It’s going to be a short recap tonight.
I’ll be forthright about this: it is currently 1:30 a.m. in Toronto, and having already endured two-and-a-half hours of preseason basketball on top of writing a 900-word quick reaction post, this recap will be light. Let’s break it down into parts.
Offense – B
For all intents and purposes, the Raptors’ offense was solid considering what they had to work with. Terrence Ross (knee, ankle) and Patrick Patterson (hand) both sat out last night’s largely meaningless game, which left the Raptors without a pair of floor-spacers at premium positions. Ross not being available meant the insertion of Landry Fields into the starting lineup, and no Patterson meant another two three-point tries for Tyler Hansbrough (swished one, airballed the other).
The first quarter saw the Raptors repeatedly call DeMar DeRozan’s number. After Jonas Valanciunas filled his usual quota of three looks in the post to begin the game, DeRozan became the focal point of the offense. He was guarded by Nik Stauskas, and DeRozan spared no pittance on the rookie, opting to flash the entire arsenal. He ran Stauskas through pin-downs, attacked him in the pick-and-roll, posted up a few times. To his credit, Stauskas held his ground for the most part and actually did a good job of funnelling DeRozan to help defense whenever possible, but DeRozan still managed to score 23 points on an impressive 9-for-15 shooting display.
Once the bench came in, the Raptors offense sputtered. Without any shooting capabilities from their bigs, the Kings opted to pressure the ball-handler, knowing that the Raptors’ bigs weren’t much of a threat to score. The result was a slew of poor possessions from Greivis Vasquez and Lou Williams trying to attack a well-planned defense without much space. Again, Patterson would have helped tremendously in this regard.
The Raptors’ starters remained hot to start the third. Lowry, who finished the first half with 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting, cooled off slightly, but DeRozan stayed hot. He confidently spotted up twice from deep on consecutive possessions, sinking both. It’s obvious through two games that DeRozan has kept himself in top-form this offseason.
This is how hot Lowry was in the first half. He made this shot:
The fourth quarter saw the Raptors empty the bench. Will Cherry and Jordan Hamilton saw extended stretches of playing time, affording them a fair shot at the fifteenth spot. Admittedly, I didn’t catch too much of Cherry, but I did see Hamilton repeatedly attack the basket with strong, decisive drives, which surprised me. In Denver, Hamilton was primarily used to spot-up on the wing, but his dribble-drive game could prove to be useful for a team largely bereft of drivers like the Raptors are. Unfortunately, given the Raptors’ need for a third center, Hamilton’s odds of winning the spot is slim.
Defense – D
The Raptors’ didn’t bring it on defense. Plain and simple. There are times when offense is simply unstoppable, as DeMarcus Cousins proved to be in the third quarter, but the Raptors’ failures weren’t solely a product of Cousins’ dominance. There were missed rotations, a lack of closeouts, and a tonne of missed defensive rebounds. It was systematic — both the wings and bigs were at fault.
More than anything else, transition defense was pitiful. The Raptors’ bigs were consistently getting beat running down the floor and the Raptors’ guards were more or less left helpless under the basket. Darren Collison did a great job pushing the pace and Cousins was keen to throw the quick outlet pass out of a rebound, but the Raptors simply didn’t hustle enough, nor did they adjust their strategy of sending two bigs to crash the boards. The frustration is understandable — the Raptors’ bigs weren’t getting involved much on offense, so they took to the basket hoping for put backs, but it wasn’t the best trade-off.
The one positive from the defense? This block from Bruno Caboclo. What part of 7-foot-7 wingspan did you not understand, Omri Casspi?
Miscellaneous observations
- The Kings’ broadcast crew was high on DeRozan-Lowry as backcourt pairing, calling them the “best in the East”, and a contender for best in the NBA. Take that, John Wall and Bradley Beal!
- Greg Stiemsma and Bruno Caboclo both landed hard going for rebounds. The Raptors have already suffered one injury due to preseason.
- Speaking of Stiemsma, he might know where to be on defense, but he’s also a foul-machine. He committed four fouls in 10 minutes after fouling out of their first game.
- Bebe Noguiera was the only DNP-CD. It’s time to #FreeBeBe
- DeMarcus Cousins has a bone to pick with not only Valanciunas, but the entire Raptors’ team. Jonas shouldn’t have thrown that elbow. I don’t think I like Boogie when he’s mad.
- Lowry looks to be in great shape. Someone in the comments was chiding him for his weight. He’s fine. No post-contract bump on him. This isn’t a Hedo Turkoglu situation.
- If DeRozan can shoot triples, the Raptors’ offense becomes all the more deadly.
- Amir was tasked to check Boogie for much of the third while Jonas was put on Reggie Evans. Weird decision. Jonas wasn’t giving much help either.
- Alright I’m done. This is enough.
