Raptors blow huge lead, collapse against Edwards’ Wolves

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The Toronto Raptors seemed on the way to an impressive victory until the bottom fell out on them late at home Wednesday.

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Up after the first three quarters and ahead by three late, Toronto’s offence dried up, Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards made some big plays, and the game shifted to the visitors, who won 128-126, a score closer than it really was since Brandon Ingram hit a three-pointer with one second left when it was already basically over.

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Edwards scored 13 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, and a Raptors team, that had been uncharacteristically scalding from the field the entire way, got cold at the worst time after leading by as many as 18 points.

Instead of a second straight win, the Raptors will head into their home game against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday wondering what just happened.

Bizarrely, this was Minnesota’s first win at Toronto since 2004, ending a run of 20 straight Wolves losses.

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Some takeaways:

THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE

Rookie Collin Murray-Boyles is about six inches shorter than four-time NBA defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert, his matchup in this one, but you wouldn’t have known it early. Murray-Boyles got off to a fantastic start and made many wonder if the Raptors actually need help at centre, or if he could make it work, despite being the height of a wing player. He still is way ahead of schedule and looks like a viable fill-in centre, but this group still needs size, especially against giants such as Gobert.

The fourth was a disaster for Murray-Boyles. He went scoreless in eight minutes, with zero rebounds or assists and was a -12. It shouldn’t spoil an eye-opening overall game, but it was a reminder that it’s still not ideal playing him out of position.

TOUGH TIME

A day before the Raptors unloaded Ochai Agbaji to get under the NBA’s luxury tax Wednesday, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Jamal Shead had spoken about trying to drown out the distractions of the NBA’s trade deadline (Thurs. Feb. 5, 3 p.m. ET).

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Shead said he had talked about the business of the NBA several times with R.J. Barrett (who has constantly found himself in trade rumours) several times this season.

Mamukelashvili said it’s best to concentrate on the game itself.

“You can’t focus on that. You know, we have games to play,” Mamukelashvili had said Tuesday after practice. “I think that’s the main focus right now, winning games and playing your part. And you know, you can’t … It’s out of your control what happens. So you can’t really just focus on that,” he said.

“Just control on what your game is bringing every day, your intensity, energy and making sure you help the team.”

Shead had similar thoughts. “This is a business, and you go and do your job every day, and what happens, happens,” he said.

“You control. What you can control, and what we can control is coming in here, working and just trying to get better.”

NEW DEPTH CHART

It’s not like Agbaji was playing a ton, he had played only a total of seven minutes over his last three games as a Raptor, but before that he had been a factor with five recent outings of over 20 minutes and had started 13 times. Last season, Agbaji had averaged a career-high 27.2 minutes. Assuming Toronto is done making deals before the trade deadline, the 15.5 minutes he had dropped to this season can be filled by the likes of Ja’Kobe Walter, Gradey Dick, Jamison Battle and possibly Alijah Martin. Plus. Barrett’s minutes restriction, placed when he returned from injury, is no longer a factor so he will start playing more.

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Having one fewer player to compete against for playing time could help give Walter and/or Dick longer runways and perhaps more confidence.

Neither got a big minutes boost Wednesday though, with Walter playing 14 minutes, Dick 13. Walter had a forgettable night, but Dick played well with six points and four rebounds, making both his shots and free throw attempts.

If Toronto is finished with trades, Martin’s two-way contract could be converted to a standard one and they could do the same with A.J. Lawson (once Chris Paul is waived) or sign someone from the buyout market.

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AROUND THE RIM

Toronto shot 46.7% on three-pointers, making 14 of them, but the Wolves attempted eight more and hit 41% of them for a two make advantage. That helped overcome terrible 56% Wolves free throw shooting … Toronto hit five of eight three-point attempts to start the game … The team turned in one of its best quarters of the season in the third, building up a large lead and only committing one turnover … Murray-Boyles hit his first three-pointer since Dec. 29 after missing 11 straight … Minnesota moved to two games better than Toronto, which in the East would mean a shot at second or third place, but in the West means somewhere between sixth or seventh.

@WolstatSun

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