Quick Reaction: Raptors 101, Celtics 94

Toronto

101

Boston

D+	P. Siakam14 MIN, 2 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 1-3 FG, 0-0 3FG 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -1 +/- Struggled defensively to start. He didn’t stunt and recover to the popping Al Horford and Horford got a couple wide-open looks. The Celtics also looked to expose the slight Siakam in the post, so Casey sat him down.
A	N. Powell36 MIN, 20 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST, 7-10 FG, 3-4 3FG 3-4 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 5 +/- If you’re getting a Raptors jersey, how far up is Powell on the list? Bailed out the Raptors offence early as they got off to a sleepy start. It doesn’t really matter who is guarding him, Norm will be aggressive. Hit open shots, consistently beat his defender, even had some sneaky awesome cuts. Forced turnovers too. What a luxury.

F	J. Valanciunas24 MIN, 6 PTS, 10 REB, 0 AST, 3-7 FG, 0-0 3FG 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 0 +/- His first shot was a fade jumper on the baseline against Amir and that was a good summary of his game. JV didn’t play like he should have tonight. Zero presence on the offensive glass against a bad rebounding team. Defensively, he was a mess. When he came back in the fourth quarter, they immediately ran a Bradley-Horford screen and roll, but Horford flared out and attacked a moving Valanciunas. He had no chance.
A+	K. Lowry36 MIN, 34 PTS, 7 REB, 2 AST, 9-18 FG, 4-8 3FG 12-13 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 12 +/- Stud. He came through when we needed him. The Raptors were getting beat up and Lowry scored six points to bring Toronto back to life in the second, and then balled out in the third quarter. We’ve reached a point where deficits don’t matter because Lowry has the ability to turn a game on its head by himself.
B-	D. DeRozan37 MIN, 24 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 9-25 FG, 0-1 3FG 6-6 FT, 0 BLK, 5 TO, 16 +/- He was forced to take jumpers early as the length of Bradley and the other athletic defenders bothered him. DeMar tried to single-handedly beat the Boston defence instead of attacking off of ball movement. Once he operated out of a post-up, he had more success and drew some fouls. Thought he was his usual defensive self, which is not a compliment.
B	P. Patterson30 MIN, 5 PTS, 10 REB, 4 AST, 2-7 FG, 1-4 3FG 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 13 +/- Offensively quiet night, but he fought for some tough rebounds. Nice to see someone step up in the paint while everyone else was being a little lazy.

C	C. Joseph24 MIN, 6 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 1-7 FG, 1-2 3FG 3-4 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -17 +/- Quiet game from the Pickering product. He was aggressive going to the rim but couldn’t draw many calls. His jumper wasn’t falling either. Joseph was pretty active defensively in the fourth and helped that Lowry-DeRozan-less fourth quarter line-up stay afloat.
D	T. Ross17 MIN, 4 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 2-5 FG, 0-1 3FG 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 1 +/- Ross was pushing the limits of what we think is a crazy shot of him. His deep off-balance three in the second quarter was as wild as they come. Not a whole lot happening for our favourite gunner.