toronto Page 21 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The Difference In The East Could Be Andrei Vasilevskiy
In a just world, the Lightning and Maple Leafs would meet in the Eastern Conference final. But it is not a just world, and because the two clear best teams in the East also happen to be the two best teams in the Atlantic Division, the NHL’s playoff format puts the two on track for a second-round sho...
The Raptors Didn't Even Need Kawhi Leonard To Punk The Warriors In Oakland
Last week, the Warriors traveled to Milwaukee and avenged their early-season loss to the Bucks with ease, dispatching one of their possible Finals opponents without ever having to do to much. They clearly made a point of putting the Bucks in their place—increasingly rickety Andre Iguodala played 28 ...
Kawhi Leonard Has No Time For Your Damn Holiday Cheer
This is so good. A reporter in the scrum ahead of tonight’s Raptors-Clippers game thought it would be a good idea to ask the famously loquacious and good-humored Kawhi Leonard to recall his favorite Christmas memory. Kawhi’s answer is just the most curmudgeonly thing....
Nikola Jokic Is An Artist
The Nuggets beat the Raptors in Toronto Monday night, by the score of 106—103. This was the East’s best team by record against the West’s best team by record, and though it didn’t get the hype of Friday’s “Finals preview” matchup, both teams were at full strength, and both teams are rolling, and tha...
William Nylander Ends Holdout, Agrees To Six-Year Deal With Maple Leafs
The William Nylander saga officially came to a close on Saturday after the 22-year-old winger signed a contract extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs, as first reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger....
Pascal Siakam Is Fun For The Whole Family
Six-foot-nine and a grinning menace on the fast break? Check. Seven-foot-three wingspan and can be switched anywhere? Check. Glitch-like speed and the sweetest spin move going? Check. Extremely powerful name? Check. Dropped a 26-point, 8-for-10 bomb on the Warriors? As of last night, check....
![William Nylander And The Leafs Have 26 Hours To Figure This Out [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/xdyccglydedtrdg350fi.jpg)
William Nylander And The Leafs Have 26 Hours To Figure This Out [Update]
The Toronto Maple Leafs, with the newly acquired John Tavares leading the way, are enjoying a strong start to the 2018–19 season. With 36 points from 26 games and the best goal differential in hockey (+26), a team that lost a hard-fought seven-game first-round playoff series to the Bruins last sprin...
Kevin Durant Is Absurd
The Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors in overtime Thursday night by the score of 131–128. The matchup lost some of its potential juice due to the absence of Steph Curry and Draymond Green, but the basketball itself was terrific. Kawhi Leonard was great. Pascal Siakam was great. Even Ser...
Kawhi Leonard Isn't Mad, He's Actually Laughing About Gregg Popovich's Dig
Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard, a man who has laughed at least eight times in his life, got in a good ninth chuckle on Sunday, when Spurs coach Gregg Popovich criticized his former player’s leadership abilities....
Dwane Casey Gets His Revenge On The Raptors
With 1.2 seconds remaining in regulation, José Calderón found Reggie Bullock five feet from the basket to hit the buzzer-beating shot that gave the Pistons a 106-104 win over the Raptors. It was Dwane Casey’s first game back in Toronto since the Raptors fired him at the end of last season, and he d...
Jrue Holiday Will Punish You For Worrying About Anthony Davis
The Toronto Raptors came into last night’s home game against the New Orleans Pelicans as the hottest team in the NBA, with a league-best 12-1 record and on a six-game winning streak. They had third-best offense and eighth-best defense in the league, and have done all this with Kawhi Leonard already ...
Morgan Rielly Apologizes To Devils' Keith Kinkaid For Scoring Very Savable Goal
It was a tough night for New Jersey Devils goalie Keith Kinkaid. The backup-turned-starter was on the wrong end of a 6-1 shellacking from an Auston Matthews-less Toronto Maple Leafs. ...
OG Anunoby Pays Homage To Kawhi Leonard With No-Look Steal
It’s no secret that Kawhi Leonard’s presence on the Raptors has vaulted the team from LeBron’s postseason punching bags to a potential conference championship contender. But OG Anunoby decided to show the Kings just how influential the former Defensive Player of the Year has been with his take on hi...
Erik Haula Taken Off Ice On Stretcher After Nasty Knee Injury
Vegas Golden Knights forward Erik Haula had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher in the third period of his team’s game against the Maple Leafs tonight, after a clean check against the boards from Patrick Marleau forced Haula’s right leg to bend in a way it’s not supposed to bend....
The Raptors Made Deandre Ayton Look Silly
The Raptors played with some pretty mediocre effort on Friday which kept the terrible Phoenix Suns actually in a game going into the fourth quarter. One of the things that helped Toronto flip the switch and get the offense going was earning some quality assists through the legs of rookie big man Dea...
Kawhi Leonard Pestered Ben Simmons Into The Bad Kind Of Triple-Double
Ben Simmons, who can’t shoot worth shit, had the bad kind of triple-double Tuesday night, registering 11 turnovers against 11 points and 10 assists. This isn’t an especially rare feat in the NBA—Basketball Reference says it has happened 81 other times since 1977—although Simmons’s 21 combined points...
Oh Yeah, Duh, Kawhi Leonard Is Still The Shit
There were plenty of reasons to be skeptical that Kawhi Leonard would show up in Toronto and immediately resume life as a superduperstar. He hadn’t really played hoops in a year, the severity of his quad injury was a matter of quantum uncertainty, and all signs before the fateful trade last summer p...
Tristan Thompson, Apparently Forgetting Everything That Happened This Summer, Talks Shit About East Contenders
LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers this summer. You may have heard. He is now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. His minutes on the Cavaliers will be used by some combination of Cedi Osman, Rodney Hood, and I guess David Nwaba. Here is video evidence that Tristan Thompson somehow managed to ...
Kawhi Leonard Has Laughed At Least Eight Times In His Life
After Monday’s press conference, the biggest question surrounding Kawhi Leonard isn’t whether he will be healthy and happy enough to take the Toronto Raptors to the top of the East, but, “Wait, does he really laugh like that?” Thankfully, this compilation of Leonard laughs throughout the years shows...