The Toronto Raptors' eight-game winning streak was ended by the Nuggets, a one-point deficit and a lack of luck, but for the Raptors, it wasn't bad news. The team has returned to the top eight in the East, and a loss can be a loss for them to let go of the baggage of a winning streak, find out the team's shortcomings and, of course, prepare for the next wave of winning streaks. In this game, the Toronto Raptors are going to face the New Orleans Pelicans, who have suffered two consecutive losses and are in eleventh place in the West.
Despite the Pelicans' poor record, this team should not be underestimated, McCollum is getting better and better, and his combination with Ingram is definitely a nightmare for any team's defense. Of course, there is also the interior of Varan, which is simply an insurmountable mountain for the Raptors with Siakam as the starting center.
At the beginning of the first quarter, Varan gave and demanded on the inside, with 6 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist on 3-of-4 shooting, McCollum also had 5 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 steal, Ingram was 4 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, and the whole team easily bombed down 29 points, while the Raptors fell into a scoring drought, scoring only 17 points in a single quarter, directly behind the Pelicans by 12 points. After returning from the second quarter of the game, the Raptors regained their touch, the bench blossomed more, and finally scored 27 points in a single quarter, but the point difference continued to widen.
McCollum shot 3-of-4 and took seven points, one rebound and one assist, and under his leadership, the Pelicans exploded for 31 more points in the second quarter, and by the end of the half, they were 60-44 ahead of the Raptors by as many as 16 points. In the second half, Ingram still did not have much bright performance on the offensive end, but sent out 4 assists, McCollum took 8 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist on 3-of-3 shooting, Hayes on the bench had 9 points and 1 assist on 4-of-4 shooting, and the Pelicans bombed 34 points in the single quarter to extend the lead to 25 points.
With such a huge point difference, the game completely lost its suspense. After returning from the last quarter, McCollum played with the team for a while, and also rested, and Ingram did not play. The game then went into garbage time, and the New Orleans Pelicans eventually beat the Toronto Raptors by 30 points at home to 120-30.
A big win without suspense, the New Orleans Pelicans refused a three-game losing streak, CJ McCollum also won the first win of the Pelicans' career, 23 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists on 9-of-13 shooting, which was very efficient, Varan had 18 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists, Ingram only 7 shots, 10 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists, the team had 6 players scored in double figures, a total of 45 goals, delivered 36 assists, the team shot 58.4% from the field, and the three-point shooting rate was 44.4%.
The Pelicans feel hot and hot, while the Raptors feel the opposite. The whole team only has 8 assists, and the 36-8 assist gap is really very rare. VanVleet had 20 points, five rebounds and two assists, Siakam had 18 points, five rebounds and one assist, and Boucher had 15 points and seven rebounds, and no other player had scored in double figures. In this game, the Raptors' shooting rate is only 30.2%, and the three-point shooting rate is as low as 22.9%, and it has to be said that this Eastern Conference dark horse has once again shown its stuffing, facing a team with big centers, they are really powerless.