 | J. Johnson 17 MIN | 2-4 FG | 1-2 3FG | 0-2 FT | 3 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 5 PTS | -1 +/- Thought he was fine defensively on the Harris/Morris duo and liked that Casey used him as a secondary ball-handler for Wright’s big solo stretch. Not sure why he didn’t play more. |  |
 | L. Scola 20 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 3FG | 1-2 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 1 PTS | -8 +/- There just aren’t many matchups he’s thriving in right now. I’ve beat this dead horse enough, though. |  |
 | J. Valanciunas 21 MIN | 5-6 FG | 0-0 3FG | 1-1 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 11 PTS | -26 +/- The efficient scoring was nice, sure. The Raptors probably could have looked his way more, too, though he did a poor job all night establishing good position. Got absolutely rolled by Drummond on the boards. |  |
 | C. Joseph 20 MIN | 4-10 FG | 1-3 3FG | 1-1 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | -12 +/- Pretty disappointing spot start. He’s played so well lately, and that’s probably part of the reason they saw fit to rest Lowry, but he didn’t have his usual energy on the defensive end and really struggled to create for others. Early foul trouble hurt, too, though at least it got Wright extended run. |  |
 | D. DeRozan 35 MIN | 9-21 FG | 0-1 3FG | 2-3 FT | 4 REB | 7 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 20 PTS | -28 +/- Started out red hot and then completely fell apart, falling into Bad DeMar shot selection and struggling to get to the line, a rarity. Credit is due for trying desperately to get teammates involved. You can’t shoot 9/21 with Lowry out, though. | |
 | A. Bennett 2 MIN | 1-1 FG | 1-1 3FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 3 PTS | +5 +/- Hit a three as the trailer in transition. Too bad the trade deadline has passed. Could have sold high. |  |
 | P. Patterson 26 MIN | 1-3 FG | 1-2 3FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 3 PTS | -9 +/- His first bad two-way game in recent memory. He wasn’t horrible, and he was active in passing lanes, but no defensive rebounds is a bad look, as is not adding anything offensively when the team desperately needed it. | |
 | T. Ross 35 MIN | 10-19 FG | 4-7 3FG | 3-3 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 27 PTS | -7 +/- Thought we were heading toward 50-point T.J. for a little while there. The shot selection wasn’t perfect, nor was the defense, but on a night nobody else was scoring, making shots was at a huge premium. |  |
 | L. Nogueira 6 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 3FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | +13 +/- Was a part of the late run but really didn’t do much during that stretch. He told me Friday he doesn’t wear sleeves because he’s Brazilian David Robinson and life has been much better since. |  |
 | B. Biyombo 22 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 3FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | +1 +/- Was visibly frustrated throughout and was pretty clearly annoyed at the effort around him. His skillset doesn’t let him DO much about that, but I’d bet he had some words in the locker room after the game. |  |
 | D. Wright 31 MIN | 3-8 FG | 2-4 3FG | 5-6 FT | 3 REB | 6 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 13 PTS | -1 +/- Grading on a bit of a curve here given the circumstances he was thrust into but I was really impressed. His pick-and-roll defense remains a work in progress but he was solid facing up or off the ball, and after a shaky first few minutes, he really got to show his steady hand and creativity on the offensive end. The threes and his confidence in them are nice, too. |  |
 | N. Powell 6 MIN | 3-5 FG | 0-1 3FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 6 PTS | +13 +/- Brought an awesome energy in the fourth quarter. Garbage time, sure, but he’s made great use of his spot minutes lately. No idea how he finished that alley-oop. | |
 | Dwane Casey He rested Kyle Lowry, which is a huge plus in my books. The rest…you can’t hang an effort that poor on a coach, necessarily, but it was pretty clear the team didn’t buy into the “just one of 82” company line. This was ugly. | |
Five Things We Saw
- Kyle Lowry entered Sunday with the third most minutes played in the NBA, averaging a career high per-game, and sitting out zero contests. Yes, they lost, they failed to gain a game on Cleveland, and it was as ugly as could be. But it was the right choice. The #1 seed doesn’t mean anything if Lowry doesn’t enter the playoffs in peak shape.
- Shout out to my D-League detachment, showing well for the Mississauga squad on a night the 905 also won. Wright and Powell were solid and brought a nice energy.
- Steve Blake was made to look like 7-seconds-or-less Steve Nash in the second half. Aron Baynes, drinking gin out of a mason jar in a flannel at your local hipster bar, was made to look like a Norse god. This game sucked.
- Something something the Scola-Valanciunas frontcourt.
- The Raptors have two days off before a seven-game, 14-day homestand. Some pretty decent teams visit during that stretch. Good proving ground, these next couple weeks.
