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Nigeria's Achiuwa records double-double as the Raptors overcame the Knicks in Canada.
Nigerian basketball star Precious Achiuwa had a monster game as the Toronto Raptors defeated the New York Knicks in an NBA fixture played in the early hours of Monday, January 23, 2023.
In a back-and-forth game, the Raptors recorded a 125-116 victory in front if their home fans in Canada.
The Raptors had lost their last three games and came out strong to take a 15-point lead after the first quarter.
The Knicks stormed back to take the second quarter reducing the Raptors lead to a nine-point lead at the halftime break.
Led by Julius Randle, the Knicks took the third quarter to level the game going into the fourth.
Big shots by Gary Trent Jr and Cameroon's Pascal Siakam propelled the Raptors to victory late in the game.
Precious Achiuwa shines for the Raptors
Nigeria's D'Tigers star Achiuwa was the key to the Raptors' victory against the Knicks.
Achiuwa was given a starting berth by Raptors Head Coach Nick Nurse in the absence of Ogugua "O.G." Anunoby.
In 36 minutes of action, Achiuwa contributed 12 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, provided one assist and two steals.
He made two of his four shots and eight of 10 from the free throw line with a plus-three team rating.
Speaking after the game, Achiuwa explained that he was excited to fill in for Anunoby and wants the Raptors to keep playing hard.
He said, "You know just going out there playing basketball playing the right way that's all, that is for me.
"I'm just trying to you know be like OG out there you know um just hold it down till you get back you know.
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"He has that big defensive reputation you know so I'm trying to get to my Egos and you know stuff like that.
"I mean just playing hard and um we played hard yesterday we'll play a hard time we'll play hard every day it's gonna be really tough to beat us.
"We're at our best when we played hard so we just continue playing the same way and playing the right way playing hard basketball you know I think we'll be just fine."
The Raptors will aim to make it two victories in a row when they travel to face the Sacramento Kings in their next fixture scheduled for Thursday, January 26, 2023.
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