Quick Reaction: Raptors 122, Suns 115

Wasn’t his game. The Suns were gaining more out of playing small, and the Raptors found it better to beat them small, rather than trying to bash them while big. Poeltl didn’t step out as an unstoppable force, and that’s alright. They’ll need his size, health, and rolling against other opponents down the stretch.

This wasn’t just one of his most voluminous scoring outbursts as a Raptor, it was hyper efficient and hyper necessary. When the ball found him on the swing, he hit the open looks. When the ball found him up top with pressure to score? He found a way. Most importantly, he found the ON switch in the clutch. He came into this game at sub-34 percent on clutch shots, one of the worst in the NBA, and he was virtually mistake free in the close to this game. His presence was a huge boost for the Raptors in general, but he made shots, too.

Sticktuitiveness personified. It’s not a surprise that the Raptors half court offense is significantly better with him on the floor. Didn’t get a single triple to drop until the very end, and a huge one at that, but kept grinding away to get his own looks and found his way to a nice, efficient 20+ night. His volume is incredibly important because the work he does to ensure it, is what keeps more limited players in their comfortable spots. A termite burrowing and destabilizing other defenses, quiet and unseen.

A lot of the responsibilities in running offense shifted away from his hands in this game, and that made sense. Was glad that he transitioned into a tidy 50% from 3 performance as he operated on the outskirts of things. While his more measured middle of the floor tact of the past few weeks didn’t really show up in this one, it’s still something I’m watching closely. I also thought he was generally pretty good on the perimeter defensively in this one.

Was very happy to see him hit the lineup for this one, as the Raptors were in desperate need of a statement win. He was the answer defensively on the creators that many other Raptors couldn’t stick with (Green at times, Booker as well). Offensively, he’s still in a bit of a quagmire. The path to big numbers is evading him despite some very emphatic plays (posters, in a word) that he put on tape tonight. Stuck in the mud. However, he found his way to impact as he always does. Jason Kidd told me that Scottie’s mindset is what’s most impressive defensively, that his pursuit of other stars is what stands out. Coming off of an illness, and still bringing the ruckus on defense. Nice.

In the same way the game went away from Jak, it did from Sandro as well. Guard play was necessary from the depth, but even so, Sandro did a bang up job of bringing a bit of shot making to the game, and he made sure to help out on the glass to boot. Something the Raptors are always in need of.

The playmaking verve is back! Teams have been increasingly willing to test out his shot making rather than helping off of others, and it’s been forcing Shead into more uncomfortable positions. In this one? The Suns were happy to send help as Shead punctured into the heart of them, and he made passing plays with aplomb. Not a good defensive stint in this one, but that was largely due to the size and dynamism of the Suns ball handlers.

Hitting that corner three after RJ drove deep and pinned his man, that was huge. Truthfully, any three is big for one of the worst shooting teams in the league. It’s true that Walter wasn’t a huge deterrent for most of the game against the Suns scorers, but his doggedness contributed to the burnout that they eventually succumbed to. A really strong game off the bench.

Just didn’t get a lot of looks.

Short rotation, heavy minutes. He knew they needed this one. He knew the fanbase was ready to live or die by the outcome. Pre-game he said he loves the storm because he knows what’s on the other side of it. Hell of a quote.