Raptors fall against Sharpe and Trail Blazers at home
The Toronto Raptors faced off against the Portland Trail Blazers at home last night, donning their throwback jerseys on a throwback court, and ultimately fell to Portland. With Jakob Poeltl being out of the game due to rest, Portland essentially had a conga line to the rim at times, and although Toronto’s defense had many strong moments in this game, it was not enough to hold off the young Blazers. Canadian-born Shaedon Sharpe tied his career high in points last night, and he really showed off how complete his scoring tools can be at all three levels. There were positive things to takeaway from this game for Toronto as well, as there were plenty of good moments from their young players, but Portland’s scoring that they got from Deni Avdija and Sharpe proved to be too much for Toronto to handle.
From the opening tip, Sharpe was seemingly on a mission to score the ball, and he was getting to whichever spot he wanted to at times. His growth as an on-ball scorer has been remarkable and it culminated in the performance he put on last night. His poise as a pick n’ roll ball handler was great, he used his athleticism well to burst to the rim and finish, and he was even knocking down off the dribble three pointers, stepbacks included. Toronto could not seem to hold him from doing what he pleased at times. Avdija poured in 26 points of his own last night and most of his scoring came in the paint, whether it was cutting in the halfcourt, or spriting his way to the rim in transition, he really made an effort to take advantage of his opportunities.
In the first half of this game Portland recorded 12 turnovers, and this was how Toronto was getting the bulk of their points. Toronto is a heavy transition team already, so they were forcing turnovers, through some great on-ball defense from rookies Ja’Kobe Walter and Jamal Shead, and getting easy looks on the fast break. There were some extremely cohesive defense plays from Toronto in the first half, the ball pressure on Dalano Banton specifically was elite, and they were torching Portland’s actions before they could begin. Shead has had a nice second half of his season when it pertains to shooting the ball off the catch, and last night he finished 2/3 from behind the arc, and this is a swing skill that will determine the course of his NBA career. Walter’s defense has continued to impress this season, and last night he was so physical on-ball, so attentive on his rotations, just showing a real effort on that end which you always want to see.
The second half was where this game was lost for Toronto, as the bench units just could not hold up any longer, and the scoring onslaught from Sharpe and company continued. RJ Barrett’s scoring provided Toronto with some life at times, but with virtually no contributions from Scottie Bares offensively, this game was always gonna be tough to win. It was recently reported that Barnes has a nagging finger injury that is impacting his play, and if that’s the case, they need to go ahead and sit the young Raptors star if his injury is going to result in a night like last night and his many previous games. After a 12-4 run by Portland late in the 3rd quarter for Portland, they extended their lead to 7 headed into the 4th. The fourth quarter was still contested, despite it being mostly bench units out there, and it was really a testament to how much effort the young core has given to the team this season.
Next up, Toronto will face the Detroit Pistons tonight on the second night of a back-to-back at home.
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