  | P. Siakam 16 MIN | 4-5 FG | 0-0 3FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 3 BLK | 1 TO | 8 PTS | — +/-Thought he brought some great energy and effort on defense, used his speed to push the transition game, and set some quality screens that had the Cavs announcers complaining. Had a couple of quality blocks, too. Foul trouble is going to happen for a rookie in a matchup this tough. | ||||||||
  | J. Valanciunas 34 MIN | 5-9 FG | 0-0 3FG | 4-4 FT | 9 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 14 PTS | — +/-Mixed bag for Valanciunas, who asserted himself on the glass and as a garbage man as he needs to in this matchup but also wasn’t much of a factor defensively (he did have one pretty great sequence turning away Irving). The Cavs are just a bad matchup for him with Love and Frye, but he has to figure it out. He’s not sitting out a playoff series. | ||||||||
  | K. Lowry 40 MIN | 11-23 FG | 4-8 3FG | 2-2 FT | 5 REB | 9 AST | 4 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 28 PTS | — +/-Probably his best game of the season, even considering the near triple-double. He hit threes, he had crafty floaters and runners, he tricked the heck out of the entire arena on a late pull-up at the shot-clock buzzer, and he was super annoying defensively. The full Lowry experience here. | ||||||||
 | D. DeRozan 34 MIN | 10-27 FG | 2-5 3FG | 4-8 FT | 6 REB | 4 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 26 PTS | — +/-The Cavaliers were aggressive doubling DeRozan in some of the team’s pet sets, especially ones that see him try to establish on the block. That rendered him mostly a pull-up shooter, which has been fine for long stretches but was somewhat tough sledding in the first half. That he wound up with 26-6-4 and it felt like a slow night speaks to how incredible he’s been. (Yeah, he took 27 shots and was a minus-9, but he gets leeway here because he was so hot coming in he had more leash, and he missed some looks he’s been knocking down.) YGMYTF. | ||||||||
 | N. Powell 29 MIN | 4-7 FG | 3-5 3FG | 1-2 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 12 PTS | — +/-So, is he just a knock-down 3-point shooter now? Threes don’t stabilize until something like 750 attempts, and he was bad from the shorter college line, but we’ve cleared 100 NBA attempts and Powell is, like, good. And good at attacking closeouts, too. James is obviously a tough check defensively, but I thought he showed well considering, and he’s now guarded Irving, James, Love, Westbrook, Melo, Porzingis, and Kemba in the last few days. Jesus. | ||||||||
  | P. Patterson 34 MIN | 1-6 FG | 0-3 3FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | — +/-OK, even I’m starting to raise my eyebrows at the continued 3-point misses at this point, all due respect to sample sizes. Even if it’s not concerning long-term, descriptively, Patterson’s crippling outside shooting to date has been a hindrance to a great offense. He’s probably the team’s best non-Carroll option on James, though, and the other bigs had foul trouble. | ||||||||
 | T. Ross 25 MIN | 7-12 FG | 4-7 3FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 18 PTS | — +/-Yeah, give me this Ross all game, every game. Aggressive, attacking, getting out in transition. This was everything he teased in the preseason, and it could be a major wildcard for the team’s second unit as the season rolls along. | ||||||||
  | L. Nogueira 10 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 3FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 0 PTS | — +/-I’m rooting for him and thought he might be a decent option for the stretchier Cavs options, but this wasn’t a particularly strong showing. Picked up fouls so quickly early and it very clearly changed his approach from there. And don’t leave Frye for even a second! | ||||||||
  | C. Joseph 18 MIN | 4-7 FG | 0-1 3FG | 1-2 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 9 PTS | — +/-What have they done with my man on the defensive end so far this season? Tough sledding for him through nine games, though the quality of PG competition has been pretty intense. Decent offensive showing, but they need him to get back to last year’s two-way level. | ||||||||
 | Dwane Casey I liked Casey getting really experimental with lineups and riding some untested groups for long stretches when it was working. The big-man rotation was kind of forced on him due to Siakam/Nogueira foul trouble, and maybe Ross should have been back in late (those are the gripes, I suppose). Really, it comes down to the Raptors having their best James option out, playing a rookie in the starting lineup, being on the road, and still coming down to the final possessions with the defending champs. Now…let’s all put our heads together and figure this Channing Frye thing out somehow. | ||||||||
Five Things We Saw
- The transition game was huge in the first half, with Lucas Nogueira, Patrick Patterson, and Pascval Siakam all drawing three fouls early. Casey tried a three-wing line-up (Lowry-Powell-DeRozan-Ross-Valanciunas) that did a great job pushing the pace, spacing the floor, and helping trim the lead (they went on an 11-7 run in the second quarter). The Raptors had a 15-2 edge in fast-break points at the half. They finished with a 25-7 advantage.
- The first-half defense, however, left something to be desired. The Cavs are always going to take and make a lot of threes, but the Raptors also conceded six offensive rebounds early, unforgivable second opportunities against an offense this good. LeBron James is an insane basketball machine who is impossible to guard and makes everything so much easier for those sharing the floor with him. There’s not a lot of blame to be hung on guys for some of the end-game sets. You can’t stop a high-low to a cutting James, to the best of my knowledge.
Tyronn Lue + LeBron James + Kevin Love = ATO magic… pic.twitter.com/JyQJx3i4SL
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) November 16, 2016
- The Raptors were down 96-90 with 9:49 to go. They were up 107-101 with 5:16 remaining. That’s about as immaculate ma 4:33 run you could ever hope for, a 17-5 run WITH James on the floor. DeRozan was NOT on the floor for that stretch, and credit the Raps for having the guts to go that long without him given how well Ross and Powell were playing. You’re not gonna leave the NBA’s leading scorer out all quarter, though. Take that run as a W for depth.
- That endgame was…tough. The Raptors were in it in Cleveland because Cleveland turned the ball over a lot and the Raptors knocked down their threes (a simple but nearly impossible formula against a team this good), and those things became less true in the closing minutes. Also, Channing Frye. One day, the Raptors will find an antidote for Frye. One day. And then The Melted Faced God will just change forms and start raining pick-and-pop threes under a different name, anyway. That guy, man. Oh, and since I know some of you are going to discuss it (you know I’m not one for ref talk – we’re all biased and both sides are usually upset), Jared Sullinger has you covered:
Mannnnnn this is some b……………. nvm. Smh
— Jared Sullinger (@Jared_Sully0) November 16, 2016
- Look, this loss hurts, as does the one a few weeks ago, but dammit, these are so much fun. My timeline was full of people asking for more of this in the Eastern Conference Finals again, and would anyone argue, really? There are so many fun chess-match elements and a bit of a non-heated, competitive rivalry developing, AND it feels like the Raptors can inch closer to closing the gap at least a bit in the coming months. Maybe. I don’t know, but give me a playoff rematch, for sure.
