The NBA regular season continued, the Raptors lost to the Nets, but Raptors guard VanVleet played well, in the whole game, he had 31 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists on 10-of-23 shooting, 6-of-14 three-pointers, and 5 free throws, becoming the number one contributor to the Raptors' victory.
This is not the first time This season that VanVleet has played well against the Nets. In his first meeting at the beginning of the season, he had 21 points and eight assists, which was a good performance. In that game, Durant and Harden both participated in the game.
Meanwhile, this is not the first time VanVleet has exploded this season. In previous games against the Wizards, he had 33 points and six assists. Against Philadelphia, he had 32 points and seven assists. Against the Bucks, he scored 29 points.
This season, VanVleet's overall performance is also good. At present, he is averaging 19.8 points, 5 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game, which is a career high. At the same time, his shooting percentage of 43% is also a career high.
In the last three seasons, when the Raptors lost Leonard and began to regroup, VanVleet seized the opportunity to keep proving himself. From averaging 17.6 points per game in 2019-20 to 19.6 points per game last season to 19.8 points per game this season, VanVleet has become the Raptors' signature guard. This season, when Lowry switched to the Heat, VanVleet became the Raptors' more trusted guard.
It is worth mentioning that VanVleet's three-point performance this season is very good. Currently, he's averaging 3.3 three-pointers per game and shooting 38.9 percent from three-point range, making him second only to Warriors Curry and Kings Hield, and Jazz guard Mitchell tied for third in the league this season in terms of average three-pointers per game.
This was almost unimaginable in the past, almost as VanVleet could not have imagined. As a losing draft in 2016, VanVleet was lucky to be in the NBA. The initial impression of domestic fans on VanVleet is more focused on the 2018-19 season. At that time, because Jeremy Lin had few opportunities when he played for the Raptors, VanVleet happened to be his competitor, and for this reason, VanVleet was also hated and even attacked by many fans.
But it turned out that VanVleet was indeed capable. Otherwise, the Raptors wouldn't have been able to give him a chance all the time and gave him a big contract last year. Now, the former lost draft has also begun to use his performance to repay the Raptors' trust in him.