Quick Reaction: Raptors 99*, Kings 102

Pretty scattered on defense but accounted for it with a pair of terrific blocks. Struggling with some of the smaller four matchups a bit, and you can see teammates over-helping a bit as he picks up rotations. The energy is still awesome, though.

The best he’s looked offensively all year, save for maybe the first half of the first Denver game. Really nice to see the confidence in the stroke and the lift off the ball. Not his best defensive showing, but he’s the primary “over-helper” mentioned above – hard to separate entire first unit for defensive flaws right now.

An absolute monster in the first half, the team (you guessed it) went away from him in the second half. He missed a few tip-ins in the third, then got a single touch in the fourth. If he’s out there, you should try to take advantage of that. Did an OK job on Cousins, I thought, too.

All single-game +/- caveats acknowledged, here’s a pretty telling stat: Lowry was a +14, no other starter was better than a -9. He was awesome, and him picking up those weak 4th and 5th fouls may have been the difference here.

This was pretty bad. I respect the work he and Lowry did helping on the glass a great deal, but DeRozan otherwise had a poor-to-awful night at both ends, and the team struggled to work around it because they’ve been so reliant on him. The size the Kings throw at him is the formula, but his two worst scoring nights of the year coming against them is still strange.

Hit back-to-back threes at one point. I swear. And 3-of-6 on the night! When he knocks down those shots, it really let’s the rest of his game stand out, because people aren’t pulling their hair at the open misses. Sounds reductive, and, yeah, it is, because made shots are easier to account for than good defense or other intangibles.

This stat line is wrong. He had 10 points. That three should count. Terrence Ross is the clutchiest clutch player to ever clutch, and I will not hear otherwise. (Seriously, though, he continues to look really good, even on this quieter night.)

Going without a rebound in 11 minutes is a tough look for a center, and Valanciunas’ strong play limited his role. Still, he used his length well helping around the rim and being annoying in the middle of the floor.

I don’t really know what’s happened to our guy of late. I hope he figures it out soon, because the cries for Lowry to play a little less won’t happen unless Joseph picks his game back up.

Didn’t love the rigidity of the rotation here. I can understand sticking to a gameplan and riding your guys to an extent, and DeRozan’s certainly earned rope. Still, with speed/spacing being a pretty clear solution to what was gumming up the offense, I would have liked to see Powell and/or Ross down the stretch. I’m kind of shocked Powell didn’t play given how lethargy seemed to be an issue, having plays die when DeRozan is simply denied the ball above the arc is inexcusable, and Valanciunas being persona non grata in the fourth is sure to be a topic in the comments. Credit for audbily calling out “bullshit” and tossing his clipboard, though.