3 Takeaways From Nets vs. Raptors – Game 1

The defending champion Toronto Raptors kicked off their quest to repeat with a 134-110 victory over the Brooklyn Nets in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first round series.

Here are 3 Takeaways from today’s matchup between the 3-seed Toronto and 7-seed Brooklyn:

1. The Raptors make a statement

No Kawhi Leonard? No problem.

Toronto was clicking on all cylinders offensively on Monday, with seven players scoring in double-figures, including all five starters.

The Raptors shot 47.1% from the field, 50% from three-point range, and 97% from the free throw line, and veteran big man Serge Ibaka scored 22 points in 26 minutes off the bench.

Toronto has now won 9 of its 10 games in the bubble and five straight overall, with four different players having led the team in scoring in their last five. 

2. Fred VanVleet gets to cookin’

While the Raptors used an all-hands-on-deck approach to winning Game 1, Fred VanVleet was the star of the game offensively.

VanVleet posted playoff career-highs in points (30) and assists (11), and he’s averaging 19.6 points in his seven bubble appearances.

VanVleet has only scored 30 points on three occasions this season, but the Raptors are now 3-0 in those contests.

Toronto is now 8-1 when VanVleet scores 25 or more this season.

3. Nets continue to get contributions from unfamiliar faces

Brooklyn trailed by as many as 33 points in the second quarter, but scraped and clawed to cut Toronto’s lead to 9 early in the fourth quarter.

And a lot of that scraping and clawing had to do with the play of fourth-year guard Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot.

Luwawu-Cabarrot scored a career-high 26 points on Monday, connecting on six threes in the process.

His performance continues the trend of Nets players having breakout performances in the bubble, after guard Caris Levert recorded 37 points and 9 assists against the Portland Trail Blazers in the final game of seeding play last week.

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