In the absence of Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet has taken his game to another level, starring again for the Toronto Raptors in their 130-110 blowout win over the Utah Jazz tonight.
MORE: Grading Serge Ibaka's return from injury
Lowry has missed the past 11 games with a thumb injury, paving the way for VanVleet to shine as the Raptors' primary playmaker and while he is averaging career-highs across the board, VanVleet says he just wants to keep getting better.
"There's always room for improvement for me, I'm never satisfied, but I feel like I've been playing well," VanVleet told reporters post-game.
"Honestly, those days are kinda behind me - I don't really have anything left to prove. I've shown it by now."
In those 11 games without Lowry, VanVleet is averaging 21.2 points, 7.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds, shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from the three-point line, but more importantly the Raptors continue to pile up the wins, going 9-2 in that stretch, including their current seven-game win streak.
"Just trying to continue to be better and be a leader on this team and help us contribute to wins, I'm most happy with the wins, that's all that matters," he added.
"I just feel like I've found a decent rhythm with the unit that we have....when we get everybody back it will be a little different, going back to how we started the year, but just finding a groove and a rhythm and I felt like our team in general everybody's in a good spot right now with the injuries, as good as we can be.
"Obviously we want everybody back, but I think everybody's in a good spot and just being aggressive and finding opportunities and just keep building that confidence and flow and synergy within each other."
TAKEAWAYS: Siakam leads Raptors to seventh-straight win
Against the Jazz, VanVleet poured in 21 points, five rebounds and tied his season-high with 11 assists, committing zero turnovers. Pascal Siakam led the charge with 35 points on the night as the duo continue to impress as the Raptors sit second in the Eastern Conference at 15-4.
No two players on any team have shared the floor more than Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet who have logged 596 minutes together.
— Micah Adams (@MicahAdams13) December 2, 2019
Their net rating of +10.4 is the 2nd-best among the top 15 in minutes played behind...
...VanVleet and Marc Gasol who are +11.5 in 494.
Serge Ibaka returned to action against the Jazz after missing 10 games, while Lowry remains sidelined with a thumb injury.
The Raptors will look to extend their win streak to eight games, when they take on the Miami Heat on the road on Tuesday night, from 7:30pm E.T. on SN1 and NBA League Pass.
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