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Raptors' Precious Achiuwa had fighting words for Heat after monster game against former team

Adam Laskaris
Adam Laskaris
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Oct 25 2022, 1:53 pm
Raptors' Precious Achiuwa had fighting words for Heat after monster game against former team
Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports

Precious Achiuwa seems pretty content to be a member of the Toronto Raptors — and maybe pretty happy he’s not somewhere else.

Now in his third year in the NBA, Achiuwa came to Toronto a year after being drafted by the Miami Heat, being sent up north via the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade in August 2021.

The-then 21-year-old Achiuwa obviously didn’t have much say in the matter, but like anyone, he was probably a little blindsided he’d been shipped out of town less than a calendar year after being taken 20th overall.

And against his former team on Monday night, Achiuwa put up career-high 22 rebounds, while also adding 10 points, two assists and a block while coming off the bench for the Raptors.

Was there a little extra motivation playing against his former team? Well, maybe.

“It’s a great feeling for me, just coming out here, getting the win,” Achiuwa told Sportsnet’s Savanna Hamilton in a postgame courtside interview. “I’m down to beat this team any day. That excites me more than anything, but the most important thing is just coming out here and getting the win.”

Raptors fans seemed to love Achiuwa’s candid answer:

Achiuwa has averaged 10.0 rebounds and 9.5 points in six games against the Heat with Toronto over the past two seasons.

“It’s just the will to go get the rebound,” Achiuwa said of his success on the glass against Miami. “That’s, that’s really it, you know, go out there, get the rebounds, and just play.”

And it appears that his big night against his old coworkers had Achiuwa’s phone blowing up.

“My friends have been calling me. Some of them sober, a lot of them drunk,” Achiuwa joked.

Toronto returns home to Scotiabank Arena for a three-game homestand, kicking off with a pair of matches on Wednesday and Friday of this week against the Philadelphia 76ers.

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