Quick Reaction: Nets 109, Raptors 120

He hit his first triple from the top of the arc in the first quarter, and knocked down a wide open one in the second half. He made some nice cuts and finished plays (e.g. Shead and Robinson ran a PnR in the fourth quarter, and Agbaji scored off of Robinson’s lob pass).

RJ was like the assignment player who came down from the parent team to hoop with its G League affiliate. But he never dialed it down. He showed a lot of fight, especially the last play of the first half. He grabbed the offensive board, drew the foul, and got to the line with less than a second left on the clock. He showed flashes of Point RJ, taking the ball coast-to-coast and had nice two consecutive spin moves, the second one breaking the trap and then dishing it to Mogbo. RJ shot 11 of his team’s 22 free throw attempts.

First career double-double for Mogbo. At the start of the game, he struggled to guard Drew Timme who was playing his fifth NBA regular season game. But it was all uphill from that point on. Offensively, he mercilessly attacked the basket, showing his spin move and even a baseline jay. He squeezed a pass through a small window from the top of the arc, right into RJ’s hands, which then got kicked out to Rhoden for a wide-open corner 3 attempt. Mogbo’s assists are somewhat inflated due to Nets’ bad defensive awareness, but he executed on his playmaking opportunities. Defensively, he contested Watford as a roamer and tipped the defensive rebound to fuel a transition offense. Most impressively, he had a Boucher-like three-point block in in the last five minutes of the game.

Walter had a reliable 3-and-D type game. He knocked down two 3s, and got a steal at half-court while playing on-the-ball.

Shead was one point shy of a double-double, but his assists are also inflated because of Brooklyn’s poor defence. Today was an easy day to get dimes. But it’s a joy to watch Shead who has both handles and speed. His hang dribble, retreat, and then double cross sequence, before attacking the baseline and throwing a pass to Lawson on the weakside corner 3, was a silky smooth. Devlin called him “Steady Sheddy” after he made a much-needed bucket in the fourth after Swider’s costly turnovers. Shead’s bucket pushed the lead up to 10.

He’s not just a three-point shooter. Swider should take lots of notes. He was aware of the shot clock at the end of Q1. Instead of launching a triple, he took the ball all the way to the tin, and scored just before the buzzer. He had a stellar second quarter, using the gravity of his three-point shooting to drag the defence out. He drove and scored at the rim. Then, he hit a triple. Then, he made the extra pass to Agbaji in the corner. Battle’s offensive versatility was impressive this game. He also had zero turnovers.

By now, we know Robinson can score underneath the hoop. He had a much-needed putback in the fourth to push the lead up to 10. He scored at the rim after getting a disrespectful amount of space from the top of the arc. He used his dribble to attack, and got himself a trip to the charity stripe. Robinson also showed some playmaking chops: he rolled off a screen set for Shead, and fed a lob pass into Agbaji.

A.J.’s speed kills. Anytime the Raptors needed a basket, Lawson used his speed to get inside or draw contact to get to the line.

He thanked the Raptors for signing him for the rest of the season by going 4-for-6 from downtown. Most notably, the shooter’s confidence, the chutzpah he displayed in launching a deep 3 from the “S” of Barclays was impressive. Swider had back-to-back turnovers at the end of the third, and gave up the ball in the backcourt at the start of the fourth, unaware of the defence. His mistakes led to his team being up only 8, but hats off for being able to shoot and make that 3 ball. It was quickly negated as Keon Johnson attacked Swider’s zero POA defence, and dunked on him on the next possession. Swider, however, answered back, coming off Robinson’s wide pin down and using a stab dribble to go middle and find him down low.

Rhoden was frustrated at the start of his PT, but he quickly recovered. He was efficient in limited minutes and was elite running in the open court. Had a great steal on the defensive end of the floor.

The Raptors led by as much as 23 points, and the game got hairy in the fourth. I questioned his decision to keep Swider in the game at the start of the fourth after two costly turnovers at the end of the third. But, hey, it ended up being the right decision.