Raptors come up short in clutch loss against Nuggets

The journey to being a great team is littered with trials of hardship along the way. Any great team worth its salt has gotten to that level, only after they showed their resiliency and an ability to compete with other great teams. At various points throughout the season, the Raptors have shown that they are a good team, but not quite at the level of the teams ahead of them. 

After their blowout loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, it naturally caused there to be questions about this team’s overall ability, and after that game, the Raptors have responded in the best way they could have. Although they lost last night, it was a hard-fought game against one of the NBA’s best teams, and it showed that the Raptors are capable of putting together great games against great teams. They may not be a great team yet, but nights like last night are the necessary stepping stones on that path to greatness. 

The opening quarter was really a group effort offensively by Toronto, guys getting in where they fit in, and getting shots in the natural flow of the offense. Toronto opened up the scoring with a spain pick n’ roll which featured Immanuel Quickley as the second screener, and he was able to float out to the three point line for a triple. Toronto made it a point to include Jokic in their set actions, and attack him whenever the opportunity presented itself, and to their credit, the actions were run beautifully and worked out more often than not. Toronto got bits of scoring from all over the roster, and some out it was out of transition, such as Sandro Mamukelashvilli leaking out for a dunk, or Ja’Kobe Walter walking into a three. Toronto opened the game on an 11-2 run, but Denver quickly woke up.

Scottie Barnes was tasked with the Nikola Jokic matchup, and while he did rise to the occasion on numerous plays, eventually Jokic is going to get his. Jokic was also quick to take advantage of any mismatch he had due to Toronto’s rotations, and he began to eat at the rim. 

Denver’s activity on the offensive glass was a constant thorn in Toronto’s side. Toronto would get the initial stop, but then Jokic or Aaron Gordon would come in ready to tip it back in. Jakob Poeltl was tasked with guarding Gordon, who is quicker than him, so on some possessions such as when Gordon would screen, Poeltl would be caught in no man’s land and not be able to recover to Gordon to contest his shot. But it was Poelt’s ability to slide away from Gordon and help be a secondary rim protector that led to some of Toronto’s success on that end. 

This game was tightly contested going into halftime, but Toronto came out in the third quarter hotter than a $5 rolex. Quickley knocked down a tough step back triple over Jamal Murray and after that the floodgates opened. Everything was dropping for Toronto, Brandon Ingram started to heat up, using his length to finish at the rim and put in his patented mid-range jumpers. On one play Ingram seemed to be overwhelmed by Denver’s defensive pressure, but suddenly he bursted out of the triple threat and rose up for a two-handed slam that injected life into this Raptors team. RJ Barrett became an unstoppable freight train on his drives, using his burly frame and footwork to get to the cup and finish over or through defenders. Quickley knocked down a tough step back triple over Jamal Murray and after that the floodgates opened.

Poeltl was tremendous in this quarter and honestly the entire game overall. He provided the short mid-range and paint scoring punch that was a necessary release valve on so many possessions. Push shot, after push shot dropped in for the Austrian, with his soft touch being put on full display. When the third quarter was all said and done Toronto had a 94-85 lead and all the momentum in the world. 

This momentum and nice lead were immediately snatched away in the 4th quarter. Former Raptor Bruce Brown knocked down a triple to cut the lead to 6 after a drive and kick by Murray. Then Murray took matters into his own hands and knocked down a 16 foot fadeaway followed by a 20 foot three pointer to cut the lead to just one at 94-93. Murray’s hot shooting gave Denver the jolt they needed to get back into this game.

This game was very close throughout the rest of the way, every bucket felt like it was worth 10, every miss was a sigh of relief from the opposing side, but ultimately, basketball is a game of execution, and Denver just outmaneuvered Toronto. Tim Hardaway Jr hit a pair of triples to tie the game and subsequently regain the lead for Denver, and after a steal followed by a three from Aaron Gordon, Toronto was suddenly staring down the barrel of a 6 point deficit after a 9-0 run from the Nuggets.

Ingram knocked down a tough leaning mid-range jumper over Jokic after shaking free of Hardaway Jr, and then knocked down a catch and shoot triple over Jokic to cut the lead to one after an assist from Barnes. Barnes was a brilliant playmaker in this game, and he did it whether he was driving or at a standstill, whipping passes through the air that found their target.

The final sequence of the game was what decided it. Down 3 and desperately needing a bucket, Barnes made his way to the rim which was an easy task with Murray on him, and he forced Jokic to come over to help which freed Poeltl up for a reverse layup which he made through contact. After the free throw, this game was knotted up at 115. In the waning moments of the game, Denver ran their bread and butter action, a Murray and Jokic pick n’ roll, which caused Barnes to switch out onto Murray leaving the smaller Barrett left to stop Jokic. 

This was Toronto’s defensive gameplan, have Barnes guard Jokic so his pick n’ roll and handoff actions could be blown up by Barnes, but in the end, this very principle came back to bite them. Jokic quickly backed Barrett down and knocked down a floater to give Denver a 117-115 lead. Looking to tie the game up, Barnes drove to the rim but found Gordon in his way, and when he went to get up a shot, it was blocked by Gordon, and that all but sealed this game for the Nuggets. 

This was a very encouraging and hard-fought game from the Raptors, and even though they lost, there are plenty of positive things to take away from this game.

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