The Raptors’ newly formed starting unit is still searching for what works

Tom Thibodeau is notorious for playing his starters extensive minutes. The Toronto Raptors starting lineup just got healthy. That means if this game stayed relatively close (big if) there was a chance that we were going to see more minutes with starters on floor than maybe any other game this season.  

Through the first three quarters, we did.  

The game started with a well-run set play by the Raptors that resulted in an open 3 for Gradey Dick, something that is becoming a common occurrence. Immanuel Quickley entered the ball to Scottie Barnes lifting out of the post, ran off a flare screen from Jakob Poeltl, and received the ball back from Barnes, forcing Jalen Brunson to show help out of the corner. Dick missed the clean look yet again, but still, good process. 

There were more good offensive possessions from the starting five. Quickley ceded the ball to Barnes at the top of the floor, who pitched to Jakob Poeltl on the wing and faked the get action. RJ Barrett then curled around a Poeltl handoff, down the lane and to the rim for a left-handed lay. There was a solid Quickley-Poeltl pick n’ roll where the point guard made a pocket pass that the Austrian big finished with his usual reliability. 

But not every play was so smooth. Quickley took a handoff from Poeltl and snaked the pick n’ roll getting a switch. Poeltl had a mismatch with Josh Hart yet Quickley was unable to enter the ball to him in the paint. The Raptors’ lead guard took negative dribbles and eventually picked up his dribble well above the break before resetting to Dick.  

Much of the Raptors’ offence didn’t come from the aesthetically pleasing yet often ineffective basketball that Darko Rajaković has become known for during his tenure in Toronto. Quickley’s first two 3s came in transition. First, he spaced to the corner off an RJ Barrett steal for an open look. Next, he drilled a pull-up from the top of the floor, an aspect of the game the Raptors were almost entirely devoid of in his absence. Quickley popped another pull-up – this time coming off a ball-screen – to start the fourth. He led the Raptors with 22 points on 7-of-12 from the floor, 3-of-6 from 3, and added five assists. 

Barrett mostly had to work his own way to the rim, rather than having the Raptors motion offence do the work to open up driving lanes for him. Barnes did his fair share of backing down defenders on isolations and hitting his patented turn-around. The 2024 All-Star had 18 points, five rebounds, and five assists and Barrett finished 16 points, five rebounds, and two assists. 

Alternatively, the Knicks’ starting unit is well established. 

Townes started to have his way as the game progressed, scoring nine of the Knicks 11 points to start the second quarter. He drew fouls with ease and canned a trailer 3 in transition. The Raptors subbed in Poeltl for Olynyk after the first five points but it didn’t help much. The Knicks new big man got switched on to Bruce Brown and took advantage using his combination of strength and finesse to work into the lane and make a pretty floater. The following play Townes picked Poeltl’s pocket at the top of the floor. The two lumbering giants raced the whole way down the floor with KAT narrowly beating Poeltl out and finishing the contested lay as he crashed to the floor.  

Townes and our old friend OG Anunoby led the Knicks with 27 apiece, and the star centre was a perfect 3-of-3 from deep.  

Anunoby’s scoring was less outwardly impressive but it was deadly efficient. He shot 8-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-6 from 3, hitting on almost every open catch-and-shoot and steadily lurking the dunker spot for its dunks.  

At points of the game, later in the second quarter for example, the Raptors defence solidified around Barnes’ presence on the weak side. He helped on a Townes’ roll, effectively neutralizing an advantage resulting in Hart missing an above-the-break 3.  The Raptors were aggressive, but also controlled and focused. It culminated in Barnes vehemently stuffing a last-second layup attempt by Hart, forcing a shot clock violation. Toronto had life as they trailed 55-51 going into the half. 

The Raptors initially left Hart alone at the 3-point line, but he hesitated a moment too long, and Barnes got a piece of the shot on a late closeout. Despite his 37.2 percent shooting from deep this season, Toronto clearly saw Hart as what Garrett Temple described as a “heavy eagle” on Sportsnet’s The Raptors Show – they hardly closed-out on him all night. Dick grabbed the loose ball off of the blocked 3 and hit ahead to Barnes for a two-handed slam. 

The game swiftly slipped away in the fourth and the full complement of staters didn’t get a chance to prevent it. Quickley, Brown, Barnes, Olynyk, and Ja’Kobe Walter started the quarter and the Raptors started off 2-of-12 from the floor while the Knicks lead swelled from six to 26. BBQ plus Poeltl and Dick only saw the floor for 1:14 and it was already too late.  

Toronto scored only five points before emptying the bench with four minutes remaining. Chris Boucher went on a personal 10-0 run in just 1:13 during garbage time, making the box score appear much better than what actually happened in the final frame. The Knicks won the first ten minutes of the quarter 26-10 and the Raptors ultimately lost the game 112-98.  

It was the third time in three games that the Raptors played a team firmly positioned in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. It was also the third time the Raptors played the Knicks this season, after losing to them twice in December.  

We are now two games into the Raptors having their starting group available. In the first game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, the unit played nearly fifteen minutes to the tune of a -10 rating in a relatively non-competitive loss. 

In this game they played 17 minutes with a +5 rating. It was a loss, and one that took a dispiriting turn after a hopeful start. But it is a step forward. Toronto is finally getting to see its best players play together. Sure, they have lost 14 of the past 15 and they are 28th in the NBA. But that is not what’s important right now. In fact, it is at least kind of important for the Raptors to lose. What is also important is that they don’t lose themselves in the process.  

Notes: 

• The Raptors lost the possession battle by a wide margin, and the Knicks got up 11 more field goal attempts. This was largely due to the Raptors losing out in one of the few areas where they have been strong this season – the offensive glass. The Knicks grabbed their own misses 15 times to the Raptors 8. Josh Hart and KAT were monsters here. 

• 3-point volume and 3-point disparity continues to be a major problem for the Raptors. They only shot a respectable 38.5 percent but it was on 26 attempts, more than 10 below the league average of 37.6 per game. Quickley and Dick need to start getting more shots up.  

• Darko is well liked by his players and his ability to get them to buy in to his schemes is commendable. His challenge record is spotty though. He lost one at the end of the first half on a play where the only thing at stake was the possession of the ball, bringing the team’s record on challenges to 11-25 on the season. The average success rate league-wide is 58.4 percent.  

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