TORONTO, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) — Terrence Ross’ franchise-tying 51 points was not enough as the Toronto Raptors fell to the Los Angeles Clippers 126-118 in NBA action on Saturday night.
The 51-point performance tied the franchise record for points in a game set by Vince Carter in Feburary 2000.
“It feels good,” said Ross after the game. “You don’t think about. You try to win the game and do whatever.”
Three days prior, forward DeMar DeRozan became the first Raptor in three seasons to eclipse the 40-point mark in a victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Two games later in front of a sold-out Air Canada Centre crowd, Ross becomes the eighth player to eclipse the 40-point mark and only the second ever to pass 50 points.
Raptors head coach Dwane Casey was extremely pleased with the effort from Ross.
“He did an admirable job offensively,” said Casey. “He was focused, locked in.”
Ross started the game 5-6 from the three-point line in the first quarter. He finished the half with 23 points including a franchise-record seven three-pointers in the half.
In the second half, the Raptors lost forward DeMar DeRozan to an ankle injury and Ross became the focus of the offence. Despite held to three three-pointers in the second half, Ross managed to produce 28 points in the second half.
“They were running at him,” said Casey. “Terrence tonight did a good job of reading what the defence did and took them off the dribble. He got to the free throw line also.”
Ross truly had a career night. He went 9-10 from the free throw line, 10-17 from beyond the arc and 16-29 from the field and 44 minutes played were all career highs.
With this offensive explosion, Casey hopes Ross can continue to be as aggressive on offence as he has been defensively.
“He’s been giving it to us defensively, he’s been locked in,” said Casey. “Now he’s told on himself, not that he’s going to get 51 every night, but he needs to have that offensive focus, looking for his shots and being aggressive.”
For Ross, he believes the key to success going forward is to be focused and confident.
“Go with the same mindset – focused and being ready to play. My teammates had confidence in me (tonight),” said Ross. “Every time I was open, they passed it to me and I shot it. That’s what they want me to do.”
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Ross is the first player in NBA history to score 50 points while averaging less than 10 points.
With his 51-point performance, Ross’ points per game on the season goes from 9.26 to 10.23.
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