Ja’Kobe at the garden

“I Deserve it all” is a self-affirmation Kendrick Lamar repeats frequently in his “man at the garden” track, off the GNX album.

Last night, Ja’Kobe Walter played like he deserved it all at The Garden. He scored his way to 15 points on 4-for-7 shooting from downtown. He was the only Raptor to score within the first half of the first quarter. When no Raptor could get it going offensively, the sophomore did.

With CMB, IQ, and Barrett out, Jonathan Mogbo saw the floor in the first frame and Alijah Martin started the second. A.J. Lawson was subbed in early for starter Jamal Shead. “Underhanded” was an understatement, yet the Raptors grinded their way back to a brief one-point lead near the end of the first quarter, recovering from an early 12-0 Knicks run.

Mamu’s offensive production was helpful early – hitting a 3 off a stagger pop and a point forward pass to Scottie as he cut to the hoop off Martin’s flair screen – but the Knicks punched back quickly. For every punch the Raptors landed, the Knicks hit back with three or four more. 

BI stepped up big time the game before yesterday’s, but last night, only stepped up in spurts. To his credit though, when he scored, it seemed like the Raptors could maybe narrow the lead to single digits. At times, there was a glimmer of hope, but those were expectedly and quickly dashed. 

Aside from pushing Landry Shamet away in the post and making him look like a child, Barnes wasn’t really noticeable until the second half. He played with a level of urgency and intensity that trickled down to the rest of his teammates. There was no quit in him and Darko. Garrett Temple never made a cameo appearance.

Most regrettably, Jakob Poeltl was the opposite of bench players like Walter and Mamu. You expect starters to be functional. Instead, he was like a shitbox car in the dead of winter. You might not love it, but you need it to get you to work, to pick up groceries, to simply survive. He had nothing to give except blow bys as the Knicks hunted him – even Ariel Hukporti made a pylon out of him from the perimeter.

On basketball’s biggest stage, Walter shined. Mamu was good. The two stars were tolerable. But understandably, the Raptors were no match and Jalen Brunson, who had a game-high 29 points in 31 minutes of play, jabbed the nail in the third quarter coffin when he hit a tough turnaround jumper right after Ingram’s dunk put the game within nine. Last-resort floor-spacer Gradey Dick was unleashed in the fourth.

If the two meet again in the playoffs, the Raptors will be lucky if they can squeeze out a win.

The post Ja’Kobe at the garden first appeared on Raptors Republic.