Quick Reaction: Raptors 94, Lakers 83

Hey, we won the division, so we've got that going for us, which is nice.


Los Angeles Lakers83Final

Recap | Box Score

94Toronto Raptors
Amir Johnson, PF 31 MIN | 5-9 FG | 1-2 FT | 6 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 11 PTS | +7 +/-Along with the entire team, forgot what a boxout was in the first half, though, along with Valanciunas, was more or less unstoppable on the offensive end. It made me sad watching Robert Sacre board over him. Overall, though, gave his usual brand of hustle and sound man to man positioning that you’d come to expect from him. He’s a calming factor, and even on off nights, he can put up 11 and 6, which is good to see.

Terrence Ross, SF 22 MIN | 4-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 10 PTS | 0 +/-Invisible apart for a mini run in the third, which put the Raptors in front for good. He has real issues with getting out to the 3 point line on defence, and I think it’s because he’s lackadaisical getting back up the court – he seems like he’s always in recovery mode. Not his most impactful game, but he hit his shots at a key point.

Jonas Valanciunas, C 27 MIN | 8-12 FG | 3-4 FT | 7 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 19 PTS | +2 +/-Absolutely unstoppable down low. His effort on the boards tonight leaves much to be desired, and in some ways, his performance offensively magnified that. When you’re playing a front line that you’re obviously this dominant against, there’s no excuse to give up the offensive rebounds he did. Find a body, big man.

Greivis Vasquez, PG 26 MIN | 2-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 5 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 5 PTS | +10 +/-Rightly sat for most of the second half. At his worst, he’s a total sieve defensively, and that’s what we saw tonight. Got routinely blown by by both Ellington and Lin, and didn’t do nearly enough on the offensive end to counteract that. Live the five assists, but get well soon, Kyle.

DeMar DeRozan, SG 41 MIN | 1-10 FG | 4-6 FT | 10 REB | 7 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | +10 +/-This is a tough one for me to grade. One the one hand, he was really off tonight – he looked a step slow, failing to elevate offensively (even missing a dunk at one point for the second game in a row) and shot extremely poorly from the field. On the other hand, though, he led the team in both assists and rebounds, didn’t force as much as we’re used to seeing him do on an off night, and did a good job facilitating the passing that pushed the Raptors over the line. I’m pretty happy with his game tonight, but he’ll need to do more against a quality opponent. Can’t wait to see what the Republic thinks he should be graded tonight.

Tyler Hansbrough, PF 15 MIN | 0-2 FG | 1-2 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 1 PTS | +3 +/-Got a lot of run down the stretch, but I really can’t remember anything he did, save for a flagrant foul late in the fourth. I suppose that means he didn’t do anything too stupid besides that, so let’s just play it safe and give him a C-.

James Johnson, PF 26 MIN | 7-10 FG | 3-4 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 17 PTS | +11 +/-The best player on the floor. If it weren’t for Johnson, the Raptors might have fallen out of this one in the first half – he seemed to really and truly give a shit, which set him apart from most of his teammates. Had a few nice chase-down attempts that resulted in a block or shot altered, though he had his struggles on the offensive glass in the first half, too. His offence, as always, is tempered and smart, and when he has a good matchup, he can be dominant.

Patrick Patterson, PF 23 MIN | 3-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 4 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 7 PTS | +10 +/-He’s been the guy whose shot attempts have taken the biggest hit with JV’s emergence this season (and Lou), but tonight, he showed that he can still have value on the offensive end even with limited possessions. I love how he always tries to make the extra pass.

Bruno Caboclo, SF 1 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 0 PTS | -4 +/-Two turnovers and a foul, but hey, Bruno!

Louis Williams, SG 28 MIN | 6-13 FG | 3-3 FT | 1 REB | 4 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 18 PTS | +6 +/-Had an excellent first half, where he seemed like the only Raptor apart from James Johnson who was fully awake and ready to play. Took his usual array of Lou-type shots, but made enough of them that he was a net positive on the floor, and played much better defence than Vasquez by simply getting up on Lin at the 3 point line.

Dwane Casey
Righted the ship after a rough start, though some of the lack of will and effort in the first half has to be attributed to him. The team’s ball movement was on point, though, and he even got Bruno a bit of run.

Three Things We Saw

  1. Let’s get the negatives out of the way first: this was, despite the Lakers’ 81 points, not a good defensive effort. The Raptors gave up 16 offensive rebounds – 12 in the first half – to the LAKERS, of all teams. The whole team looked asleep for the first half.
  2. Luckily, though, this is the Lakers, and the Raptors made enough shots and pulled down enough boards to win comfortably. I’m very happy with the assist numbers tonight – 25 on 36 made shots, against only 10 turnovers (8 if you don’t count Bruno).
  3. Was this an inspiring win? No, not in the least. But hey, we’re two-time division champs for the first time in franchise history, so let’s take a minute from all the Casey bashing and worrying about the state of the roster and appreciate that. Remember how hard it was to be a Raptors fan four years ago? Imagine if we told all those 2010 versions of us that we’d be whining this much after two straight division titles?