Fred VanVleet continues to bet on himself, and the Toronto Raptors are the beneficiaries.
With All-Star guard Kyle Lowry out Saturday with neck soreness after a nasty collision 24 hours earlier, VanVleet took the reins against the Brooklyn Nets and led his teammates to their 14th straight victory. The Raptors have struggled mightily with injuries this season, but it hasn't slowed the reigning NBA champions down as the "Next Man Up" mentality has become something of a credo at Scotiabank Arena these days.
Lowry joined Marc Gasol (hamstring) and Norman Powell (hand) on the Raptors' current injured list Friday night, opening up the opportunity for VanVleet and red-hot rookie Terence Davis (20 points) to keep Toronto going on the second night of a back-to-back.
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With timely 3-pointers and a willingness to put his body on the line, VanVleet looked a lot like Lowry in the face of a Nets comeback in the closing stages. However, Toronto (39-14) was able to hold off Brooklyn's advances to ultimately claim a 119-118 victory, thanks in large part to the 10 fourth-quarter points from their 25-year-old guard.
His name is @FredVanVleet and he's a baller pic.twitter.com/0TVIEURDHb
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) February 9, 2020
In the end, VanVleet notched 29 points, six assists, two rebounds and was 4-of-9 from behind the arc — it was his third straight game with 20 or more points.