Raptors can’t recover after slow start, fall to Timberwolves, 101-112

The scrappy young Raptors made it a game despite sleepwalking through the first three quarters.

The Toronto Raptors struggled to overcome a slow start, ultimately falling to the hosts, Minnesota Timberwolves, 101-112. Despite a solid fourth-quarter push, the Raptors’ struggles for the better part of the game proved too much to overcome, as the Timberwolves were too good to let this game slip off their hands.

Toronto’s Gradey Dick had a career-high despite the loss, dropping 25 points, including 4-for-9 from the perimeter. Scottie Barnes shook off a slow start, finishing 20 points, eight boards, and six dimes. Unfortunately, he was erratic with the ball, committing four of his six giveaways in the first half. Ochai Agbaji notched his career-high as a Raptor, finishing with 19 points and dropping a surprising 3-for-5 from the perimeter.

Minnesota’s Julius Randle had his way for the most part — if anything, it was Davion Mitchell who provided a much better resistance defending him, albeit in just a few possessions. Randle cruised to 24 points, nine boards, and five dimes. Anthony Edwards, who looked like he was playing at a lower gear for most of the game, tallied 24 points, including five trifectas. Rudy Gobert was a pest in the paint and had a solid 15 points, 12 boards, and four blocks.

The Timberwolves raced to a 20-7 lead to start the game, not just showing who has the fresher legs but imposing their will on both ends of the floor. Things looked discombobulated for the Raptors in the early parts of the second period. It took Gradey Dick and Ochai Agbaji’s scoring to keep the Timberwolves from blowing the game open, trailing the Timberwolves 44-56 at the half.

Unfortunately, the Raptors could not get the momentum back in the third frame, and it didn’t help that Scottie Barnes was almost a non-factor offensively in this period, much like the two previous quarters. Despite Gradey’s efforts, the Timberwolves’ lead grew to 80-58. Despite being offensively challenged, the Raptors’ bench showed plenty of fight and scrapped their way back into the game, enough to set the table for Barnes to go for a big push in the fourth period.

Barnes shifted gears in the fourth period, and with him leading the way, the team’s intensity picked up as well. The Raptors managed to get as close as 98-105 late in the fourth but were not polished enough to get it any closer than that.

The Raptors are clearly missing their other key players. At the same time, the Timberwolves were the better team and made some really tough three-pointers. Not bad for a team on their second game of their back-to-back, but there were a lot of self-inflicted issues for this young Raptors team. The Raptors committed 20 turnovers, leading to 27 points off turnovers in favour of the Timberwolves. They also sent the Timberwolves to the line 26 times, giving the hosts a +11 point difference at the free-throw line. More importantly, Scottie Barnes has to be more assertive to start games, if only for some of the game. This task falls on coach Darko Rajakovic, too, as there’s no way that Barnes should be a non-factor for 3/4s of the game because we know that Barnes is way better than what we’ve seen tonight.

This loss is more in line with the “acceptable/tolerable loss” we expect (and expect a lot) this season. Except for Barnes, who was near no-show through three periods, the team turned this game into a fun one: a scrappy young team with plenty of positive moments from the young players.