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.
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