 | Atlanta | 84 | Final Box Score | 128 | Toronto |  |
 A+ | P. Siakam27 MIN, 14 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST, -5 FG, 0-1 3FG 0-0 FT, 2 BLK, 1 TO, 23 +/- Pascal has some serious chemistry developing with Kyle Lowry, and it’s a lot of fun to watch. Had a couple nice fast break baskets as he beat everyone down the court, and his energy is infectious when he’s out there. | |
 A | D. Carroll26 MIN, 10 PTS, 5 REB, 0 AST, -6 FG, 2-6 3FG 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 6 +/- Carroll hit some open shots tonight, was solid defensively, and wasn’t asked to do too much. A nice game for him all around. Maybe not as good as some other recent nights, but winning like this, they didn’t need him to have a career night. | |
 B- | J. Valanciunas21 MIN, 2 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, -3 FG, 0-0 3FG 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 13 +/- Picked up two early fouls in the first quarter, then came back in with the Lowry and the bench group to start the second quarter. Maybe the only Raptor who you can say had a rough night, although his screen setting for DeMar and Kyle continues to be impressive and a dynamic for the team that just isn’t there when he’s on the bench. | |
 A+ | D. DeRozan31 MIN, 21 PTS, 3 REB, 4 AST, -8 FG, 0-1 3FG 5-6 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 13 +/- In the first half, DeMar came out and proved that no one on Atlanta could guard him in single coverage. He scored with ease, and the doubles didn’t come fast enough to slow him down. Atlanta came out after the half setting out to slow him down, bringing the double teams much faster and stronger, and DeMar responded by passing out quickly and with purpose to create for other guys. Great game from him again. | |
 A+ | K. Lowry31 MIN, 17 PTS, 8 REB, 8 AST, -3 FG, 3-5 3FG 2-2 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 34 +/- The line is nice, 17/8/8 on 7-9 shooting and a +34. I think he was actually better than those numbers though. During the second half when Toronto put the Hawks away, Lowry was everywhere on the floor and involved in everything, finding guys open in the corner for shots, hitting his own three pointers with ease, and making defensive plays. He’s looked like a MVP candidate lately and tonight was no different. | |
 A | L. Nogueira23 MIN, 11 PTS, 8 REB, 1 AST, 0 FG, 0-0 3FG 1-1 FT, 3 BLK, 0 TO, 25 +/- Felt like Bebe was involved with everything when he was on the floor. Had a couple big blocked shots, got himself in position for some easy baskets, and generally had a really good game. | |
 A+ | C. Joseph23 MIN, 10 PTS, 5 REB, 6 AST, -7 FG, 0-1 3FG 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 20 +/- Cory struggled through the first few weeks of the season, causing many to ask whether we’d see Norm stealing some of his minutes and a reduction in the two point guard lineups. Lately we’ve seen why Casey has so much confidence in him, as he had another great game tonight(I’m saying this for a lot of guys, but when you win by 44 a lot of things went right) | |
 A+ | P. Patterson21 MIN, 17 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, -2 FG, 4-5 3FG 1-1 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 21 +/- Patterson did his thing. Hit his 3s(21 for 38 in his last 8 games), played great defense and was a big contributor tonight. | |
 A+ | T. Ross18 MIN, 15 PTS, 1 REB, 2 AST, -2 FG, 3-4 3FG 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 32 +/- Scored 15 points in 18 minutes and had the second-best plus/minus on the team at +32 in 18 minutes. Good Ross seems like he’s here to stay this year, and he continues to impress. Also had two pretty dive and dish assists, hitting Bebe for an easy two inside and Lowry for a wide open three. | |
 A | N. Powell7 MIN, 4 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, -1 FG, 0-0 3FG 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 15 +/- Plus-15 in 7 minutes of garbage time, Norm looked good when he was out there. Didn’t get meaningful minutes, but with Norm you know he’ll perform when he does. | |
 B+ | B. Caboclo4 MIN, 0 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST, -1 FG, 0-0 3FG 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 6 +/- Bruno time both nights of a back to back! Continues to look a little lost at times, but he’s starting to look more and more like he’ll turn into a NBA player at some point. | |
 A+ | J. Poeltl4 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, -1 FG, 0-0 3FG 0-1 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 6 +/- Jakob gets an A+ just for that dunk at the end of the game, which was ridiculous. | |
 A+ | F. VanVleet4 MIN, 5 PTS, 1 REB, 2 AST, 0 FG, 1-1 3FG 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 6 +/- Van Vleet played some nice garbage time minutes, hit an open 3, had a nice layup in the half court, and two assists. Nice player to have at the end of the bench. | |
Five Things We Saw
- This was fun! The offense was impressive, passing the ball and finding the open guy, creating in transition. Great win, and this was the potential of this roster all showing up in the same night.
- The Hawks were shorthanded, and it’s hard to understate just how important Millsap is to this team. He quarterbacks the defense and facilitates the offense, and Atlanta is definitely better than what they showed tonight. Still, solid win for the home team.
- The Raptors have now won their last four games by a combined 129 points, and they won the two games of this back-to-back by 77. Even if the competition hasn’t exactly been top-tier, that’s impressive.
- As nice as this feels, the media narrative likely doesn’t change with regards to expectations if they can’t beat Cleveland on Monday. The Raptors 14-6 mark is great, but they’re also 0-5 vs. the 3 teams ahead of them in the standings, and could really use a signature win.
