Ja'Kobe Walter's 26-point night led the Toronto Raptors as they picked up a 101-97 win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday and improved to 3-0 at Summer League.
The second-year guard shot 8-of-16 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line while he collected four rebounds and seven steals. Behind Walter was A.J. Lawson with 19 points off the bench on his 25th birthday. The Brampton, Ont. native shot 5-of-10 to go with seven rebounds and is averaging 20.7 points per game at Summer League so far.
Meanwhile, sophomore Jamal Shead and rookie Collin Murray-Boyles chipped in 16 and 10 points, respectively, to round out Toronto's double-digit scoring efforts. Shead also added a game-high eight assists.
Second-year forward Ulrich Chomche finished a game-high plus-15 as he put up seven points on 3-of-4 shooting to go with four rebounds an assist and a block. None more emphatic than his swat of a cutting Tamar Bates midway through the fourth quarter, after which Chomche ran full speed up the court, received a pass and then threw a wrap-around dish to Murray-Boyles for an open dunk.
On the other side, Curtis Jones led the Nuggets with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting off the bench as they fell to 0-3.
Denver, like Chicago and Orlando before it, struggled to overcome Toronto's relentless ball pressure. The Nuggets committed 24 turnovers on Tuesday, bringing the Raptors' total to a whopping 87 miscues forced over three games.
Six of those Nuggets turnovers came in the third quarter when the Raptors went on a 19-0 run en route to winning the frame by 16 points.
The Raptors are now one of eight teams in Las Vegas with an unbeaten record through three games and lead all 30 squads with a plus-17 average point differential in that span.
After every team has played four games, the top four advance to the Summer League semifinals on Saturday.
The Raptors return to action on Thursday when they take on the Golden State Warriors. Catch tip-off at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT on Sportsnet or Sportsnet+.
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