 | Amir Johnson, PF 17 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 2 PTS | -21 +/-A total non-factor tonight, besides one nice pick and roll in the third quarter. He was benched to start the second half in favour of Patrick Patterson, which I understand, but here’s the thing: why wouldn’t you do the same thing for Lowry or DeMar? What’s the point of having to earn your minutes if your team leaders don’t? Really rough game for Amir, though, who had trouble with the more nimble Robert Covington and couldn’t take care of the ball (3 turnovers in 17 minutes). It physically pains me to give him an F. |  |
 | Jonas Valanciunas, C 26 MIN | 3-5 FG | 5-7 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 2 STL | 3 BLK | 1 TO | 11 PTS | +1 +/-Was perhaps the biggest positional advantage the Raptors had, and got his looks in spurts. I’d normally be complaining about his lack of shot attempts, but there were a lot of points in the game where he just looked lackadaisical, giving Nerlens Noel easy buckets or boards. If you want those touches, earn them, big fella. You should be putting up 20 and 10 against the Sixers. |  |
 | Kyle Lowry, PG 36 MIN | 5-14 FG | 8-8 FT | 5 REB | 5 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 21 PTS | 0 +/-Don’t let the decent shooting percentage fool you – he was absolutely BRUTAL for the first 3 quarters of this game, taking poor quality looks and forcing shots that were a big reason why the Raptors blew their lead in the 3rd. On his way to an F grade. That said, in this case, his fourth quarter makes up for his first 3 – he lit up, hitting everything, and as much as I hate the “I got this” style in the fourth, you can’t criticize it on nights where it works. The team wouldn’t have won without him. |  |
 | Greivis Vasquez, PG 33 MIN | 6-11 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 12 PTS | +4 +/-One of his better games as a Raptor offensively, and boy, the team needed it. We saw some glimpses of the court vision that made him an assist machine in New Orleans, particularly on a full-court skip pass that led to a wide open Patterson 3 in the 2nd. Hit a buzzer beater at the end of the first, and, unlike Lowry, let the game come to him, finding holes in the Sixers defence instead of simply bulling through them. |  |
 | DeMar DeRozan, SG 29 MIN | 4-14 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 8 PTS | -4 +/-Like Lowry, he was brutal for the first 3 quarters. Unlike Lowry, he wasn’t redeemed in the fourth. Props to him for deferring to his teammates when he realized he wasn’t scoring, but the Raptors need him to put up points, and he didn’t tonight, with a lot of his scoring issues attributable to shot selection. He’ll bounce back, but it was not pretty tonight. | |
 | Tyler Hansbrough, PF 15 MIN | 0-2 FG | 1-2 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 1 PTS | +5 +/-Surprisingly effective as a rim protector against the Sixers bench, which says as much about the Sixers as it does about his effort tonight. Wasn’t a factor offensively, but rebounded well and played passable defence. Better showing than some of his teammates, for sure. |  |
 | James Johnson, PF 9 MIN | 3-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | -1 +/-Only got 9 minutes of blow, played the 4 exclusively, and was excellent (of course). He’s got great discipline with the ball – he shoots when he’s open, drives when he can, and passes out of sticky situations, but, of course, he’s glued to the bench in crunch time. We learned today via the coaching staff that there’s no blow-up with him and Casey – his low playing time is just a result of putting Vasquez in the starting lineup. If you think that’s a good enough reason for him to get less than 10 minutes of run, well, you’re going to be surprised at Casey’s grade. |  |
 | Patrick Patterson, PF 30 MIN | 6-10 FG | 0-1 FT | 13 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 14 PTS | +26 +/-The one guy who seemed to truly give a shit for the entirety of the game, and tonight’s MVP. His offensive versatility was on display, scoring from all parts of the court, and taking advantage of his propensity for 3-point shooting by pump faking and taking the ball to the rim on a couple occasions. He’s not a great rebounder, but he’s simply willing himself to these double-digit games, and it’s great to see, and necessary on a night where half his team didn’t seem to care what happened. |  |
 | Terrence Ross, SF 21 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 5 PTS | +3 +/-His energy level has gone up noticeably in the last few games – he flies in for weak side rebounds and had a couple nice blocks tonight. Wasn’t a huge factor in the offence with Patterson, Williams, and Vasquez carrying the scoring load for the second unit, but we’re starting to see some of the value-added stuff we’d hoped for, which is nice. Still doesn’t justify why he got 21 minutes and James Johnson got 9. | |
 | Louis Williams, SG 25 MIN | 3-11 FG | 5-6 FT | 1 REB | 3 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 11 PTS | +12 +/-Played his typical YOLO style, and, along with Patterson, was a catalyst for the second quarter run that erased that ugly 1st. Unfortunately, he went cold in the second half, but continued to shoot. Those 3 steals are a nice addition, but he was rightfully benched down the stretch. On another note – I can’t accept the fact that we’re still running the “Lou dribble and shoot” play at the end of quarters. Even the Leafs scout team have figured it out by now. |  |
 | Dwane Casey I don’t know if he just assumed the Raptors were going to cruise in this game, or the flu he’s dealing with has him a bit loopy, but here’s my thing: inserting Patrick Patterson into the first five for the second half, citing that he earned the spot, and then only playing James Johnson, who was your most effective player tonight besides Patterson, is inexcusable. It shows why all the anti-Casey guys are getting fed up with him – the evidence is starting to mount that the right decisions he makes are by accident, and not by design. The team’s lackadaisical start and intermittent effort can’t all fall on him, but some of it has to. He’s lucky we were playing the Sixers tonight. | |
Four Things We Saw
- Yes, a win is a win is a win, but this team has some serious issues to deal with. I think they’re doable, and mostly system related, but, for one, the amount of 3 pointers being taken needs to be reined in. You can’t just keep blaming these poor performances on bad shooting nights – at some point, you need to change your game plan when things aren’t working (the Raps were 6 of 24 from 3 tonight).
- I don’t know if it was just this game putting me in a bad mood, but weren’t Matt and Jack especially brutal tonight? Despite the Sixers being in the game for the duration, they spent the first half talking about how bad they were, the third quarter talking about everything but basketball, and the fourth quarter raving about Lowry, with no mention of his ugly first 3 quarters. I don’t expect much, but at least talk about the game, guys.
- Let it not get lost in all this negativity that Patrick Patterson, James Johnson, and Greivis Vasquez were both excellent tonight. The bench unit, generally, was quite good, and the second quarter run where the Raptors actually looked dominant was characterized by patient offence, which was a breath of fresh air.
- Learning that James Johnson was simply lost in the shuffle, and his minutes being limited wasn’t a result of some sort of dispute between him and the coaching staff actually made things worse for me. At least I could understand a benching due to disagreement. For a team who’s constantly saying you need to earn your minutes, benching the guy who’s been your most consistent performer for the last month plus is just unacceptable. #FreeJJ
