TORONTO (AP) 鈥� Jerami Grant scored 22 points, Deandre Ayton had 10 points and a career-high 23 rebounds and the Portland Trail Blazers won their first game of the season by beating the Toronto Raptors 99-91 on Monday night.
鈥淚t feels great to get that first win,鈥� Grant said. 鈥淲e just want to build on it and keep getting better.鈥�
Fifteen of Ayton鈥檚 rebounds came in the second half, when Portland outscored Toronto 52-41. Ayton finished with seven offensive boards.
鈥淗is presence was felt everywhere on the floor tonight,鈥� Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said of Ayton. 鈥淭hose are some of the things that we鈥檙e going to expect to be getting from him.鈥�
Ayton鈥檚 previous rebounding mark was 21, set three times. He last reached it Nov. 26, 2022, against Utah.
Malcolm Brogdon scored 21 points, including a driving basket with 25 seconds remaining, and Canadian-born guard Shaedon Sharpe scored 14 points for Portland, which snapped a season-opening, three-game losing streak.
Trail Blazers rookie Scoot Henderson scored 11 points as Portland snapped a two-game losing streak against Toronto.
鈥淚 was just so happy for Scoot,鈥� Billups said. 鈥淏oth halves he was aggressive, he was attacking. I thought defensively he was really good as well.鈥�
Scottie Barnes had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Jakob Poeltl had 14 points and 10 rebounds, but Toronto lost its third straight.
鈥淚 feel like we should have won this one,鈥� Barnes said.
Pascal Siakam scored 20 points, and Dennis Schroder and O.G. Anunoby each had 10 for Toronto. The Raptors shot a season-worst 4 for 29 from 3-point range, with Siakam missing all six of his attempts.
Anunoby was the only Raptors player to make more than one 3-pointer. He shot 2 for 9 from distance.
鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 get buckets and that was the theme of the night,鈥� Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said.
Anunoby returned after sitting out Saturday鈥檚 loss to Philadelphia because of muscle cramps. Forward Precious Achiuwa, who left Saturday鈥檚 game because of a sore left groin, did not play Monday.
Portland center Robert Williams III was rested on the second night of a back-to-back after playing 26 minutes in Sunday鈥檚 loss at Philadelphia.
Siakam scored the final four points of the first half to give Toronto a 50-47 lead at the intermission. The Raptors shot 3 for 16 from 3-point range in the first two quarters.
Grant scored eight points and Brogdon had seven as Portland made 13 of 22 attempts in the third. The Trail Blazers took an 80-74 lead to the fourth.
鈥淚n our last game, against Philly, in the third quarter they came out and jumped on us early,鈥� Grant said. 鈥淲e knew we had to come out with a level of intensity.鈥�
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Visit the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.
Raptors: Host the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.
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AP NBA:
Ian Harrison, The Associated Press
