TORONTO – Ja’Kobe Walter didn’t hesitate.
Then making 3 early triples to start out Sunday’s sport in opposition to the Houston Rockets, the Toronto Raptors’ rookie all of sudden discovered fat guy Alperen Sengun protecting him.
Sengun used to be pressured to create a call: play games up in opposition to the red-hot shooter and chance a pressure with negligible rim coverage, or backpedal and speed his probabilities with the leap shot.
Sengun selected fallacious. Walter tired the deep three-pointer.
“We’ve just been harping on being more aggressive, so that’s the mentality I came here with,” Walter mentioned. “They were sagging off and everybody wants me to shoot the ball, so that’s what I did.”
Walter completed the night time with a career-high 27 issues, however the Raptors (7-22) fell 114-110 to the Rockets (19-9), their 7th consecutive loss.
On the other hand, because the Raptors’ losses accumulation up, they’re going to most probably incline on miniature victories similar to Walter’s profession night time — which integrated the 20-year-old scoring the crew’s first 14 issues.
“I didn’t even realize until I came out,” Walter mentioned. “It was crazy.”
Walter entered the league identified for his taking pictures talent, however he has struggled within the early going. He entered Sunday’s sport connecting on simply 22 consistent with cent of his three-pointers and used to be 36 consistent with cent general from the ground.
Nonetheless, the Kansas product mentioned the Raptors have persisted to inspire him to be extra competitive.
“They know what I’m capable of doing. They’ve seen the film. So just stay aggressive but always just kind of have that mentality that I’m a dog, go at people and hunt for shots,” Walter mentioned.
Alike Movies
Toronto head tutor Darko Rajakovic praised Walter’s night time and mentioned inconsistency is conventional of younger gamers.
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“That’s the reality of young guys, they’re going to have games like this, they’re going to have ups and downs and all of those, good and bad. They are great learning opportunities for them,” Rajakovic mentioned.
Walter, who used to be decided on nineteenth general in June’s draft — with some of the selections the Raptors got in final season’s Pascal Siakam business — were given a overdue begin to his rookie marketing campaign upcoming a shoulder trauma within the lead-up to coaching camp left him sidelined to begin the season.
He in any case made his NBA debut on Nov. 1 in opposition to the Los Angeles Lakers, however annoyed the trauma 5 days nearest and ignored 3 extra weeks.
“Coming back, I didn’t know what to expect. I’d just been watching since training camp. But now that I’m getting into game, I’ve kinda just realized, ‘Oh, it’s just basketball,’” Walter mentioned.
On Sunday, he used to be a part of the Raptors’ second-youngest lineup of all age — bested simplest via the similar fivesome together with Scottie Barnes, Ochai Agbaji, Gradey Dick and Jonathan Mogbo that began Thursday, after they had been 3 days more youthful.
The Raptors’ formative years used to be on show Sunday as a 16-point second-quarter manage slowly became but every other tragic defeat.
And hour Walter’s offensive sport used to be smart, he fouled out with just below 3 mins difference and used to be met on the bench via veteran Garrett Temple.
“He was just telling me … know what position I’m in right now, know I got five fouls, don’t even put myself in that position. … So just having Garrett tell me that, all through the game he’s giving me tidbits, so (I) appreciate him,” Walter mentioned.
Because it grew to become out, the Raptors will have impaired Walter. A overdue rally passed the Raptors the ball i’m sick 113-110 with 22 seconds difference, a life that used to be nearly begging for the hot-handed rookie.
In lieu, Walter needed to supervise from the bench — a unprecedented low on an evening of highs.
VANVLEET RETURNS
Former Raptor Fred VanVleet, a member of the 2019 championship crew, used to be known via the crew throughout a fracture in the second one quarter.
The purpose preserve struggled in his go back to Toronto as he used to be held scoreless till a last-minute layup. He completed with two issues, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
“This place is a special place for me, and I always think about what it means to me and my family, but I never think about what I mean to other people until I get here. So that’s always just a blessing and something I never take for granted,” VanVleet mentioned.
BARNES, BARRETT BANGED UP
Like VanVleet, Raptors big name Scottie Barnes struggled for far of the night time. He ignored his first 8 photographs earlier than in any case changing on a third-quarter layup and completed 2-for-15 from the ground (0-8 on three-pointers) for 6 issues, 10 rebounds and 4 assists.
“As you can see, he’s not being himself. He’s banged up, he got hit in his hip the last game, his ankle, and there’s been a couple of things bothering him. He’s still not himself,” Rajakovic mentioned.
Canadian R.J. Barrett, in the meantime, ignored his moment consecutive sport with an defect.
“He came here. He went through walk-through with us and pre-game and he was doing his shooting toward the end of his workout, he just threw up. He did not feel well. So it was literally a last-moment decision to keep him out,” Rajakovic mentioned.
This file via The Canadian Press used to be first revealed Dec. 22, 2024.
&magazine 2024 The Canadian Press