 | D. Carroll 40 MIN | 7-13 FG | 3-6 3FG | 4-6 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 4 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 21 PTS | +4 +/- Apart from a bizarre contested 3 on an isolation with 20 on the clock to start the game, his offense flowed beautifully. Tonight’s Carroll on the offensive end was the Atlanta Hawk version of Carroll – hitting threes, making the extra pass, and even getting to the rim with hesitation dribbles. Oddly enough, as efficient as he was on the offensive end, his defense was laborious, and he couldn’t keep anyone in front of him. Of course, I have to add this: hedging off of Dragic at the end of the fourth was suicide, and there’s nothing to justify it. Luckily, his defense on Joe Johnson in OT made-up for his brain fart, and the Raptors came away with the W. |  |
 | J. Valanciunas 38 MIN | 7-9 FG | 0-0 3FG | 1-2 FT | 12 REB | 2 AST | 3 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 15 PTS | +17 +/- In the first quarter, Valanciunas ate Hassan Whiteside on the offensive glass, and then feasted on Amar’e Stoudemire’s corpse when the Heat-big checked into the game. He didn’t nearly get enough touches as he should have with the two all-stars struggling to score.
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 | K. Lowry 47 MIN | 7-22 FG | 1-7 3FG | 3-6 FT | 4 REB | 6 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 18 PTS | +10 +/-He improved from game one, but still a ways away from being what the Raptors need him to be. It seemed like he took DMC’s advice last night to ‘look at himself in the mirror’ – getting off to an aggressive start offensively, but then cooled off significantly before making a couple clutch plays in the fourth. His grade has to be higher than DeMar’s despite the poor shooting based on what else he brings to the table – ball movement, penetration, good shot-selection.
Again though, he struggled to keep Goran Dragic in front of him. |  |
 | D. DeRozan 42 MIN | 9-24 FG | 0-0 3FG | 2-8 FT | 8 REB | 1 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 20 PTS | +9 +/- Meh. As predictable as he was in game one – easy to defend. Missed far too many clutch free-throws.
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 | N. Powell 9 MIN | 0-4 FG | 0-1 3FG | 2-2 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | -19 +/-Two quick fouls in the first, then had a short leash throughout. Not his game. |  |
 | J. Johnson 5 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 3FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | +2 +/-One board and bad defense. +/- +2. Strange. |  |
 | P. Patterson 17 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-2 3FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | -7 +/-Quiet game from Pat. He should’ve just ate up JJ’s five minutes. | |
 | T. Ross 28 MIN | 5-11 FG | 0-2 3FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 10 PTS | -1 +/-Agressive defensively, and his offense continues to impresse as he refuses to settle for threes and jumpers off screens. He’s getting inside and scoring off the bounce.
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 | B. Biyombo 14 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 3FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 0 PTS | -5 +/- Struggled again. His series summed up so far in one play: guarding Hassan Whiteside behind the arc. |  |
 | C. Joseph 26 MIN | 3-7 FG | 0-0 3FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 8 PTS | +10 +/- Joseph was the best wing defender on the court. Casey inserted him into a small-ball lineup early and really made life difficult for D-Wade. He picked up two bogus fouls in the fourth and had to check out – that coincided with the Raptors discombobulating .
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 | Dwane CaseyMan, those were some bizarre lineups out there. Inserting CoJo for Powell was more than fine, but bringing in an ice cold James Johnson in a space-suffocating lineup when Patrick Patterson was on the bench made zero-to-no sense. Johnson looked lost in his five minutes on the floor. Once again, does nothing to intervene on these DeRozan jumpers that stagnate the offense. Meanwhile, Valanciunas – the most efficient scorer on the team – had no touches to compensate for the Lowry / DeRozan woes. And finally, that ‘play call’ for Lowry fadeaway three-point heave at the fourth-quarter buzzer was embarrassing. How do you draw that up, and more importantly, how do you – at the very least – not allow enough time for an offensive rebound?
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Three Things We Saw
- I can’t believe we’re talking about this issue for the ninth straight game this post-season: Lowry and DeRozan are in a ridiculous funk.You’d have to wonder how much further along the Raptors would be if they had production from these two, given how well the rest of the roster has chipped in.
- Free throws nearly cost the Raptors again. They uncharacteristically missed 12 free-throws tonight.
- Guys, the Raptors are still here – after more than a handful of mediocre-to-awful performances and scraping by with Ws despite their stars laying eggs.That’s something, right? Who knows what kind of run might ensue if they ever actually get it together.
