VanVleet returns to help lead Raptors over Wizards in tense 122-118 victory

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The injury-hampered Toronto Raptors survived a hot-scoring Bradley Beal and squeaked past the struggling Washington Wizards in a tense 122-118 victory on Friday night.

In a game that went from lopsided to white-knuckled in the final quarter, Kyle Lowry led Toronto with 26 points and nine assists. Serge Ibaka had 23 points and 10 rebounds, while OG Anunoby had 18 points. In his first game back following a knee injury layoff, Fred VanVleet provided 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Beal rollicked for 37 points, to lead the Wizards, while Ish Smith added 26.

The Raptors were missing three of their key players and will remain in this precarious situation indefinitely. Pascal Siakam (groin), Marc Gasol (hamstring), and Norman Powell (shoulder) all got hurt in Wednesday’s win over the Detroit Pistons, and no dates have been set for their returns.

Whether VanVleet could have used a little more time to heal before returning remains in question, but he was back in the lineup Friday. The point guard had missed the previous four games after suffering a knee contusion on Dec. 9.

“I’m not really injured anymore, so to speak. Just trying to manage the discomfort,” said VanVleet. “Luckily it’s nothing serious. Keep working through it. It will be a work in progress.”

The Raps were forced to use their fifth starting lineup of the season and rely on the positional versatility of several players. VanVleet and Lowry comprised the backcourt, Patrick McCaw started at small forward, Anunoby switched to the power forward position and Ibaka began at centre.

Toronto’s bench remained depleted, too – with Matt Thomas (finger) and Stanley Johnson (groin) still out. So the Raps had just 11 healthy bodies Friday, including G-League call-ups Dewan Hernandez and Oshae Brissett. The Raps were pushed to lean on bench players Chris Boucher (four points, five rebounds), Terrence Davis II (eight points), Malcolm Miller (without a point) and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (14 points and four assists)

The Raps had to make up for the points typically provided by their leading scorer, Siakam, who appeared headed for his first all-star game before the injury. They had to cope without Gasol’s rebounds and containment of opposing big men. They were suddenly without their December steals leader Powell, who was a beast of late in the fast break while playing the best basketball of his five-year NBA career.

The Wizards came to town also undermanned – most notably missing Rui Hachimura (groin) and all-star John Wall (Achilles). Not surprisingly, the Wiz started two big men against the undersized Raps – 6-foot-11 Ian Mahinmi and 6-foot-10 Davis Bertens.

Regardless, Washington appeared no match for Toronto early in the night. Lowry scored 12 first-quarter points as the Raps quickly got to work dismantling yet another opponent with a losing record. Toronto had a whopping 17-point lead after 12 minutes of play.

Ibaka was hot in the second quarter, scoring eight fast points and providing expert shot blocking. He blocked his third shot of the night just before half-time, which fed down-court to Anunoby, who turned it into a running dunk. The Raps led by 16 at the break, and remained well in the lead through the third.

But it was a different story in the fourth, as the as a lineup of Lowry and the four bench players let the Wiz chop their lead to eight. Then after Toronto’s other starters returned, hot-scoring Beal helped Washington tie the game in the final six minutes of play.

McCaw, who had missed a trio of three-point attempts at that point in the night, swished a stunning go-ahead three-ball at the three minute mark.

“He stepped up and made probably the biggest shot of the night there with that three, when we got one down to Serge and they sent everybody out there and he was open,” said Toronto Coach Nick Nurse, adding that McCaw also had to defend Beal. “I will say this, I know Beal had 37 but Pat was making it tough on him in a lot of stretches of that game.”

Lowry hit a big three-pointer late, too (he was 3-of-7 from deep), as the Raps re-established a cushion. Lowry then leapt up and nabbed an important rebound in the final 25 seconds to shut down the Wiz comeback.

“Tonight was a good effort by everybody to kind of get themselves going and having Freddy back definitely helped a lot,” said Lowry. “It’s just one of those things where Serge is in the lineup now and Malcolm looks to get a little more comfortable and Terence looks to get a little more comfortable. We got Rondae and Pat, everyone just has to get comfortable in their own skin and just go out there hoopin’”

McCaw, who had missed a trio of three-point attempts on the night, swished a stunning go-ahead three-ball. Lowry hit a big one late, too, as the Raps re-established a cushion. Lowry then leapt up and nabbed an important rebound in the final 25 seconds to shut down the Wiz comeback.

The Raps improved to 20-8, while the Wiz dropped to 8-19.

The Raptors play host to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday afternoon, play the Pacers in Indiana on Monday, then play in the highly anticipated Christmas Day game at home against the Boston Celtics.