Raps look homesick in NBA opener in Tampa

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Williamson was held in check through the first half but got going a little in the second half to finish with 15 points and 10 rebounds, including four of the offensive variety.

Siakam finished up with a team-best 20 points, two more than Lowry, who also had six assists, but it just wasn’t enough to overcome the Pelicans who look like a much more disciplined team under new head coach Stan Van Gundy.

The Raptors will now have to stew on this loss until Boxing Day when they head to San Antonio and a date with long-time Raptor DeMar DeRozan.

NBA POST-BUBBLE WORLD

It took all of two nights into the schedule before the NBA was forced to postpone its first game due to the coronavirus impact.

Houston, after multiple players had to sit out either for a positive test or for close contact with an individual who tested positive, not to mention some flagrant flaunting of the league’s virus protocols, could not put eight players on the court and therefore the league was forced to postpone Wednesday night’s game with Oklahoma City.

It’s the first and likely won’t be the last, but it immediately began the questioning of whether the league was doing the right thing by going ahead with a non-bubble format for the current schedule.

Nurse, for now, says he’s fairly comfortable with the league’s approach.

“I would say that I understand that there are some people — players and staff, etc. — testing positive,” Nurse said. “I’d be much more concerned if we were going through this if there was a number of players going to the hospital, a number of staff going to the hospital, and I just don’t see that as the case with all these colleges and universities and all the athletes that test. I don’t hear hardly any of them, if any, going to the hospital. And I guess we’re trying to be as safe as we can and (follow the) protocols and I think that’s the right move going forward and if something happens where there’s some positive cases at a college football game or a basketball game, they postpone it and they try to work around it as best as they can and I’m on board with that, 100%.”