Raptors Beat San Lorenzo 122-105

(photo credit: nba,com)

The Buenos Aires-based San Lorenzo de Almagro traveled to Toronto to take on the Raptors in international exhibition play on Friday night. With Toronto sitting most of its top roster players, San Lorenzo was able to keep the game close for a while, but the Raptors pulled away in the fourth quarter to earn a 122-105 victory.

Toronto had just played against the Cleveland Cavaliers the previous night, so head coach Dwayne Casey decided to give a handful of players the night off. Kyle Lowry, Demar DeRozan, Jared Sullinger and Demarre Carroll, amongst others, all watched from the bench as players fighting for the last roster spot got the chance to show off their skills.

Leading the charge were Norman Powell and Fred VanVleet. In just 24 minutes, second year shooting guard Powell put up 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting, with four assists and two highlight reel dunks that were sure to catch the attention of the crowd and the coaching staff. VanVleet, an undrafted rookie point guard out of Wichita State, had significant playing time and filled that box score accordingly. In 38 minutes he deposited 31 points on 12-for-19 shooting, five rebounds, five assists, and a +/- of 25.

San Lorenzo kept the game exciting for quite some time. They had the lead at halftime, and had a 61-59 advantage at the 9:30 mark of the third quarter, but Toronto used a small run to take a 79-73 lead six minutes later. The Raptors were up by just five after three quarters, but eventually pushed the margin to 20 points late in the fourth, before settling for the final score.

The Raptors are 3-2 in the preseason, with additional victories over Cleveland and the Golden State Warriors. The two losses came at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets. They have two more games to complete their preseason, against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday and the Washington Wizards on Friday, before they open their regular season at home against Detroit on Wednesday, Oct. 26.