  | D. Carroll20 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-1 3FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | +1 +/-Just not a contributor tonight. He had some reluctance shooting it, and in 20 minutes, DeMarre was just +1, 0-2 from the field, and 0-1 from 3. It’s likely his injury woes are catching up to him, and starting the season at under 100% makes me wonder if we’ll ever see him at full strength this year. Having said that, he’s a big game guy and definitely will have a big game shutting down one of the league’s best soon enough this season. But on a consistent basis, the Raptors need at least the 3-point stroke to be a part of his arsenal. | |
  | P. Siakam16 MIN | 4-6 FG | 0-0 3FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 8 PTS | +0 +/-Like Poeltl did tonight, Siakam brought great energy. He also had an offensive impact tonight as well, which is always a welcome addition to his game. Keep it coming brother. | |
  | J. Valanciunas28 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 3FG | 3-4 FT | 11 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 2 TO | 5 PTS | +3 +/-Great effort on the glass tonight against the always-tough Whiteside, and the 2 blocks were impressive as well. But the offensive assertiveness needs to be more consistent, and part of this falls on Dwane Casey and the Raptor guards as well. If either Lowry or DeMar aren’t going, they need to ensure JV gets at least 10 shot attempts a night. He proved he could dismantle this Heat team last year in the playoffs, and 2 shot attempts just isn’t enough. But most importantly, he didn’t let James Johnson cock that joint back and bang on him. | |
  | K. Lowry41 MIN | 4-15 FG | 2-8 3FG | 3-3 FT | 8 REB | 5 AST | 3 STL | 3 BLK | 5 TO | 13 PTS | +11 +/-A slow start for Lowry similar to the first two games of the season, but he caught on a bit during “Lowry time” in the fourth quarter to hit a big fadeaway jumper to put the Raptors up 7, and the Raptors never looked back. Lowry’s rebounding impact, assist total, and a crazy charge-take from Whiteside in the 4th quarter still allowed him to be a +11 and put the Raptors over the edge in the process. | |
  | D. DeRozan37 MIN | 14-26 FG | 0-2 3FG | 6-6 FT | 4 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 34 PTS | -1 +/-Simply brilliant once again. His shots were in the flow of his offense, and as we’ve seen from him this early season, the shots are steady, on balance, and shot with confidence. In the mid-range or slashing to the hoop, I’d take that kind of shot from him any day of the week. All I ask of DeMar is once the shots stop falling so rapidly (you’ve got to figure it will regress at least slightly), I’d encourage him to consider making passing a bigger part of his game – but no complaints at all so far; the dude is BALLING and is playing at all-time Raptor levels. | |
  | P. Patterson29 MIN | 2-8 FG | 0-4 3FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PTS | +8 +/-I’ve always maintained that if Patterson doesn’t shoot 3’s and stretch the defense, his impact is that much more limited. His rebounding, defense and opportune baskets around the rim still made him useful tonight, but his value to the team (like DeMarre Carroll’s) skyrockets when he’s knocking down the long range stroke. | |
 | T. Ross21 MIN | 8-15 FG | 3-7 3FG | 1-1 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 20 PTS | +7 +/-The good Terrence Ross showed up today – coming off screens with confidence, and mixing in some range on offense. I liked his assertiveness to start the second quarter, which allowed the Raptors to recover from their incredibly slow start in the first. Terrence Ross at +7 is a good sign – hard to imagine a loss when his plus/minus is that good (except of course if he drops 51). | |
  | J. Poeltl20 MIN | 1-4 FG | 0-0 3FG | 2-2 FT | 6 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PTS | +6 +/-How can you really say anything bad about what Jakob had to offer tonight? He’s still a little slow in reacting to defenses, but he’s clearly still imposing for guards and opposing bigs (at least length-wise), and it’s always huge when your bigs knock down free throws. In 20 minutes of action, he was part of the galvanizing bench unit to start the second quarter, and earned a + 6 in the process. | |
 | C. Joseph13 MIN | 1-4 FG | 0-2 3FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PTS | +3 +/-I’d like to see more of an offensive impact from Joseph; not just scoring, but also assists and better decisions on offense. He didn’t have an absolutely terrible game, but his defense on the pesky Tyler Johnson was suspect at best and the offense wasn’t exactly potent enough. The bench was mostly bailed out by Terrence Ross tonight but Cory will be back that’s for sure. | |
 | N. Powell14 MIN | 2-2 FG | 1-1 3FG | 1-2 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 6 PTS | +7 +/-Did exactly what he needed to do. And hit a 3 to top it off. Usage overall so far has been low, but I can see him playing a big role at some point this season for a string of games; it’s only a matter of time. Also wouldn’t have hurt if he could garner some more respect from the refs, with a couple of questionable calls against him. | |
| Dwane Casey It’s hard to complain about coaching when the Raps took care of business, beating a team they were supposed to beat, holding them under 90 points and not allowing them to shoot over 40%. Having said that, for the sake of nitpicking, I would like to have seen Norm play more in the first half on Tyler Johnson, more plays for JV, and a better game plan to start the game as well as close the third quarter. Some of these have been persistent issues last year and early on this season. But for now, a win is a win. | |
THREE THINGS WE SAW
- Slow start once again: For the second game in a row, the Raptors started things off very slowly. Getting down as much as 12 in the opening minutes, a closing stretch in the first allowed the Raptors to finish 27-25. But this is eerily familiar to points of last season, and this can’t carry on for too long. You’ve got to expect it at random times, but hopefully not continuously.
- DeMar DeBalling: DeRozan has continued his scoring assault on the league, scoring more than 30 points for the fifth consecutive game to start the season in what continues to be one of the most memorable runs by a Raptors player in franchise history. DeRozan started and finished the contest as the league’s best scorer and is doing so shooting around 55% from the field. That’s just insane.
- Contributions from bench: The Raptors bench was lit tonight, not just because of its ability to outscore Miami (Raps outscored the Heat 36-29 in bench points), but because of how balanced the contributions were. Terrence Ross was magnificent, Powell added some scoring punch and defense, and the defense from Patterson and Poeltl was stellar (especially in the second quarter to start the comeback).
