 | Patrick Patterson, PF Shot Chart 36 MIN | 5-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 8 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 14 PTS | +9After a bit of a rough start to the season, had a great statement game when his team needed him. Stretched the floor efficiently on offense, and got out of his three-point funk going 2-2 from behind the arch. Provided sorely needed defense on the block in Amir’s absence. Even though Ibaka had a solid showing, Patrick kept him in check better than we could have asked him too. |  |
 | Terrence Ross, SF Shot Chart 25 MIN | 4-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 9 PTS | +10I’m somewhat conflicted with his performance. For me, his performance in the 1st quarter was unsure, rushed, and lacked polish, but he turned up the dial on defense in the 2nd and 3rd quarter, and hit a couple key shots when they were needed. Unfortunately, in a game where it was necessary to attack the Thunder zone, Ross did very little of that, choosing to live on the peripheral. |  |
 | Jonas Valanciunas, C Shot Chart 13 MIN | 2-5 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 6 PTS | -6His beard makes me uncomfortable; too amish. Was able to get solid position in the low post on offense, and got his hands on more offensive rebounds than he had any right to. I got the sense that he was angry, and had Telfair not face-raped him, got the sense that a fist-fight may have broken out with Adams. |  |
 | Kyle Lowry, PG Shot Chart 31 MIN | 2-7 FG | 5-5 FT | 3 REB | 5 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 9 PTS | +7Anybody else get the sense that he’s lost confidence in his shooting? We’ve become accustomed to him making the right basketball play with the ball in his hands, but on more occasions than I would like to count, the right play was a shot and he unnecessarily swung the ball to no avail. | |
 | DeMar DeRozan, SG Shot Chart 31 MIN | 4-12 FG | 7-9 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 16 PTS | +7Masterful at attacking the zone defense AND getting a good shot out of it (or went to the line). Seemed to be the only person to understand that the way to break the zone is to attack it. He did a lot of running around screens to get open, giving me the same warm feels I used to get watching a young Richard Hamilton constantly on the move around the court. |  |
 | Tyler Hansbrough, PF Shot Chart 27 MIN | 2-6 FG | 8-10 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 12 PTS | +13What else do you want him to do? 8-10 from the line? Aggressive moves in the offensive paint. Crashed the boards. Bitch-slap to the face by Telfair. Yea, solid. | |
 | James Johnson, PF Shot Chart 21 MIN | 3-7 FG | 1-2 FT | 4 REB | 5 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 8 PTS | +2Bad shot selection aside, was instrumental in leading the second unit in the second quarter comeback. His on-the-ball defense was second to none, made aggressive moves to the rack, moved the ball around crisply (mostly). This is what we expected of him the 1st time around, but am very happy to be getting it now. | |
 | Chuck Hayes, C Shot Chart 7 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -5This guys is not the answer to any question I would ask; bothers me to see him on the floor. |  |
 | Greg Stiemsma, C Shot Chart 13 MIN | 2-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PTS | +11Made 4 solid defensive plays in a row in the 2nd quarter as part of that run. Found 2Pat in the low post with a perfect feed for a layup. Drew a charge. Did it with grace. While I wanted the Raptors to keep Jordan Hamilton, it’s a great luxury to have Stiemsma as your fourth big. | |
 | Greivis Vasquez, PG Shot Chart 18 MIN | 4-12 FG | 1-1 FT | 3 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 10 PTS | +7Along with DeMar, attacked the zone defense regularly, and got into the lane for his tear drops. Did a good job of anchoring the 2nd unit, but would have been nice to see him move the ball a bit more on the perimeter; 7 threes in 18 minutes is a bit much. More so when you miss 6 of them. |  |
 | Louis Williams, SG Shot Chart 19 MIN | 4-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 12 PTS | +5He likes being here, and we like having him. I was hoping for him to make an appearance earlier in the game with Ross playing like doodoo, but the dude is a pro. Knows his role, takes good shots, leaks out on the break, nice handles, nice jumper. Could make a case for 6th man of the year if he can get claw more of Ross’ minutes. | |
 | Landry Fields, SG Shot Chart DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | lol |  |
 | Dwane Casey Did a fantastic job of managing minutes (was forced to play Patterson 36 because Ibaka was on a mission) with the Raptors heading to Boston tomorrow for a 4th game in 5 nights. Was able to fix the ball movement and free throw issue (I’m sure the Raptors shot hundreds of free throws over the last two days) from the Miami game. | |
Five Things We Saw
- Ignore that first quarter where the Thunder shot 70% (or whatever) from the field, and the Raptors were able to nicely clamp down defensively; 58 points over the last three quarters of the game. Contesting jumpers, not scrambling on the pick-n-roll, tight rotations…granted the Thunder were obscenely short-handed, but they are still a well coached team that were executing against their plan tonight.
- While the Raptors were brutal from the floor, they kept themselves in the game by punishing the Thunder off their turnovers (30), and hitting their free throws (28-33). It really was the small things that wont them the game tonight in the absence of a real offensive showing.
- Ross is a huge elephant in the room, and something really needs to be done.
- All the happy stuff out of the way, that was about as ugly a win as you can get against the 2nd unit of a team. While a win is a win is a win, don’t celebrate too hard because the Raptors should have been able to put this game away earlier and ore decisively. Again, too early to panic, but more urgency is needed.
- Steven Adams and Sebastien Telfair have to be two of my five least favourite players in the league.
- Almost forgot to talk about the ball movement…WOW. It was nice to watch the team throw the ball around, get everyone involved and try to get the best shot they could. I counted 5 times where everyone touched the ball at least once on a possession where a basket was made. 23 assists on 32 made shots is something to hang your hat on, and a great adjustment after the Miami game.
