OG Anunoby came up with best game of the NBA season when the Raptors needed it most on Wednesday night.

Unable to get any traction in a second year that has been broken up in fits and starts because of personal issues that kept him away from the team, Anunoby exploded for a season-best 22 points to help the short-handed Raptors subdue the Washington Wizards 129-120 at Scotiabank Arena.

“Tonight was really, really good, but I think that was his third really good game in his last five,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said of Anunoby. “I know Philly, I came out of that one saying he played hard, was on the glass, impacted that game, and the last two I think he’s been good.”

Pascal Siakam also lit up the Wizards with a career-high scoring night, but it was Anunoby’s unexpected but most welcome contribution that put the Raptors over the top. He made four three-pointers and grabbed six rebounds, igniting a 33-9 Raptors run in the third quarter that gave them control of the game.

For Siakam, it was a continuation from less than a week ago, bailing out an undermanned team.

The Raptors had basically a skeleton crew for a game in Atlanta last week, hours after sending out five players in trades and with Kawhi Leonard out with a sore knee. Siakam scored 33 points, then a career high, as the Raptors beat the Hawks.

Wednesday, with injuries limiting the Raptors to 10 available bodies and only nine who played when the game was in doubt, Siakam poured in 44 points. He made a career-best four three-pointers on just five attempts while also pulling down nine rebounds.

Jeremy Lin had eight points, five rebounds and five assists in his Toronto debut, while Marc Gasol put up seven points and seven rebounds in his second Raptors appearance.

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Down to 10: The injury absences of Leonard (left knee soreness) and Fred VanVleet (thumb surgery) were expected, but the Raptors were reduced to 10 available players when Patrick McCaw was a late scratch due to a shoulder injury. Nurse pared his rotation to basically eight, using Chris Boucher for only three fourth-quarter minutes. Norm Powell made his third start of the season in Leonard’s place and finished with 11 points in 30 minutes.

Heading home: Raptor assistant coach Sergio Scariolo will head back to Spain on Thursday for an extended break, but not entirely free of work. Scariolo will have a couple of days off before he resumes his role as head coach of the Spanish national team that finishes its World Cup qualifying process with two games in Tenerife next week. Scariolo will miss at least Toronto’s first two games after the NBA break.

Just another fan: Nurse said he found it “interesting” to catch a bit of Tuesday’s game between San Antonio and Memphis that included eight former Raptors. But mindful of NBA tampering rules, he wouldn’t venture much more. “It was … very interesting to watch them go at each other a little bit,” he said. “I watched most of the game. I thought they all looked pretty good and that’s all I can say. It was interesting.”

Up next: More than a week between games, and then maybe the most anticipated regular-season home game of the year. DeMar DeRozan and the San Antonio Spurs are in Toronto a week from Friday for a 7 p.m. start.

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