On the last play of the third quarter of a game the Toronto Raptors were largely in control of, Pascal Siakam made a turnover near the Orlando Magic’s basket.
Fred VanVleet, behind the ball, put his head down and started sprinting, trying to track down his former Raptors teammate, and now Magic veteran, Terrence Ross. VanVleet tried to pick Ross’ pocket on one side and then veered to try and get him on the other. Finally, about 80 feet after the race started, VanVleet got his hands on the ball and blocked what would otherwise have been an easy fast break lay-up.
VanVleet wasn’t having it. But the sprint cost him. He used the last of his afterburners and had to kneel to catch his breath after the effort, and the horn sounded to end the quarter.
The fifth-year Raptors guard did all kinds of amazing things during Toronto’s 123-108 win over the Magic. He set records. He led his team to a victory they might otherwise not have gotten. He put on a shooting display that may never be equalled.
But as the play at the end of the third quarter – all hustle, all heart, all determination even as Toronto led 96-82 at the time – showed in vivid detail, VanVleet did it while staying true to the character that earned his way into Raptors lore — the undrafted point guard that proved people wrong every day, and that may see him go down as one of the best players to ever play in the NBA without having been drafted.
But VanVleet did do some amazing things. With 4:44 to play, he sprinted out to the wing to pick off a Cole Anthony pass and go the other way for a lay-up, tying DeMar DeRozan’s team-record 52 points. A minute later, his friend and mentor Kyle Lowry found VanVleet cutting back door for another lay-up to set a record that no one saw coming.
VanVleet not only passed DeRozan, he also holds the mark for highest single-game total for an undrafted player. He was aided by Kyle Lowry’s triple double (14 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds), but he got to this point on his own terms.
There can’t be a basketball fan on the planet who wasn’t happy to see it. Failing to appreciate VanVleet is a failure to appreciate the good that sports can be. By NBA standards he lacks size (he’s barely six-feet) and explosiveness (he’s never dunked in an NBA game), and because of it has been doubted at every stop of his career.
But VanVleet never paid any attention, and when he was rewarded an $85-million contract over four years this past off-season, he deserved it. And as he is on his way to another career season, it’s now looking like the Raptors should have paid him more.
VanVleet got his 54 by going 17-of-23 from the floor and almost tied a franchise record for made threes by going 11-of-14 from deep. But he did everything else he does too. The NBA’s leader in deflections hustled to three steals, and somehow got three blocks too.
He did a lot of spectacular things in his 37 minutes of floor time, but the little things never stopped.
The win was badly needed as the Raptors are trying to pull themselves into a playoff position. The win improved the Raptors record to 9-12 as they start a stretch of six straight on the road and nine of 10.
It was a game the Raptors shouldn’t have needed VanVleet’s heroics to win, but the way it unfolded may have been hard-pressed to do without.
The Magic are in a tough way. With Aaron Gordon spraining his ankle the Magic were without three starters and at least two more key rotation players, a big reason why they had lost 11 of their past 13 games. Those that are healthy have been piling up the minutes and if the Magic were looking ahead it was to a couple of days off coming up
The Raptors were hoping to hit first, push the pace and get the Magic to roll over early.
“We always wanna play with great pace. I think we would certainly mention that,” said Nurse before the game, not knowing that VanVleet was poised to make history. “I think it starts, two or three guys I’d really like to see getting up and down the floor a lot, consistently, are Chris Boucher, putting pressure on those bigs to run with him, he’s really got a lot of speed. I think Terence Davis needs to be a better runner, Norman Powell needs to get out and run and get those throw-aheads. And Pascal [Siakam].
“I think that’s still a big part of who he is and what he can be, getting up and down the floor. So that’s part of it. But there are some other things we might do. We might extend some pressure defensively, etcetera.”
It took a little while for Nurse’s plans to come to fruition on the floor, and even longer for the Magic to even appear to be thinking about rolling over.
For the game’s opening moments, it appeared the 90-minute bus ride from Tampa to Orlando had exacted some kind of toll on Toronto. Even against a short-handed team that Magic head coach Steve Clifford freely described as fatigued prior the ball going up, it was the Raptors who seemed to be moving as if in about three feet of water.
The Magic scored 11 unanswered in the first 3:15 of the game and were up 14-5 by the time Nurse angrily called a timeout with 4:20 gone. Magic guard Evan Fournier already had 12 points on his way to 21 for the night. Nurse’s club got the message and stormed back with a 14-2 run that was primarily due to VanVleet’s electric shooting. His fifth three on six attempts with just four second left in the quarter gave Toronto a 33-31 lead to start the second quarter.
But if the Raptors were somehow banking that their depth would eventually wear down the depleted Magic, they would have to wait. The Magic kept pushing, getting quality performances from the likes of rookie Chuma Okeke, who had 10 points in the first half, while Nikola Vucevic – who the Raptors have consistently kept under wraps – was able to break into double figures in the first half with 12.
But it didn’t matter with the way VanVleet was heating up. He built on his remarkable first quarter with three more triples in the second on his way to eight made threes – a Raptors record for a half – on nine attempts and 28 points in 20 first-half minutes. The Raptors needed them all as they somehow allowed the NBA’s worst offensive team to score 60 points in the half, to Toronto’s 64.
Fortunately for the Raptors, VanVleet was just getting started. The Raptors needed every bit of his record-setting night and the NBA – and all of sports — needs all the Fred VanVleet stories it can get.
