Raptors beat the Knicks.
Amir Johnson, PF 21 MIN | 4-4 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | -3He’s like Saffron. You just need small doses of him to make the cup of tea that much better. He really is in mid-season form and the only thing stopping him from a career-year is injury. Even dished one out to Chuck Hayes. | |||||||||
Tyler Hansbrough, PF 22 MIN | 1-2 FG | 2-4 FT | 6 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 4 PTS | 0Got the start as Jonas was resting and got outplayed by Samuel Dalembert. The highlight of his night was picking up a flagrant foul which the refs took 20 minutes to review. He looked about as comfortable as a starter as Will talking to a pretty girl. | |||||||||
Terrence Ross, SF 22 MIN | 2-12 FG | 2-3 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 4 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 7 PTS | -3Total brickfest. Missed a lot of clean looks and took some shots that were so contorted that his intestines had to be in his elbow. Did make a key shot which sparked the comeback, and handled the ball well again, but no product at the end of his possessions. | |||||||||
Greivis Vasquez, PG 28 MIN | 2-8 FG | 1-2 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 6 PTS | +8Got the start with Lowry resting, and had some trouble dealing with the Knicks’ perimeter length and quickness. Still managed to run the offense relatively effectively, and once the Knicks’ trash/second-unit came in, he exploited them well. He’ll be fine. | |||||||||
DeMar DeRozan, SG 11 MIN | 3-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | -1Probably pissed he wasn’t selected for a night off. Didn’t play in the second half and only notched 11 minutes, but a great 11 minutes including a steal and dunk and a sweet spin move. I have no doubt that had he played 28 minutes in this game he’d have 35 points. | |||||||||
James Johnson, PF 18 MIN | 1-5 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PTS | -6Very patchy game but did defend ‘Melo well on a couple possessions, and supplied good help defense. He doesn’t just stand around and worry about his man, tends to read the offense and supply help where he can. Good so far this preseason, but that was a bad foul on the three-pointer on J.R Smith. | |||||||||
Patrick Patterson, PF 22 MIN | 0-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 0 PTS | +10Not too good tonight including an airball at the end of the first half. Wasn’t as energetic as against Boston, and the shot wasn’t falling. Forgettable outing. | |||||||||
Jordan Hamilton, SF 16 MIN | 1-3 FG | 3-4 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | +4Second-half introduction and made a mark by hitting the game-tying three and getting to the line for some FTs. One thing’s for sure, he understands that in order to stay on the court he needs to play defense and he’s zoned in on that end, even though the results weren’t always there. | |||||||||
Bruno Caboclo, SF 13 MIN | 2-3 FG | 1-2 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 6 PTS | +4Second-half appearance for him as well. Hit a three and ran the break to be found by Lou Williams. When he’s calling for the ball on the wing he looks like a chopper about to land. Those arms have robotic extensions on them, I swear. | |||||||||
Greg Stiemsma, C 15 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 2 PTS | +13I’m going to plead the fifth and say that I didn’t really notice much of what he was upto, but I’m sure he provided rim-protection. Don’t matter, though, the 15th roster spot is all his now that Bebe is crocked. | |||||||||
Chuck Hayes, C 9 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | -8Missed a layup, got the rebound, put it back. | |||||||||
Will Cherry, PG 14 MIN | 1-3 FG | 1-1 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 3 PTS | -1A disastrous first spell where he was doing Will Solomon impersonations was followed by a moderately effective second, where he scored early in the fourth quarter to get some momentum back for the Raptors. It’s difficult to see him getting minutes ahead of anyone, because it means that a guy like Williams, Vasquez, or Ross would be on the pine. | |||||||||
Landry Fields, SG 3 MIN | 1-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | +2Man, oh man. How about that drive to the rim and the reverse layup? I thought that kind of an effort would deserve more than three minutes, but Casey had other ideas. Did a great job of reminding us that he exists. | |||||||||
Louis Williams, SG 24 MIN | 6-9 FG | 7-7 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 21 PTS | +6That’s the Lou Williams I’ve grown to casually admire! Good on-the-ball offense, enough herky-jerky moves to carve open the soft Knicks defense, and some good three-point shooting as well. I’d say bottle this game up and replicate for the entire season. | |||||||||
Dwane Casey I’m giving him a moderate grade because he didn’t let us see Bruno enough, and for having us suffer through Tyler Hansbrough in the starting lineup. Probably a good move to rest up Lowry and DeRozan, at least he’s making an effort to manage his players, can’t recall that ever happening in preseason, certainly not to this extent. |
One Thing We Saw
- Painful game to watch where the Raptors shot 40% and the Knicks 38%. The big guns played limited minutes meaning this was essentially a game which resembled a blowout game. And Andrea didn’t even play which meant there was absolutely no reason to watch this. Other than Bruno, of course.