Quick Reaction: Raptors 119, Pelicans 93
| Raptors | 119 | Final Box Score |
93 | Pelicans |
A+ | O. Agbaji28 MIN, 24 PTS, 6 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 9-10 FG, 6-7 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 33 +/- Every time he has a shift that isn’t as effective as has been his custom this season, I keep expecting it to be the start of a downturn. He has just been so damn good this year, after being so damn bad last year. But no, he remained amazing. It took him most of the first quarter, but he got on the board in a big way with a triple then a block from behind that sparked a transition dunk for Barnes the other way. The he went crazy, hitting everything, layups, triples (more triples). Everything. Really strong defence, too, with a fancy steal on the ball. | |
A | R. Barrett33 MIN, 22 PTS, 8 REB, 11 AST, 0 STL, 8-15 FG, 3-7 3FG, 3-7 FT, 0 BLK, 4 TO, 23 +/- Running point guard with the starters to get Barnes some small advantages on the catch, which I liked. Barrett was more involved, in more active ways, than I thought he was against Detroit. He had a stretch where he sort of spaced out and missed some jumpers, but he made a couple to end the first half and then got back to the rim in the second. He settled in and threw some really chain-moving passes to corner shooters. A near triple-double. | |
B- | J. Poeltl31 MIN, 2 PTS, 8 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 1-4 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-2 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 26 +/- No one was spoon-feeding him points early, as the Pelicans were making it very clear they were going to force him to roll into bodies, not space. That still really helped shooters find extra space, even if it didn’t put any numbers in his box score. Defensively, he let a few things get past him early before really locking in the second quarter onward. Stars get their numbers no matter what the defence does. Poeltl is not a star, so it’s not his fault that his numbers shifted in this one. That was what the defence was designed to do. | |
C+ | S. Barnes32 MIN, 17 PTS, 12 REB, 7 AST, 0 STL, 7-23 FG, 2-12 3FG, 1-2 FT, 1 BLK, 5 TO, 33 +/- The shots didn’t fall, really from anywhere, and even though he was doing damage at the rim early in the first, he drifted into settling for his jumper after that. They were good shots, mostly, but he missed them. He looked a little lost after that in the half-court, holding the ball, throwing really poor passes that ended up in turnovers, getting blocked and having his handle stripped, and not really fitting into Toronto’s system. But the defence was strong, and Toronto dominated his minutes. He does enough stuff in every area that he can still play winning basketball in games like this, despite it not being his best. | |
A+ | J. Walter27 MIN, 14 PTS, 11 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 6-14 FG, 2-10 3FG, 0-1 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 31 +/- Starter! Double-double! Lob-thrower! His first touch was a corner triple as he drifted away from the ball. Clean touch clean shot. Only moments later, he got lost in a pick and roll and threw a needless turnover, only to steal it back immediately. He also reverse finished a no-look lob from Scottie that Walter had no business even catching and threw a nice laydown to Poeltl on the drive — it wasn’t just shooting (which was actually off, even if he drifted to plenty of great looks). Furthermore, the defence was real, as he recovered in tight spaces well and generally stayed in front, even if his momentum put him in tough spots for a moment. And he rebounded great, doing well to jitter into empty spaces to help grab the ball as his teammates blocked out. Just a near-perfect game for him. | |
B | D. Mitchell15 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -2 +/- He didn’t really do anything that showed up in the box score, but the defence was immaculate as always. I really didn’t mind Walter starting over him, and it did juice the offensive spacing. And Mitchell still gave a ton in the bench role that will be his usual spot when (if) everyone gets healthy. | |
C | C. Boucher12 MIN, 0 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-4 FG, 0-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -3 +/- The shots are wild, but that’s kind of the point with him. When they don’t fall, that’s kind of just life. That’s the thing about Boucher — what he does shows up in the box score, for better or for worse. | |
A+ | J. Battle22 MIN, 24 PTS, 1 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 9-11 FG, 6-8 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -1 +/- A shooter! A real one. Maybe Toronto’s only real knockdown shooter in the rotation right now (non-Ochai division). His defence is very much holding up these days too, as he’s big and in the right spots and uses his hands well. He fights to get back into the play if he does get beat. Call me crazy, but he might be the next rookie to get a start. Career high in points, obviously. | |
C | J. Mogbo15 MIN, 4 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 2-4 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -5 +/- A quiet game for him. The defence wasn’t as impacting. At one point, CJ McCollum backed him up for the iso, and I slapped the floor of my living room in anticipation that McCollum was about to learn who Mogbo was. Then Mogbo gave up an easy drive for the layup. But like everyone, he settled in to contribute to a lockdown performance from the entire team. | |
A | J. Shead15 MIN, 8 PTS, 1 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 3-6 FG, 2-4 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 2 +/- His defence is crazy. He chooses spots to gamble so well, and he moves his momentum wildly fast. When he fouls less, his ability to use his hands will be even more devastating. As it is, he really can jolt energy into the team when he’s not fouling. He even tossed in a 3 in the fourth for good measure. | |
Inc | B. Fernando06 MIN, 4 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 2-3 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -1 +/- He had a crazy tip finish on a bad lob from Battle that was thrown much too high. Fernando is a very good athlete. | |
Inc | G. Temple04 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -6 +/- Garbage time. | |
A | Darko Rajakovic I love the concept of starting Ja’Kobe Walter to get extra spacing and juice for the offence, especially after the start of the Pistons game. It helped that Walter played great, too. The answer to New Orleans’ defensive approach was to get triples up, and to Rajakovic’s credit, the Raptors stuck to it even though they didn’t fall early. | |
Things We Saw
- Even though Toronto’s defence has been on an excellent run, the first quarter was something of a mirage — the Pelicans created open jumpers, and missed them, and gathered a boatload of offensive rebounds. The transition defence was spotty, too. But then it really really picked up, and New Orleans probably deeply regretted not scoring in the first when it had good looks.
- Toronto cranked up the 3-point rate, with Barnes and Barrett and Walter leading the way early. It didn’t, let’s say kindly, result in points. At least early. A lot of that was New Orleans just showing bodies in the paint early early early before the ball even got to the roller, which funneled the ball to open shooters, who missed. And playing in zone. But even given New Orleans’ priorities, the 3-point rate was high. Which helped, in the end!
- Ochai Agbaji and Jamison Battle had a first-half shootout. Who could have expected a thing like that coming into the year?
- My favourite Walter moment (his section is too long, so I’m putting it down here) came in the fourth. He saw a side pick and roll but didn’t like the looks of the defenders, both of whom were high. So he threw it to the big above the break and ran a quick get action to receive the handoff, gathered it, and then threw a gorgeous skip pass to the corner. Really good procession, toggling between options.
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