Ingram & Barnes lead early, Raptors falter late in loss to Magic
The Raptors did their homework. They were redirecting the Magic away from their pet actions. Rebuffing each attempt at piercing the lane. Intention, intelligence, intensity. Controllable things. Things they often control. It’s fuelled their run to a top 8 defense, despite many people observing that they probably don’t grade out that high in terms of defensive talent. If a guy loses the thread at the point of attack? A teammate will plug the hole. If the ball moves on after that? Another hole to plug. Stay connected. Work.
(At this point in the season the Raptors are 9th in how often they stunt on defense, 2nd in trap frequency, and 4th in loading up.)
So, the Raptors held well against the Magic early on. Despite helping the Magic offense a fair bit with some clunky turnovers, when the Raptors got to set their halfcourt defense? Sublime results. They do this as a vastly undersized defense, but a hyper mobile one. Led, largely by Scottie Barnes’ DPOY level performances.
The problem the Raptors had to solve on the other end was the Magic trying to do the same to them, but as a rather large team. About 16 minutes into the game, the Raptors and Wendell Carter Jr. had the same amount of made triples. Despite what I thought was one of the better halves of driving the basketball Brandon Ingram has had as a Raptor, the team struggled to navigate the paint as a whole in addition to a serious drought from downtown.
They can’t just shoot their way out of these things. They have no precedent of winning that way. They have no reason to think they can. They are the 3rd worst spot up team in the league — they shoot 36.5% out of the spot up play type, 44% on 2’s and 34% on 3’s — so, they find a different way.
“They’re playing really aggressive ball pressure, so a lot of cuts are open. Crashing the glass. Getting out in transition.” – Ja’Kobe Walter cited as opportunities against the Magic at halftime
Walter was correct. Not just in how he scored his 11 points in the first half, but how the Raptors did as a whole. They had to push really hard as a team in the full court game, and they had to continue to rely on Ingram’s half court wizardry. The Raptors didn’t find their solve necessarily, but their extremely high defensive floor allowed them to dance around their limitations for the first 24 minutes. They shot well above 50-percent in the first half, but didn’t pop off because they were so poor from downtown (3-15).
From the outset of the third quarter the Raptors allowed the ball to carry a bit more energy in the half court. They were, of course, happy to allow Ingram the room to boogie and woogie as a shot maker; they even tilted themselves a little bit more that way, seeking out lesser defenders for him to hunt. That alone didn’t supply their rapid run of 21 points in the first 6 minutes, they needed other guys to chip in as well. They were, to a man, more decisive while putting the ball down. Yes, the Magic wanted to pressure and extend their shell, and yes that can be undone with the cut, but the dribble isn’t so bad either. The Raptors tested the tensile strength of the Magic’s game of red rover, and found they could punch through. When the second man came, they made the right read.
Unfortunately, the Magic also found their way on offense. Layups, dunks, free throws and triples. On their run to tie the game at 80, they lived exclusively on the 2018 James Harden diet. Some of it was self inflicted by the Raptors. Turnovers always hurt, and they missed shots they shouldn’t have (triples, layups) to drive the Magic’s transition looks.
The Raptors followed script to take the lead back, though. Let Ingram go a little crazy on offense (a couple buckets, a couple plays) and let Barnes’ natural effervescence start to creep into the lifeblood of his teammates. Play fast. Play strong. Barnes swiped shots away from the glass and ran out for finishes in close proximity on the other end. A tremendous bit of work from the Raptors All-Star duo. They didn’t do it sharing the floor the whole time but they, together, helped author a 13-3 run in response to the Magic’s mad dash back into the game. They powered their team to just their 9th 40+ point quarter of the season.
In what was, maybe, a disastrous coaching error, Coach Darko left both of his stars on the bench to start the fourth quarter. Of course they would find their way back into the game in time, but the opening half of the fourth saw the Magic kick loose into a 21-5 run. A run that would put them up by 3. The Magic were able to close the rim and the paint off to the Raptors. The extra size and physicality began to shrink the floor, and the Raptors operated as if they were in a straight jacket. The lone man with the ability to navigate it all? Dislocate the shoulder and squirm loose? Ingram. He evened the game up as the shooter in Spain Leak.
Desmond Bane was even better on the other side, though. A whole Houdini (Magic, get it?) powering late game offense for the Magic. Jumper after jumper. He led the 3-point barrage, and was joined by others. Anthony Black hoisted up the 16th triple of the night over two pairs of Raptor arms. Jalen Suggs crawled on all fours trying to dribble forward and created a dunk out of nothing.
The difference in backcourt creation was staggering in the pressure cooker of the clutch, and it helped the Magic take a 12-point lead with roughly 2 minutes to go. The Magic punked them. Stepped into the game when they felt like it, and took it. 44-21 in the fourth quarter. Folded like a cheap tent.
A sobering loss. Similar to the one against the Knicks. You can lose a couple of these throughout a season, but you don’t want these things stacking up. Work to be done.
Have a blessed day.
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