Another heartbreaker.
 | Amir Johnson, PF 19 MIN | 3-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 6 PTS | -9 +/-Didn’t have it. Was always a step slow and it forced him to leave his feet repeatedly on shot contests on the perimeter. Regardless, he was still out there to close the game because he was fresh from sitting for much of the first half. Also, he tweaked his ankle again. So, all in all, a pretty standard game for Amir nowadays. |  |
 | James Johnson, PF 26 MIN | 3-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 3 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 6 PTS | +6 +/-A little too unselfish. Passed up a few opportunities to attack the basket. His lack of shooting really cramped floor spacing and Dallas eventually figured out the Raptors’ gameplan by walling off the paint. Wasn’t his best showing defensively, either. |  |
 | Jonas Valanciunas, C 26 MIN | 5-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 9 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 10 PTS | -9 +/-Great energy and hustle in the first half. Was strong on the boards, collected a few putbacks and looked energetic. But he was pinned to the bench for extended stretches in the second half and didn’t look very active when he came back in. Got blown by a few times which was disappointing as he’s been solid on defense for the past month or so. To be fair, he did play a ton of minutes last night. |  |
 | Kyle Lowry, PG 34 MIN | 4-15 FG | 1-2 FT | 4 REB | 6 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 11 PTS | -14 +/-Can’t hit a shot to save his life right now. A little more in control than he has been of late, but still way too many wild shots. Lowry also struggled against heavy ball-pressure, and teams have found a way to neutralize him by trapping him in PnR’s while pinning a bigger defender on him. |  |
 | DeMar DeRozan, SG 35 MIN | 7-21 FG | 4-5 FT | 3 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 18 PTS | -4 +/-Was in control for much of the first half. Took a lot of midrange shots, but they came within the rhythm of the offense early on. Started the third with a smattering of tough jumpers and his luck started to fade. At least he was good defensively. |  |
 | Patrick Patterson, PF 28 MIN | 5-11 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 12 PTS | -4 +/-A little too unselfish at times. He passed up a wide open look from deep late in the game and opted to swing it instead. That led to a steal which sealed the game for Dallas. Aside from that, a strong showing. Welcome back, 2Pat. | |
 | Terrence Ross, SF 16 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 3 PTS | -1 +/-Well, he did have two key steals in the first half that led to a few run outs, but otherwise, he was pretty much invisible. Hey, the bar for pretty low for him right now. | |
 | Chuck Hayes, C 15 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | +1 +/-Played solid defense in the first half, neutralizing Stoudemire and doing a great job boxing out. Got exposed in the second half when Dallas put more shooters on the floor which neutralized his strong showing in the first half. |  |
 | Greivis Vasquez, PG 19 MIN | 5-6 FG | 1-2 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 14 PTS | 0 +/-Had it going with his shot, but goddamn J.J. Barea dropped 10 points on him in the fourth quarter as Vasquez was just way too slow to cover and got demolished on ball screens. His poor defense helped key the Mavericks’ comeback. | |
 | Louis Williams, SG 22 MIN | 4-10 FG | 1-2 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 10 PTS | -1 +/-Average game for Lou. Took a lot of shots, played poor defense. I dunno. | |
 | Dwane Casey He left the bench in for too long in the fourth quarter while the Raptors were haemorraging points, but his troops were gassed on the fourth game in five nights. He could have drawn up a few solutions to his guards being trapped on PnRs, which led to a number of turnovers and long jumpers, but his hands were tied. Can’t pin it on him. |  |
Five Thing We Saw
- Look, the loss was bound to happen. It’s shitty to watch as fans, but it’s the reality of abysmal scheduling. Playing the fourth game in five nights on the road against a rested playoff squad in the Mavericks was a loss waiting to happen. The Raptors battled for the first three quarters but just ran out of gas late. Sure, the Mavericks made some key adjustments (ie: exploiting a few mismatches), but for the most part, the troops played hard. It’s shitty, but shit happens.
- That being said, DeRozan and Lowry need to go back to the drawing board. They’re the leaders and the offense is designed around them, but they can’t shoot for shit right now and they need to find a solution. DeRozan has shot the ball poorly all year, but he offset that to some degree with his free throws. Lowry was hot early, but since the Portland game, Lowry’s been a trainwreck on both ends of the floor. I trust in them 100 percent and they’ll figure something out, but their play (forcing bad jumpers) is really starting to take its toll.
- The bench continues to cough up leads in the fourth. Here’s my explanation: they rely heavily on jumpshooting and defenses are keying in on run out opportunities. That played a big factor tonight, along with some untimely turnovers.
- Jack’s spiel against numbers is disappointing. Jack’s been great to us at RR, but to see him take such a hard-headed, negative, brash and quite frankly, ignorant stance on simple information is really unfortunate. It’s not about #analytics vs. eye-test or old-school thinking. It’s about collecting information so as to make better informed decisions. It’s a practice held in basically every industry.
- Best wishes to DRose. Get healthy. We’re all pulling for you.
