 | Luis Scola, PF 21 MIN | 1-7 FG | 0-1 3FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | PTS | 2 +/- We are slowly starting to see the Pacer version of Luis Scola unfold as the season progresses. He’s really struggling right now. |  |
 | Terrence Ross, SF 38 MIN | 6-12 FG | 5-10 3FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | PTS | 17 +/- C+ is both high and low at the same time. He contributed some threes off the bench on a night where the Raptors were looking for anyone and anything to put some points on the board. Those threes were nice, but here’s what wasn’t: He completely submitted to Jeremy Lin’s season-high offensive output, and was blown-by with ease. Was also late on that key Hairston three-pointer near the end of the game. |  |
 | Bismack Biyombo, C 40 MIN | 2-4 FG | 0-0 3FG | 4-6 FT | 18 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 7 BLK | 0 TO | PTS | 8 +/- Terrific output from Biyombo, scoring inside early when the Raptors were struggling offensively, and protecting the rim in ridiculous fashion. 7 finger wags. He wasn’t too far away from a triple-double with blocks. |  |
 | Kyle Lowry, PG 42 MIN | 6-29 FG | 3-17 3FG | 5-7 FT | 4 REB | 7 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | PTS | 20 +/- Damn. I’m going to confess something: I gave Lowry a D-, and then this game went into overtime, thanks to some big plays from Lowry. I mean, I’m glad that he was able to shoot through a ridiculous shooting slump to get his 500th three and gain some momentum in the fourth quarter; but this was one of the worst offensive outputs this season in the NBA up until the fourth. It was a Kobe-territory performance. It’s interesting, because I didn’t have a problem with any of his shots. He’s entitled to shooting at will given the season he’s having. Normally, he knocks down over 40% of those shots. Clutch Lowry came to play tonight, but the high usage issue only gets worse as the bench is just not contributing enough to take the workload off him. |  |
 | DeMar DeRozan, SG 44 MIN | 12-25 FG | 0-1 3FG | 7-8 FT | 4 REB | 5 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | PTS | 31 +/- Carried the Raptors offensively and abused P.J. Hairston. Glad he’s ok after that fall in the 3rd. He was just hot, from start to finish. |  |
 | James Johnson, PF 13 MIN | 3-5 FG | 0-1 3FG | 3-5 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | PTS | 9 +/- Gave a spark off the bench, particularly in the first half. Was late on a couple rotations and ended up fouling to make up for it. As always, he’s a better individual defender than he is in a defensive set. All in all, I liked what I saw from JJ. He’s really hard to stop when he’s attacking the rim. |  |
 | Patrick Patterson, PF 25 MIN | 1-8 FG | 0-7 3FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | PTS | 2 +/- He doesn’t look confident. |  |
 | Lucas Nogueira, C 5 MIN | 1-1 FG | 0-0 3FG | 1-2 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | PTS | 3 +/- Played very limited minutes and struggled greatly guarding Charlotte’s stretch-bigs. |  |
 | Cory Joseph, PG 34 MIN | 3-6 FG | 1-2 3FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | PTS | 7 +/- Quiet night. Handled the ball well but wasn’t his dissective self as Charlotte played pretty solid perimeter defense. His steal at the end of the fourth was huge to get the Raptors to OT. |  |
 | Norman Powell, SG 3 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 3FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | PTS | 0 +/- A couple nice passes, but didn’t play enough to receive a grade. |  |
 | Dwane Casey I mean, I’m really not sure what else he could have done. Scola, Patterson, and Lowry weren’t hitting anything, which was out of his control. I would have liked to seen the ball being fed more into JJ down-low, as that was one of the only things working for a stretch in this game. | |
Three Things We Saw
- Three-point shooting was abysmal: 24% on high-volume shooting. 9/37 overall. Lowry and Patterson missed 19 of those on their own.
- Just not enough contributions from the team overall. DeRozan carried most of the offensive load with some help from Ross, Biyombo, and James Johnson. They’re going to continue struggling so long as they don’t get some more balanced scoring. The return of JV and DC should help.
- Tomorrow night the Raptors will be going up against a team they have struggled with recently, on the 2nd night of a back-to-back where three starters played 40+ minutes. Tough game.
