Toronto Raptors rookie forward Collin Murray-Boyles checked off one of his to-do items for his NBA bucket list in the team’s 121-103 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
Not only did Murray-Boyles score his first NBA points after going scoreless in his debut against the Dallas Mavericks, but he did so in style. Murray-Boyles scored 19 points on 7 of 13 shooting while coming up with three steals on the defensive end.
“Very impressive of his effort and he was not just guarding,” Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said. “He was guarding multiple players there and he did really good job of creating a couple of deflections and steals and offensively he was finding a flow in the game today. So really happy for him and and proud for him and glad that he had such impact on the game today.”
Toronto Raptors forward Collin Murray-Boyles brings the ball up court against the Dallas Mavericks. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
The Raptors knew Murray-Boyles would be able to contribute as a rookie and his efforts against the Spurs prove why the team spent the No. 9 overall pick on him. RJ Barrett is happy for the rookie after bouncing back against the Spurs.
“I’m happy for him,” Barrett said postgame. “I think he played a little pissed off today. He definitely didn’t have the showing that he wanted to last night. So for him to come in and have a bounceback game like that is huge and it’s really good for a young guy’s confidence like that just to show what he’s able to do in this league. We believe in him and just want to kind of build off of build off of tonight.”
The Raptors were confident in Murray-Boyles as a defender when they drafted him, but wondered if his offensive game would grow over time. The fact that he was able to be effective on both ends of the floor in just his second career game is a big sign of what could be for the Raptors and Murray-Boyles.
He will go through highs and lows as a rookie, but it’s important for him to have this peak early so that it can give him the confidence he needs to go through the rest of the season.
Murray-Boyles and the Raptors hope to get back in the win column when they head back home for a game against Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets. Tipoff is scheduled for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. ET.
