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    Raptors Get Face-Full of Keita Bates-Diop in Summer League Loss

    Henry JohnBy 1 Comment2 Mins Read NBA
    Keita-Bates-Diop Timberwolves
    Credit: David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images

    The Toronto Raptors dropped their second straight game to open up Las Vegas NBA Summer League play Sunday, falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves 103-92. The story of the game for the Wolves was rookie second round pick Keita Bates-Diop. Bates-Diop fueled a 32-point fourth quarter for Minnesota that helped them achieve a 13-point swing and ultimately emerge with an 11-point win, the largest lead of the game for either side.

     

    Keita Bates-Diop Leads the Pack

    Bates-Diop stuffed the stat sheet full, producing 24 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, dishing 2 assists, and coming up with 2 blocks. He shot 50% (3-6) from three-point territory and 46.7% (7-15) from the field overall. Bates-Diop showed the kind of potential in this game that had many surprised when he fell all the way into the second round of last month’s NBA Draft. If this production can become a regularity, the Timberwolves certainly will have hit one of the home runs of the Draft.

    Bates-Diop had plenty of help from his teammates in this contest as well. Second year pro Amile Jefferson out of Duke also registered a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. 2018 first round selection Josh Okogie out of Georgia Tech and Jonathan Stark each supplied 16 points while Jared Terrell and Charles Cooke also reached double figures with 13 and 11 points respectively.

     

    Raptors’ Free Fall

    For the Raptors, the fourth quarter free fall was all the more hard to swallow given that they had clawed back from an 11-point deficit in the third to set themselves up for a win. After missing the team’s Summer League opener Friday with back spasms, Jordan Loyd was Toronto’s leading scorer in this one with 17 points. 2016 Charlotte Hornets first round pick Malachi Richardson from Syracuse posted 15 points in 20 minutes of play. Second year man out of Indiana OG Anunoby contributed 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.

     

    More NBA Summer League

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    Malik Beasley Scores 19 as Nuggets Beat Celtics

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    Henry’s passion for sports dates all the way back to childhood and has ultimately led to a full-fledged career as an analyst and content creator. After getting his start penning fantasy football articles, he forrayed into the betting side of the business in early 2019. His love for sports and statistics proved to be an ideal match with the dedicated research and strategy that handicapping requires. Henry currently specializes in betting analysis and picks for college football, college basketball and NASCAR. He counts the NFL, the WNBA, and NBA player props as additional leagues/markets of interest. Henry graduated from SUNY Buffalo in 2021 with a Communication Studies degree and a Psychology minor. A native of the Finger Lakes region in Upstate New York, he and his pup, Harold, have since relocated to Laramie, Wyoming. Thanks to his professional goals within the sports betting industry, there has been a whole lot of steam on the odds for a move to Las Vegas in 2023! Most of Henry’s free time is spent on outdoor adventures, playing chess, snowboarding, or reading a good book. He is also a competitive powerlifter and aspires to qualify for the USAPL Nationals meet within the next 2-3 years.

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