TORONTO, April 26 (Xinhua) — Toronto Raptors guard Ben Uzoh recorded 12 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists to lead the Raptors to a 98-67 victory over the New Jersey Nets in NBA action on Thursday night.
Uzoh’s triple double was the tenth in franchise history and first since March 23, 2001 when Alvin Williams recorded 11 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists.
Uzoh credited his teammates with helping him achieve the rare feat in team’s final game of the season. “My teammates were just rooting me on and kind of pushed me to try and get that and that is a big thing in this league,” he said after the game.
The triple double was also the eighteenth overall this season. Celtics guard Rajon Rondo leads the league with six and twelve other players (including Uzoh) are tied for second with one a piece.
Uzoh also received praise from Raptors head coach Dwane Casey.
“He had a heck of a game. Coming in on a 10 day contract, I doubted his point guard skills at times but I just watched a young man grow in his two 10 day contracts… to watch his confidence grow and him grow as a point guard in this league and for him to do it against his former team is beautiful,” said Casey.
With the team eliminated from the playoffs weeks ago, the Raptors had the luxury of giving young players the opportunity to play.
“I wanted to see the young players play. I wanted to see Solo, Ben Uzoh and James Johnson. That’s what the last couple of weeks have been about, getting those guys as many minutes as possible,” said Casey.
With the season over, the Raptors finish with a 23-43 record and fail to make the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
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