 | San Antonio | 108 | Final Box Score | 106 | Toronto |  |
 D | D. Carroll15 MIN, 2 PTS, 4 REB, 0 AST, 0-6 FG, 0-3 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -7 +/- The one positive I can take away from Carroll tonight is his relentless work rate and perpetual motor. He’s always moving and well-intentioned — but couldn’t couple it with efficiency tonight. Passed up good looks while missing others. | |
 D | J. Sullinger12 MIN, 0 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0-4 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -6 +/- Apart from some OK spot defense on Aldridge in the first quarter, he was flat (in his play). There was no rhythm to his game tonight. | |
 B- | J. Valanciunas29 MIN, 9 PTS, 13 REB, 2 AST, 2-7 FG, 0-0 3FG, 5-6 FT, 2 BLK, 4 TO, -2 +/- Nice night on the boards, per usual. Anytime he decided to go at Aldridge it got him to the line, and he was always there for drop-offs with Lowry / CoJo / Norm attacking the rim all night. He didn’t score much, to be clear, but he worked hard to get to his spots, and made Aldridge work hard in general. | |
 A- | K. Lowry42 MIN, 30 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 9-23 FG, 1-7 3FG, 11-12 FT, 1 BLK, 5 TO, -8 +/- Badly needed this version of Lowry scoring the way he did. He hit some ridiculous shots tonight. He’s regressed a bit defensively. Maybe he’s saving energy? That’s a poor excuse, to be sure. | |
 A | N. Powell39 MIN, 16 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 8-16 FG, 0-4 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 1 +/- Norm is back. He was near-perfect tonight – everywhere defensively, active hands cutting off passing lanes, hit is help D assignments, ran the floor and provided outlets in transition, and attacked the rim like a human bowling ball with nothing getting in his way. Unlucky to not have enough time to get a good shot off at the buzzer. | |
 A- | T. Ross30 MIN, 21 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 6-10 FG, 3-7 3FG, 6-8 FT, 2 BLK, 3 TO, 4 +/- My how things turn upside down when you least expect it. There’s no chance Ross would get in the ‘A’ territory up until the third quarter where he exploded. He stepped up when the Raptors looked dead. He was huge. | |
 B+ | L. Nogueira26 MIN, 6 PTS, 10 REB, 1 AST, 3-6 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 2 BLK, 0 TO, 2 +/- Bebe provided really good rim protection — even if Patty Mills and Dewayne Dedmon hit some impossible layups over him. Did bite on some Aldridge fakes in the first quarter (but who didn’t?), but had a really productive game overall. His development over the course of the season has actually been a joy to take in. | |
 A | C. Joseph26 MIN, 10 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST, 5-6 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 5 +/- Poppovich buttered him up before the game and embedded (apparently) a ton of confidence in him. He was unplayable in the third quarter when the Raptors made a push — getting to rim to score layups of high difficulty, and sinking his mid-range looks. | |
 B+ | P. Patterson21 MIN, 12 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 5-6 FG, 2-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 1 +/- Getting eased back into the rotation and put in a good showing. We always talk about his intangibles and exemplary understanding of how to play team defense, but it was nice to see his shooting stroke looking good — which is not always the case. Hey, he even hit a running floater. | |
 B | Dwane Casey What made this a contest: Giving Carroll and Sullinger just a three minute leash in the second half when both were struggling immensely. Ross and Bebe checked in, and gave the Raptors life to make this a game. He opted for a quick two with 10 seconds left (which the Spurs seemed to happily oblige with so long as they didn’t give up a look from deep); but the Raptors just didn’t have enough time to get off a good lookk without a timeout remaining on the final possession. | |
Things We Saw
- Nothing new, but, the Raptors dug themselves a hole with inconsistent play. If Carroll and Sullinger are more productive from the start and the Raptors don’t miss a plethora of open looks, this game tightens a bit heading into half-time.
The Spurs were scorching in the first two frames. Meanwhile the Raptors’ ball movement and dribble penetration was good, but the percentage of open-looks as a result that were missed was not.
- The Spurs did very Spursy things (Bryn Forbes 3/4, Davis Bertans 4/6, Patty Mills 8/15, Dejounte Murray 4/7). Those were all huge contributions in the absence of Kawhi and Parker while Danny Green and Manu Ginobli had off-nights offensively.
- Thank God for that third quarter, otherwise this would have been a bloodbath. As mentioned above, the Ross / Bebe / CoJo / Norm / Lowry lineup was getting it done. And, after the Raptors missed an infinite amount of threes in the first half, it was this line-up that got them back into the game by carving up the Spurs inside.
The Raptors outscored the Spurs 25-18 in the third frame.
- Four-straight losses. Chin up. All will normalize.
