaining in the fourth quarter tied the scored at 90-90.
The teams exchanged baskets before Boucher hit a 10-footer but missed the free throw with 31.4 seconds to play.
Doncic’s jumper cut the lead to one before Toronto’s Thaddeus Young made two free throws with 16.6 seconds left.
Young then made a steal to clinch the game and Anunoby finished the scoring with two free throws.
Meanwhile, LeBron James scored a season-high 39 points to lead six Los Angeles players in double figures on Saturday as the visitors beat the San Antonio Spurs for the second time in two days, 143-138.
REUTERS, AFP
