 | Amir Johnson, PF 33 MIN | 8-14 FG | 0-2 FT | 14 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 16 PTS | +1 +/-The last few days have seen some increasing speculation that Amir Johnson could very easily be playing his last games in Toronto as the season moves forward. On the last year of his contract, Amir has a cap hold of $10.5 million for next year, meaning that if Toronto is wanting to be players in free agency they will almost assuredly have to waive his rights. He is aging and is increasingly injured, has been the heart of the Raptors team for so many years now, and yet was easily the best Raptor tonight. He was brilliant tonight, and no argument can be made to the contrary. |  |
 | Terrence Ross, SF 25 MIN | 2-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 5 PTS | +1 +/-Terrence feels like the little brother of this team. He’s clearly talented, but happily defers to the rest of the group by taking a backseat. Missed some open shots, but also managed to work his way into space well. Rankings are based to a certain extent on the expectations coming in, and Ross’ are generally pretty low. |  |
 | Jonas Valanciunas, C 21 MIN | 4-6 FG | 1-2 FT | 6 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 9 PTS | -19 +/-The Raptors third quarter run happened with Valanciunas on the bench, but that isn’t indicative of what Jonas provided. Jonas rebounded well (let a few slip through his fingers), shot a high percentage, and was once again regularly looked off by his teammates. With that said, Duncan is just too crafty for Valanciunas. |  |
 | Kyle Lowry, PG 43 MIN | 10-19 FG | 7-7 FT | 4 REB | 5 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 32 PTS | -3 +/-Tony Parker is good again…and he took it to Kyle Lowry tonight. Parker is incredibly illusive, which caused fits for a Raptors team that makes it a point of over-rotating on defence. Toronto’s scramble defense gave San Antonio the ability to create multiple mismatches on every position. Lowry is a far better defender than he has shown in Casey’s system this year, but it still sucks to see.On the other end though, Lowry played a solid game. Efficient shooting numbers, led the team in assists, and brought an intensity to the court in the second half. |  |
 | DeMar DeRozan, SG 39 MIN | 8-18 FG | 5-7 FT | 3 REB | 4 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 21 PTS | -7 +/-Played a brutal first half, but was incredible to end the third quarter. Some poor decision making by DeRozan saw the ball in his hands for entire possessions. And yes, DeRozan should be seeing Kawhi Leonard in his nightmares for the foreseeable future. | |
 | Tyler Hansbrough, PF 7 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | +5 +/-I’m pleased with Hansbrough tonight. Didn’t play in the first half, but brought the full Hansbrough package in the second half. Great energy, fought for every rebound, and was his usual irritating self. Even as a fan of the Raptors there are times when I want someone to hit him. He just seems to deserve it. | |
 | James Johnson, PF 5 MIN | 3-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 6 PTS | -7 +/-Just over three minutes into the second quarter, Lowry passed it to James just outside of the restricted area. Instead of going straight up with the ball, James decided it was better to attempt a 360 degree lay-up. It didn’t work. There is a reason why he only played five minutes in the type of game his defence would normally be sorely needed. |  |
 | Patrick Patterson, PF 29 MIN | 2-11 FG | 0-0 FT | 10 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | 0 +/-Patterson’s offence is still missing, but outside of that he provided what the Raptors needed in the second half. Some solid defense, kept the ball moving, and was the best rebounder in the second half. The Raptors desperately need him to return to his midseason shooting form, but still have to be happy with the rest of his game tonight. |  |
 | Greivis Vasquez, PG 15 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 3 PTS | -10 +/-While Lowry was beaten by Parker, Vasquez was embarrassed by anyone and everyone. He regularly lost his man away from the ball and was consistently blown past by his man. He didn’t facilitate well, didn’t shoot well, didn’t do much well. | |
 | Louis Williams, SG 23 MIN | 5-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 11 PTS | -11 +/-There were times when Lou Williams was forced to guard Kawhi Leonard…much like the rest of his game tonight it wasn’t pretty. Lou Will is either incredibly hot or the coldest player in the game. Tonight was all ice… |  |
 | Dwane Casey Ujiri’s yearend exit meeting with the coaches could just be making Casey watch the first half of tonight’s game. For a coach who is so well thought of due to his defensive system designs, he sure has settle on a system that creates consistent mismatches for the opposition. So much scrambling…so many problems. And yet, he did a strong job with the rotations in the second half. | |
Five Things We Saw
- San Antonio finished the first quarter with 9 offensive rebounds, and attempted 13 more first quarter shots than Toronto. The numbers don’t do the ugliness justice. The Spurs forced their will on Toronto and dominated early. Many of these offensive rebounds were the result of wings/guards coming in as extra rebounders, while the minority were the result of poor box outs by Jonas and Amir.
- In total, the first quarter saw the Spurs outrebound the Raptors 16 to 6…16 to 6! This has been a recurring issue for several weeks and will need to be resolved before the playoffs kick off in April. Toronto managed to battle back to out rebound San Antonio by 1, while also collecting five more offensive rebounds than the opposition.
- When there are seven minutes remaining in the first half, and Matt and Jack are already resorting to pointing out people in the crowd with connections to Toronto, you know it’s likely going to be a very long night for the Raptors.
- My feed of the game kicked out for the final few minutes of the second quarter. It took me a few minutes to decide whether this was a good thing or not.
- If the Raptors played the entire game as they did the second half they could have escaped with a season sweep of the defending champs. An ugly first half doomed them.
