 | Amir Johnson, PF 19 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 0 PTS | -4 +/-Had 7 rebounds at the half and made some uncharacteristically poor passes which attributed for 2 of the 17 TO’s of the first half. I know people get on him for the moving screens, but I personally enjoyed the hard screen (he was called for) on Beverley who had already delivered a couple of cheap shots on Lowry. I keep waiting for someone to just lay Beverley out because he delivers the most cheap shots in the league. |  | |||||||
 | James Johnson, PF 35 MIN | 10-16 FG | 6-8 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 4 STL | 4 BLK | 2 TO | 27 PTS | -9 +/-Scored 11 of 18 first quarter points and even he missed shots in that crazy, sloppy rusty start. He had 16 of the 36 points at the half. Still, he was (as usual) the best 2-way player on the court. He also held James Harden to 4 points in the first half. Only real positive on the court tonight. Scored 27 points with 5 rebounds and sweet intangibles of 4 steals and 4 blocks |  | |||||||
 | Jonas Valanciunas, C 25 MIN | 3-5 FG | 5-5 FT | 7 REB | 0 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 11 PTS | 0 +/-Not sure why the team wouldn’t try to establish him inside early (he got just 2 shots in first quarter) given he was facing fellow Lithuanian Motiejunas who we’d expect him to get pumped to face. Still, he continues to look better defensively making me wonder if that light bulb has gone off. He was 1 of only 3 Raptors who didn’t have a turnover in first half (Hansbrough, Hayes). Felt he could have established more of presence, however he was in the upper tier of performers tonight |  | |||||||
 | Kyle Lowry, PG 37 MIN | 2-13 FG | 7-10 FT | 1 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 7 TO | 11 PTS | -14 +/-I’ve noticed he has a really nice chemistry with James Johnson and in the past few games he’s delivered some bullet passes to Johnson threading the needle. Of course tonight in this turnover plagued game he wasn’t immune to the epidemic coughing the rock up 5 times just in the first half (7 total) BUT he managed to get to the line 6 times and score 9 points so besides JJ, he was the only one helping keep the Raps in it. He let Beverley get to him. Write it off as a bad game after many great ones. |  | |||||||
 | DeMar DeRozan, SG 38 MIN | 4-14 FG | 2-3 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 3 STL | 1 BLK | 5 TO | 10 PTS | -11 +/-He got hit and went down hard a couple of times early which made me wonder he was hurt but he was fine, just really rusty & sloppy like the rest of his squad. Lowry and DeRozan combined for 9 of the first half turnovers while scoring just 14 points between them (of which DeMar had 5). Both Lowry and DeRozan allowed the theatrics, cheap shots and sometimes scrappy defense of Beverley to bother them but DeMar let it bother him more. |  | |||||||
 | Patrick Patterson, PF 24 MIN | 2-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 5 PTS | -17 +/-He started off terrible offensively which reminded me he didn’t play like his typical self versus Sacramento either. Unlike Lou Williams and James Johnson who get up to play former teams maybe Patterson pushes a little too hard for these games. | | |||||||
 | Tyler Hansbrough, PF 8 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -9 +/-We got something different from Tyler tonight… he’ll be on the Starters for getting a dunk wedgie! Was it just me or was anyone else hoping Tyler would straight arm Beverley? |  | |||||||
 | Terrence Ross, SF 21 MIN | 2-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 6 PTS | -13 +/-He grew up with Terrence Jones so I thought maybe the match-up versus his buddy would bring out the Hot Tub Time Machine high school rivalry between them. Jones got the better of him early, but at least he had 3 rebounds. He went to the basket in back to back possessions (got fouled by Smith without a call and then came right back and got the call. Progress? |  | |||||||
 | Lucas Nogueira, C 3 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -2 +/-Got on the court, has the same cool hair style! | | |||||||
 | Greg Stiemsma, C 2 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -2 +/-So he plays in blow-outs in either direction I guess | | |||||||
 | Greivis Vasquez, PG 22 MIN | 2-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 6 PTS | -27 +/-I barely noticed him on the court and I guess that’s a good thing, but the fact he was a team low minus 26 speaks for itself. | | |||||||
 | Dwane Casey He tried to keep calling time outs to settle his team and in the first half it worked since they were only down 4 after 17 turnovers and shooting 36% from the field. The struggles carried through to the second half. My biggest beef is what the hell was DeRozan who seemed off all night doing on the floor with under 4 minutes remaining in a blow-out? | | |||||||
Three Things We Saw
- I’ve got a migraine, so I watched this game with one eye open therefore apologies if I missed major or key plays. I’m lucky I could see anything, but with all the turnovers and sloppy play that probably was the one benefit of having a migraine.
- Rocket GM Daryl Morey is the main advocate of analytics (just ask Charles Barkley). Given that fact it’s interesting the Rockets under his reign have traded away: Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragic, Aaron Brooks and Jeremy Lin and their starting point guard is PATRICK BEVERLEY!
- Sloppy, brutal, only thing worse than having to watch this game was the migraine that’s blinding me right now. The positive is they’ve won 4 great games prior to this stinker. Teams combined for 46 turnovers, YIKES. Hey you know it was a terrible game when I give scores this low. And does this mean Lou Williams is that essential to our team? OR was this simply one of those games.
