{"id":583890,"date":"2026-02-05T10:48:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T10:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/583890\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T10:48:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T10:48:21","slug":"raptors-stumble-in-128-126-loss-to-timberwolves-before-nba-trade-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/583890\/","title":{"rendered":"Raptors stumble in 128-126 loss to Timberwolves before NBA trade deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>TORONTO \u2014 For 24 minutes, the Toronto Raptors dominated the Minnesota Timberwolves.<\/p>\n<p>But then turnovers and the explosive play of Anthony Edwards gave Minnesota momentum in the second half and the Raptors fell to the Timberwolves 128-126 on Wednesday. Brandon Ingram, who led Toronto with 25 points, said that he and his teammates have to get back to their fundamentals.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery game is different. I think we can learn how to take care of the basketball for sure and what plays we are gonna run in the fourth quarter to be the best effectively,&#8221; said Ingram post-game. &#8220;Also, just standing our ground on the defensive side of the basketball and getting stops over and over again.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We\u2019ve done it before.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Scottie Barnes had a double-double for Toronto (30-22) with 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Barnes tied Pascal Siakam for fifth on the Raptors&#8217; all-time double-doubles list with 102.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>But those weren&#8217;t the numbers Toronto was talking about post-game.<\/p>\n<p>It was the fourth game in a row where the Raptors scored 22 or fewer points in the fourth quarter. Toronto also dropped to 1-12 against teams currently ranked in the top 10 in the NBA.<\/p>\n<p>After giving up only four turnovers in the first half, the Raptors gave up nine after intermission.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think that was the main thing there, that out of those turnovers, they were able to get out in transition and then run and score easy on us,&#8221; said Toronto head coach Darko Rajakovic. &#8220;When you&#8217;re not getting your shots, you score less and you allow them to score on the other side of the floor as well.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I thought that was the main thing there.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Backup centre Sandro Mamukelashvili was reluctant to say that the Raptors were forcing passes in the second half, but he acknowledged they should have been more careful.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We kind of got a little sloppy with the ball, and that&#8217;s the main thing,&#8221; said Mamukelashvili, after Toronto led by as many as 18 points. &#8220;I think that when you when you have the lead, you control the game.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We like to play fast, but at the same time, just kind of slowing it down and understanding when we can go and when not (to pass).&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The loss came within 24 hours of the NBA trade deadline.<\/p>\n<p>Media reports had the Raptors making a small transaction earlier Wednesday to get below the luxury tax line.<\/p>\n<p>The three-team deal that saw the Los Angeles Clippers send veteran guard Chris Paul to Toronto and the Raptors move forward Ochai Agbaji, their 2032 second-round draft pick and cash to the Brooklyn Nets.<\/p>\n<p>Several reports said that Paul was not expected to report to Toronto.<\/p>\n<p>This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 For 24 minutes, the Toronto Raptors dominated the Minnesota Timberwolves. But then turnovers and the explosive&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583891,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3770],"tags":[375,7,4441,247,2596,135,152,6,10513,279,681,7990,1261,680,476,3820],"class_list":{"0":"post-583890","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-raptors","8":"tag-anthony-edwards","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-brandon-ingram","11":"tag-brooklyn-nets","12":"tag-chris-paul","13":"tag-los-angeles-clippers","14":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","15":"tag-nba","16":"tag-ochai-agbaji","17":"tag-pascal-siakam","18":"tag-raptors","19":"tag-sandro-mamukelashvili","20":"tag-scottie-barnes","21":"tag-toronto","22":"tag-toronto-raptors","23":"tag-torontoraptors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}