Quick Reaction: Raptors 114 vs Bucks 122 – Mar. 2/13
For those of you who actually thought the playoffs were still feasible; that dream is dead now. At least they competed for most of the game; have to appreciate that.
Amir Johnson, PF39 MIN | 9-11 FG | 1-2 FT | 9 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 19 PTS | -6Pro, the dude is a pro. He was quiet in the middle parts of the game, but was there at the start and the end when his team needed him the most. His offensive rebounding was key in keeping this team in the game till the end.
Landry Fields, SF48 MIN | 7-13 FG | 1-1 FT | 7 REB | 4 AST | 4 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 15 PTS | 0His best game in a Raptors uniform made us forget all about Rudy Gay. I imagine/hoped for a scaled down version of this when he signed with the Raptors, but there’s still time to get back to what made his rookie season so special.
Andrea Bargnani, C33 MIN | 4-14 FG | 2-2 FT | 7 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 2 TO | 11 PTS | -7Starting? Check. Boos? Negative. Good game? Yes. Amazing what not having an entire city hate you can do for your game. Yes, I concede it wasn’t a great game by any stretch of the imagination, but he grabbed 7 rebounds, dished 3 dimes and blocked 2 shots…that’s a good game for the dude, people…
Kyle Lowry, PG36 MIN | 4-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 10 REB | 10 AST | 5 STL | 0 BLK | 6 TO | 10 PTS | -127pts 10rebs 10ast 5stl 6to for the game; that’s a pretty damn good stat line until you realize he had 2pts 6rebs 6ast in the 1st quarter. Can’t say that he did anything poor throughout the game, just that Lucas and the 2nd unit had quite a large impact on the game.
DeMar DeRozan, SG46 MIN | 6-21 FG | 6-8 FT | 3 REB | 9 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 18 PTS | -5Someone had to fill in for Gay, and going 6-21 for 18pts fully qualifies. The 9 assits tells me he was trying to make things happen when shot wasn’t falling, and the 6-8 from the line reaffirms he wasn’t relying on the jumper.
Jonas Valanciunas, C11 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 4 PTS | -4Not sure why minutes are so hard to come by for the kid; he’s such a beast and it’s obvious he needs the burn. Whatever…his rebounding and active hands in the paint were huge when he saw the floor.
John Lucas, PG18 MIN | 6-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 16 PTS | +3He didn’t have an assist his whole time on the floor, but he hit big shot after big shot in the 2nd half. I dunno, I like him; yea he’s a point guard who’s not much of a playmaker, but kids got heart.
Alan Anderson, SG29 MIN | 8-20 FG | 4-5 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 21 PTS | -3Took him 20 shots to get 21 points, but he had a huge fourth quarter capped off with a dunk to tie the game with 1.6 seconds left. He went from out of the league, to crunch time scorer in a season – that says something about him… BryCo needs to get him on a 2yr/$5mil deal; I’d be good with that.
Dwane CaseyI generally didn’t have any issues with how it went down. The Bucks are a better team with more talent; that’s what it came down too. You can forgive him for limiting the rookies minutes in a tight match, but getting Quincy Acy a couple minutes to try and counter the man-beast that is Larry Sanders might have been a good strategy (not that it would have any affect; more entertainment value).
Three Things We Saw
The Bucks attacked the Raptors in the paint ferociously: 60 points in the paint, 30 trips to the line, 13 offensive rebounds…it was a thing of beauty if you were a Bucks fan; or a fan of the NBA in general. I for one can tell you that I really like of how this team plays the game.
The Raptors bench played a huge part in keeping them in the game until overtime, but disappeared once they got there. It’s not their job to carry this team for more than a couple stretches throughout the game; the starters needed to step up in OT and handle business…they didn’t…
Really appreciated the Raptors coming out and competing from the tip after the last two coma’s we were induced into.
