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Michael Grange: Collin Murray-Boyles is out vs. Nuggets. Doing live scrimmages, reconditioning. He is very close, per Rajakovic.
None of it is surprising, he insists. Gilgeous-Alexander counts Chris Paul as one of his earliest mentors. In his first season in Oklahoma City, Paul told him: You know you are starting to do things when you go to other arenas and they boo you. “That’s very true,” says Gilgeous-Alexander. Let the crowds complain. Let the talking heads gripe. To Gilgeous-Alexander, it’s just evidence he’s doing something right. “Everybody in the history of the NBA has an arc where everyone loves them, and then everyone hates them,” says Gilgeous-Alexander. “LeBron James was hated, and look what he’s done for the game? It’s part of the game. I love it. It’s stuff I dreamed about as a kid.”
Josh Lewenberg: CMB is doubtful for tomorrow’s game in Denver. The hope is to get him back at some point on this trip, though Darko couldn’t guarantee it, calling him day-to-day.
But team officials had a surprise. They delayed the flight and rented out a section at the famous Toronto sports bar Real Sports, next door to the Raptors' arena, where there is a 40-foot-wide screen. And there was an open bar too. The beer flowed and Heat forward Shane Battier got drunk on Anchor Steam, stealing a Colin Kaepernick jersey off a dummy set up for the occasion. Later, on the way to the airport, Battier grabbed the microphone on the bus and gave an impromptu speech to his lubed-up teammates to "touch the people" as he urged them to take advantage of the Heat's popularity in that time and place.
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Despite the blowout win, the conversation in the postgame press conference quickly shifted toward Friday’s matchup against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. The contest features a meeting between Rajakovic and his compatriot, three-time season MVP Nikola Jokic. When asked how he plans to neutralize the Serbian superstar, Rajakovic kept the mood light before turning to the realities of his roster depth. “We’re going to surprise Jokic. We’re going to put our point guards to guard him. So, we’re preparing a very special strategy against him,” he joked, drawing laughs from the media. However, his tone shifted to the importance of forward Collin Murray-Boyles, who has been sidelined with a left thumb sprain. “Having CMB would be a huge help to have in that game,” he added.
Josh Lewenberg: The Raptors beat Chicago wire-to-wire. They led by double figures for 41:26 of the 48 minutes (mid 1st quarter on), 20+ points for 26:47 (late 2nd Q on) and 30+ for 14:06. So much for the trap game. No let up after a couple of their best/biggest wins. All business.
Keerthika Uthayakumar: Raptors tonight: - 30-point win, tied for their largest margin of victory this season - 3 straight wins, 3 straight games with 115+ points - 3rd straight game with a halfcourt offensive rating of 120+ - Season-high 53 points from the bench
Keerthika Uthayakumar: Garrett Temple played with his 262nd different teammate tonight, passing Vince Carter for 2nd-most in NBA history. Temple & Jackson-Davis had not played together before tonight.
Josh Lewenberg: More from Darko on the process of getting/keeping Ingram healthy: "It took a lot of work, a lot of preparation, a lot of dedication from everybody and I am super grateful for the group of people we have that care so much, and for BI and the way he has handled the whole process."
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Omari Sankofa II: JB said the Pistons didn’t play to their identity in the third quarter vs the Raptors: “You don’t get to turn on and off when you’re going to be a dog.” Said they have to continue being scrappy and making extra effort plays.
Sandro Mamukelashvili: “I would say, first, I want to play in Europe. I want to finish my career there. I want to live there most of the time, and hopefully, once I have kids, I want them to go over there with me and experience those emotions—being close to home, having it be easier for my parents to fly in, and easier for my friends to come visit. As far as developing basketball in Georgia, that is one of my goals. I think Zaza jump-started something amazing by creating his own academy. He does an amazing job developing kids, but I think there is still so much more to do, even on the professional level. We have a good league, and it is developing, but I think we can do so much better and grow it even more. There are kids who love basketball and want to become basketball players, and I think doing summer camps, bringing in coaches, and showing more of the talent level we have in Georgia will hopefully help us continue to develop.”
Sandro Mamukelashvili: “I think these days a lot of coaches don't understand how much mental it is mentally important to lock in with the player. How how how important it is to be open to your player to where he can knock on your in your office door, come in and just have a conversation not only about basketball, but about what's going on in his life or whatever he has concerns with. I think Darko is amazing at that. Like he first of all, amazing X and O's coach. He knows what he's doing. He he loves fast-paced basketball which kind of fits me a lot as a player. But like like I came in my first practice and I went on the side and I asked the assistant coach something like whispered it to him like he stopped practice and he was like I'm standing right here like you can ask me a question. Don't feel like you have to go somewhere and then it's not it's not like that here.
