Toronto Raptors defeat Trail Blazers 110-104 ahead of the NBA restart

Toronto Raptors defeat Trail Blazers 110-104 as Damian Lillard sat out due to injury

Toronto Raptors defeat Trail Blazers 110-104 as Damian Lillard sat out due to injury

Toronto Raptors defeated the Portland Trail Blazers by 110-104 in their second scrimmage ahead of the NBA restart from July 30. Trail Blazers were without their star player Damian Lillard as he sat out due to an inflammation in his foot. 

Trail Blazers may have been outclassed by the defending champions, but CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic put up a good competition. McCollum led the side with 21 points while Nurkic put up 17 points and added 13 rebounds and five assists. Hassan Whiteside had missed the first scrimmage due to calf and Achilles injury returned to the side and scored six points along with five rebounds and two blocks in the first quarter. 

On the other hand, Toronto was led by the forward Pascal Siakam’s 18 points and Serge Ibaka’s 19 points in the match. Serge Ibaka was in an attack mode especially during the second half of the match which was too difficult for the Trail Blazers to handle. He led the three-point attack that helped create the difference of the points at the end of the match. 

Blazers did miss the presence of Lillard and he is expected to be back in the coming days as he recovers. 

“He did have an X-ray. The X-ray was negative. He does have some inflammation. I don’t expect it to be a long-term thing.

“Hopefully he will be able to play our last scrimmage game.” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said prior to the scrimmage.

Raptors also missed Fred VanVleet as he left the match halfway due to an injury. However, he was seen back at the bench and also expected to play the next scrimmage for the side. Raptors play their next scrimmage against the Phoenix Suns on 28th July.