An electrifying night has got to be the definition of the NBA season opener at the Scotiabank Arena. The Toronto Raptors hosted the New Orleans Pelicans to inaugurate the 74th. season in the history of the league, and as expected, it was one to remember, including a sold out attendance of 20,787 people.
It all started with the ring ceremony, where the current NBA champions, the Raptors, received their championship rings and unveiled the new banner at the Scotiabank Arena, as proof of the first title in the history of the franchise. With lots of stars in the crowd including Canadians Andre DeGrasse, Roy Woods, Jessie Reyez and many others, the NBA season most definitely started on a high note.
Moving to the game, even though the Pelicans were without Zion Williamson due to a knee injury, both teams put on an absolute show for the fans in Toronto. After 48 minutes of intense warfare, there was nothing that could split the two teams and the game was forced to go to overtime. Things looked complicated for the Raptors, who lost one of their star man Pascal Siakam due to fouling out during the end of the fourth quarter, but thanks to an amazing performance by Fred VanVleet, the Raptors went on to win the game by 130 points to 122.
Lots of positives for Nick Nurse’s squad, and special mention to both Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet, who recorded 34 points each and were the game leading scorers. On the other hand, the Pelicans had five players in double digits but that wasn’t enough to steal the victory from Toronto.
In the postgame press conference, Coach Nurse revealed the importance of ‘Spicy P’ in the game, saying that he was the X factor in tonight’s win.
‘’He carried us for a lot of stretches’’, Nurse claimed.
What a way to start a new campaign in the NBA, and with 81 more games to go in the regular season, there’s no doubt that this year can be one for the history books in the league.