Fred VanVleet's Historic Night Erases Woeful Start for Raptors Who Clinch 5th Straight Victory

The Toronto Raptors erased a dreadful first half thanks to a historic triple-double performance from Fred VanVleet

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Fred VanVleet had seen enough.

The Toronto Raptors had embarrassed themselves for the better part of three quarters, letting Utah Jazz, down all but two rotation players and every single member of their starting lineup, throttle them Friday night. Trailing 17 points at one point, it was ugly.

So VanVleet changed his shoes. When those didn't work, he changed them again, hoping for some sort of magic. It worked.

In one three-minute stretch, he single-handedly erased a near nightmare loss for Toronto, turning an 84-70 deficit into a tie game courtesy of a 17-point run from the soon-to-be first-time All-Star to clinch his first career triple-double with 37 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, and a 122-108 victory, Toronto's fifth straight.

The offense was, of course, flawless: Two three-pointers, three free throws, a driving layup, and two mid-range jumpers all in a three-minute span. But it wouldn't have been possible without his contributions at the other end. He swiped an errant pass, stripped Hassan Whiteside, and grabbed two rebounds to reinvigorate the lifeless Raptors in the third quarter.

"I’mma be honest, I always think I’m the best player in the gym and sometimes I’m right and sometimes I’m wrong and sometimes you show it and sometimes you don’t," VanVleet said. "That’s just the way I approach the game and you have to enforce that will and enforce your will on the game. I was more proud of the defensive plays I made in the third to give us that spark and the offense, that is what it is, it’ll come and go. I was just able to find my rhythm, my teammates set good screens and found me in good spots."

For most of the night, it had been one of those games VanVleet has dreaded all season. The Raptors came out underestimating Jazz, as they've done far too often this year to lesser opponents. They were slow on defense, couldn't get out to shooters, and couldn't buy a bucket as Utah packed the paint. The Jazz outshot the Raptors by 16% and were lighting it up from behind the arc heading into the break.

"We just looked at some clips and talked about a bunch of things," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. "We weren’t keeping the ball in front very well, and that was causing a layup problem, a back to the big problem, a corner three problem, and we had to adjust our mindset there of squaring up and keeping the ball in front better. That’s kinda what I focused on."

It was the mirror image of Toronto's start Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks when the Raptors came out totally flat only to rebound in the second half to eke out the victory.

"You certainly don't ever want to get comfortable in that position," Nurse said. "Maybe we've got to get to some adjustments sooner. That's probably a couple games in a row where we went to some pretty drastic adjustments in the second half defensively and totally, totally turned the game around."

VanVleet's performance seemed to come out of nowhere Friday night. He shot 2-for-11 in the first half, trying to attack Whiteside in the pick-and-roll and repeatedly coming up short. But the halftime break changed everything.

He went 8-for-8 in the third quarter with 15 straight points and 17 straight Raptors points, one shy of Vince Carter's franchise record of 18 straight. The triple-double was his first since his junior year in college, a 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists game he recorded on February 7, 2015.

Lowry Congratulates VanVleet

@FredVanVleet triple double!! About time !! Lol congrats !!! #NBAAllStar

— Kyle Lowry (@Klow7) January 8, 2022

VanVleet is now 15 triple-doubles shy of Kyle Lowry's all-time Raptors record with 16. 

"I was texting him, we had a good back-and-forth but shout out to Kyle, I got to learn from one of the best at getting triple-doubles," VanVleet said. "I don’t know if he ever had 37 while getting one, maybe I got that on him but he’s got quite a few of them so it’s gonna be hard to track him down."

Injury Updates

VanVleet appeared to be limping when he entered the post-game press conference room, though he said everything was "OK."

Scottie Barnes did briefly leave with a hip injury, though he did return and Nurse didn't seem too concerned post-game.

Up Next: New Orleans Pelicans

The still Zion Williamson-less New Orleans Pelicans will come to town as the homestand continues in Toronto on Sunday night at 6 p.m. ET.