Raptors rally in Sacramento falls short as Siakam rumours swirl

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It turns out the new-look Toronto Raptors aren’t unbeatable, but they have a lot of heart.

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Riding a two-game winning streak since a blockbuster deal with the New York Knicks, the Raptors rode into Sacramento on a high, before being given an early reality check by the high-powered Kings. Toronto rallied from a 23-point deficit, but couldn’t get enough stops to claw all the way back and fell 135-130.

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Kings star Domantas Sabonis had his sixth triple-double in the last 10 games and eighth of the season for the Kings before fouling out in a dominant, 24-point, 15-rebound performance. All-star De’Aaron Fox added 24 and the Kings nailed 21 three-pointers, shooting 55% from deep. Toronto got 20 apiece from Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley, 18 from both Pascal Siakam and Dennis Schroder and shot 54% from the field but still lost due to the three-point makes difference (21 for Sacramento, just 13 for Toronto).

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The Kings led 36-27 after a quarter, with Sabonis scoring 12, and then turned it up several notches in the second. After Toronto cut Sacramento’s lead to four with 4:04 remaining in the first half, the Kings, an explosive team that led the NBA in offence a year ago, went on a 20-4 run to take what felt like full command of the game into the break.

The Kings hit 14 three-pointers in the first half alone — 11 of them courtesy of Keegan Murray and Harrison Barnes — but went into a lull until late, allowing the Raptors to rally. The Raptors managed to cut the lead in half, down to 10, entering the final quarter and to five after Chris Boucher, great on the night, took a charge on Sabonis and to three when Jakob Poeltl scored a layup. Quickley hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to two, but later took too ill-advised three-pointers, both nowhere close, and the Kings sealed the game at the free throw line.

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Toronto was without Gary Trent Jr. due to injury and dropped to 14-21. The Raptors only lead in the game was by a point in the first quarter.

Young big man Jontay Porter played his second game with the club and was Darko Rajakovic’s first substitution. Porter was part of the late run in the third quarter and finished with 10 points in 13 minutes. Eight Raptors scored in double figures. The team now heads to San Francisco for a date with the Warriors on Sunday.

RUMOUR MILL BUZZING

Raptors president Masai Ujiri was with the team in Sacramento and spent some time pre-game chatting with Kings brass, according to reporters on the scene. That came on a day when the rumour mill lit up on social media with reports, most notably from ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and The Athletic’s Shams Charania, that Siakam is being shopped by the Raptors (even though they’ve been listening on him since last season). It’s a zany time of year, with the NBA’s trade deadline coming on Feb. 8 and reports will come fast and furious. The vast majority of time it’s all smoke and no fire, but with OG Anunoby already dealt, this year could be different, at least where the Raptors are concerned. Siakam is averaging more than 20 points for a fifth season. He’s on pace to join Vince Carter, Chris Bosh and DeMar DeRozan as the only Raptors to accomplish that feat.

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DINO-BITES

Proof that how high you are drafted doesn’t always correlate with how good your career will be: The Win Shares leaders of the 2016 NBA Draft happen to be Sacramento’s dominant big man Sabonis, selected 11th overall by Orlando and immediately dealt with Victor Oladipo for Serge Ibaka, Siakam (drafted 27th by the Raptors), Jakob Poeltl (No. 9 by Toronto) and Fred VanVleet, who actually went undrafted, but was signed by the Raptors …

Sacramento head coach Mike Brown counts amongst his assistants former Canadian National team and Raptors head and assistant coach Jay Triano, current Canadian coach Jordi Fernandez and former Raptors guards Doug Christie and Leandro Barbosa.

Averaging 20+ points for fifth season; On pace to join Bosh, Carter & DeRozan as only Raptors to achieve this.

@WolstatSun

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