Raptors run out of steam, concede 39 points in the fourth quarter the Chicago Bulls.
What is there left to say about this team?
It’s the same thing game. It’s the same clueless defense. It’s the same banal offense. It’s all the same. Sure, there were excuses. Lowry was injured (he’s out indefinitely) and they were playing on the second night of a back-to-back, but that doesn’t excuse sloppy and lazy play, in what amounted to a 116-103 blowout.
Let’s just get to the recap.
For once, the Raptors came out of the gate strong. They were able to force the Bulls into a few careless turnovers, which led to a pair of transition baskets. The Bulls also didn’t start off with great energy and settled on a number of midrange shots.
The offense wasn’t running anything spectacular, but Greivis Vasquez was red hot and his spot-on 3-point shooting was enough to build a lead. Vasquez was backed up by Terrence Ross, who provided a huge boost with 12 points in the first quarter. His confidence grew with every shot and the Raptors were happy to feed him a steady stream of pin-downs. When that didn’t work, Ross even took the initiative to run a few pick-and-rolls.
The Bulls eventually tightened things up and righted the ship on offense in the second quarter. Chicago exploited the Raptors’ weak pick-and-roll defense, as the initial action usually opened up shooters down the line. Add in a dash of hot shooting from Jimmy Butler and Tony Snell, and the Bulls were able to rack up five 3-pointers and 30 points in the second.
Still, the Raptors were at least able to keep things close and hold a four-point edge heading into halftime. DeMar DeRozan and James Johnson finished off a few hard drives, while Lou Williams was hot, which was enough to trade punches with Chicago. Again, it wasn’t anything special, but they hit enough shots to get by.
The score remained tight through three quarters. As is his wont, DeRozan took over in the third quarter, hoisting up eight shots, connecting on four. A lot of his looks were contested and launched from the midrange, but with Ross and Vasquez cooling off, there weren’t many other options. Patrick Patterson should be commended for being the only player looking to make the extra pass.
And then, it all fell apart.
Let’s start with macro. The Bulls shot 15-of-20 in the quarter, including four 3-pointers. That came with 10 assists and five free-throws. Altogether, it amounted to 39 points in the final frame, which, amazingly, isn’t even the most points the Raptors have conceded to the Bulls in a quarter this season (recall: they scored 49 points in the fourth quarter on Dec. 23).
The blame, there, goes to the team as a whole. Whether it was fatigue, or just habit, the Raptors rolled over with the game on the line. They had no fight.
It starts with the perimeter defenders. Vasquez, as usual, was a sieve. Aaron Brooks and Jimmy Butler blew by him at will. He was also just lazy at time. For instance, he failed to fight through a screen and switched onto Joakim Noah. The mismatch necessitated help defenders, which led to an open corner three. DeMar DeRozan fared no better. He gambled for steals, including once on Jimmy Butler. After DeRozan whiffed on the steal, Butler pushed the ball in transition and got the Bulls an open look. Terrence Ross fared no better. After playing a solid first half, Ross struggled to fight through screens and let dangerous shooters open from deep. One one possession late in the game, a failure to trail Snell through a pin down led to a wide open triple.
The interior defense wasn’t much better. Amir Johnson was left in the dust by a Pau Gasol spin move on the block and looked painfully slow. Patrick Patterson did his part, but too often he was left to contend with bigger centers in the post, or to scramble hopelessly, trying to bail out his perimeter defenders with closeouts.
Things weren’t any better on offense. The Bulls turned up the intensity and overwhelmed the Raptors with their physicality and aggressiveness. They shut down the Raptors’ unimaginative halfcourt sets, which mostly amounted to nothing more than DeRozan desperately driving against Butler and a waiting help defender at the basket. He went 0-for-4 in the fourth, while the team as a whole shot just 6-for-18 in the quarter.
There was also this.
At the end of it all, it’s just another disappointing loss. More than that, it was yet another example of the Raptors losing grip of the rope and not showing fight. To be fair, they’re frustrated. But as compared to last year’s “never say die” upstart squad, this current iteration of the Raptors looks downright miserable.
But, to close, here’s a bit of good news. By virtue of the general state of disarray in the Eastern Conference, the Raptors punched their ticket to the postseason last night thanks to losses by both the Celtics and Hornets. Their magic number to clinch the division is 1, wherein a win by the Raptors, or loss by the Celtics allows for a third divisional banner to be raised to the rafters.
With Boston and Charlotte losses tonight, the @Raptors clinch a playoff berth. Can win division with next victory OR Boston loss. #rtz — RaptorsMR (@RaptorsMR) March 26, 2015
