TORONTO _ The Raptors' visiting locker room at Scotiabank Arena doubles as the Maple Leafs' visitors hockey dressing room. As such, there are two stalls larger than the rest for opposing goaltenders to keep all their equipment. That means for basketball purposes, two players will get stalls bigger than their teammates, even though they really don't need them.
On the Timberwolves' las trip to Toronto, Jimmy Butler was sprawled across one of those stalls. Before Monday's 137-126 loss to the Raptors, Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell occupied those extra-large stalls.
This is Russell and Towns' team now.
Monday was the official beginning of the new era of Wolves basketball, as Russell made his debut after sitting out Saturday's win over the Clippers because of a right quad contusion.
Monday's performance wasn't a repeat of the catharsis on Saturday. The Wolves hung around most of the night and were down by two early in the fourth quarter before Toronto poured it on down the stretch. The score was 108-106 Raptors with 9 minutes, 10 seconds remaining and Toronto outscored the Wolves 29-20 the rest of the way.
The Raptors, who were without big men Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol, had all five starters score at least 16 points, with Pascal Siakam scoring 34, Kyle Lowry adding 27 and 11 assists and OG Anunoby adding 25. Toronto shot 57% for the game.
Russell had 22 on 7 of 12 shooting, but didn't attempt a shot in the fourth quarter, while Towns had 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists and the Wolves had 23 turnovers for the night.
Toronto, which won its 15th straight, hit its first eight shots of the night but the Wolves were able to withstand that early barrage and keep things tight. Russell scored his first basket for the Wolves' first points of the night, a layup at the 11:04 mark. The Wolves were down 18-9 when Russell scores five consecutive points to pull them within four. The Raptors were up again 30-21, when the Wolves got eight points on their next three possessions to pull back within one. This is the vision for the Wolves' offense _ quick strikes with efficiency. The Wolves trailed 40-36 after one as the game became a track meet rather quickly.
The Wolves' bench had a solid shift in the second quarter, one that allowed the Wolves to take the lead despite Toronto shooting 64% for the half.
With the score tied 53-53, the Wolves went on a 7-0 run and earned their first sustained lead of the night. Russell was in the middle of that, with five straight points.
The Raptors would chip away at the Wolves lead the rest of the quarter, with Lowry leading the way with 18 first-half points and Siakam adding 15. The Wolves went into the half with a 75-74 lead.
Toront began its surge in the third quarter. After a Russell three made it 88-86, the Raptors went on an 11-2 run. It began with a tough possession for the Wolves, who played good defense for 24 seconds, forcing a missed three from Fred VanVleet. But a loose-ball rebound ended up in the hands of Anunoby, who found an open Siakam in the corner for three.
Toronto was up nine at the end of that run. The Raptors clamped down defensively that quarter and held the Wolves to just 19 points on 5 of 15 shooting.
The Wolves struggled to keep pace as the Raptors kept up their offensive attack _ albeit not as efficient as it was in the first half. Toronto led by 12, 106-94, entering the fourth after shooting 12 of 25 for the quarter.
The Wolves, however, cut into that in a hurry thanks to another of their new acquisitions, James Johnson. Johnson hit a pair of threes in a 12-2 Wolves run to open the quarter to pull back within two, 108-106.
But that run didn't faze the defending-champion Raptors. VanVleet hit a shot-clock beating three and Patrick McCaw added another on the next possession, and suddenly the Raptors were up 120-109 with 5:29 to play and Saunders was calling a timeout.
Toronto poured it on from there, with a Siakam three that made it 127-11 proving to be the dagger.
