Reaction: Raptors 97, Cavaliers 102 – Disaster

Very slow to rotate against cutting guards which took the shine away from his stellar pick ‘n roll play. He was guarding Hawes who was playing outside-in against him, and Johnson struggled to cope. Defensively, he was a step behind the entire game and part of it has to do with, once again, giving up bulk in his matchups.

Was torn apart by Waiters in 1v1 situations; made some amends by hitting a few threes in the second quarter which made this a closer game heading into the half, but overall, has to feel disappointed that he fell short in an athletic-vs-athletic matchup.

Total stinker where he was absent on defense and a void on offense. The Raptors didn’t give him his requisite touches, but he shouldn’t need those to be a factor night in and night out. Picked up a silly foul where he slapped someone across the face on a rebound, which sent him to the bench. Most disappointing for me was his help defense – much like Johnson, slow to recognize cuts, and even slower to react to them. Got benched for a long period in the second half in favor of Hayes, can’t say it wasn’t deserved.

Slow first half and got shot over by Jack on a number of occasions but led the Raptors charge in the third quarter. Went off injured and came back to play, and it’s safe to say without him this is a 25-point blowout in favor of the Cavs. What a player.

Torched by Deng in the first half which built Cleveland’s momentum. Was never around defensively for this game which was frustrating because the team was counting on someone to provide a spark and he sat idly by. If a defender is pressuring him, he needs to find a way to get into the paint and release a higher percentage shot, not just go around the screen and into the top of the key area, which is when the long-two rears its ugly head. Choked at the FT line with the team down three and 8 seconds left, which was expected give his ugly offensive game. Had some assists, but we need more than that from him.

Casey felt that he couldn’t rely on Hansbrough against the more agile Cleveland bigs. I can’t blame him, although I would’ve loved to see Tyler knee Varejao in the groin.

Not terrible, but not good either. He’s so lacking in skill that you can’t even bother passing him the ball on offense, lest he make a muck of it. He’s best used for clean-up duty around the rim, which he did reasonably well, but ideally we would’ve liked to have someone who could bring some shot-blocking and help defense rather than a warm body that clogs the paint.

Showed some signs of recovering from his OKC-blunder, but for me, he should not have played a minute ahead of Nando de Colo in this game.

Hit a huge three in the third, but missed an even bigger one in the fourth which would’ve cut it to one. Played better defense on Deng than DeRozan did, which bumps up his grade.

Lowry’s partner in bringing the Raptors back via the threes and the floaters, but when he’s shooting on first opportunity as he was today, it’s a sign that the offense is broken. Had the last play run for him and ran into Jack and turned it over. Completely out of control, I don’t buy the “he turned his ankle” nonsense.

After bringing much-needed energy and movement in the first half, he was chained to the bench in the second. I have no idea why.

I kind of feel he could’ve been useful, guess we’ll never know.

Surprised to see lack of zone against Cleveland, thought the Cavs would’ve struggled to beat us from outside. The absence of de Colo was mystifying. Kudos to stifling Cleveland’s inbound play twice to get the ball back with 8 seconds left, however, not giving Lowry the ball with the game on the line is a horrible decision.