Fan Duel Toronto Raptors

Quick Reaction: Wizards 105, Raptors 96

Wizards don't wear black, but a funeral takes place anyway.

Washington105Final
Box Score
96Toronto

D
D. Carroll30 MIN, 0 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 0-3 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -2 +/-

A bad start set the tone, and he was neither here nor there really — both with the eye test and in box score.

B-
S. Ibaka36 MIN, 22 PTS, 12 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 8-17 FG, 4-6 3FG, 2-2 FT, 2 BLK, 4 TO, 4 +/-

In a game where few (if any) positives could be extracted, Ibaka was, at least, doing good things. He brought a little bit of diversity on offense despite not being entirely efficient, and when the Raptors were getting pillaged in the first half (and beyond), he was arguably their best player.

F
J. Valanciunas21 MIN, 7 PTS, 11 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 3-12 FG, 0-0 3FG, 1-1 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -15 +/-

There wasn’t a single defensive sequence where he didn’t lose Gortat underneath the basket or just couldn’t stop him. The Raptors also went to him offensively in situations where Jonas typically thrives in — but tonight he just couldn’t take advantage of his touches.

C
C. Joseph28 MIN, 11 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 5-11 FG, 1-4 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 2 +/-

Relative to the heaps of D-League basketball that was being showcased around him tonight, he was, not absolutely awful, and was doing his best to be the third scorer on the team behind DeMar and Serge. But he still had trouble keeping guards in front of him, and, wasn’t shooting the lights out or anything.

B-
D. DeRozan34 MIN, 24 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 7-20 FG, 0-0 3FG, 10-11 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, -4 +/-

I mean, he led the team in scoring, which counts for something, but he did it on volume. You always knew that the Raptors would come to a halt if DeMar ever cooled down. Tonight, we witnessed it in all it’s lowliness.

A stagnant offense + a less than superstar DeMar = pain and horror.

D
P. Patterson21 MIN, 0 PTS, 4 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-6 FG, 0-4 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -11 +/-

Guess what? When Kyle Lowry is out for a painfully long time, you’re going to need Patterson making it rain from deep. Tonight he was the antithesis of such a crazy idea. He was inserted into lineups where he was the only shooter on the floor, and the Raptors just didn’t get anything from him.

C-
P. Tucker21 MIN, 4 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 2-3 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, -13 +/-

Some tenacious defending which meant little given how much the Raptors collapsed on defense. He was (surprise!) not contributing offensively like most other Raptors out there.

C-
D. Wright20 MIN, 6 PTS, 1 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL, 1-2 FG, 0-0 3FG, 4-4 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 0 +/-

Tough outting for Delon, but, maybe he of all people gets some slack, given how his decision making on offense was pretty good despite the Wizards playing solid defense on him.

What I’m trying to say is: on a night where the Raptors attended their own funeral, Delon was the least of their problems.

C
N. Powell16 MIN, 17 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 5-12 FG, 1-4 3FG, 6-8 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -6 +/-

His heart is in the right place, it honestly is. He got to the rim at will but just couldn’t finish, and any tangible production he had came from the free-throw line.

He needs to slow down. Since the trade, he’s been too eager to carry the bench unit. Kick back the gears and chose your spots carefully.

C-
J. Poeltl7 MIN, 2 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -2 +/-

In his short time on the floor he was better than Jonas defensively and scored a basket inside.

F. VanVleet5 MIN, 3 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-3 FG, 1-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -6 +/-

A tiny leash, enough to give Delon and Cojo a break in the 2nd quarter.

C
Dwane Casey

I mean, what is he to do when no one is hitting their shots, and no one is keeping track of their defensive assignments?

On the flipside, he can put out better lineups — namely cutting JVs leash when he was being fathered by Gortat, and giving Poeltl more burn.

Some of the lineups also were laborious offensively, such as this one in the 2nd quarter: Patterson / Tucker / Poeltl / Norm / Delon. That lineup got torched by the Wizards bench, and the lane was plugged because the Wizards completely ignored everyone except Patterson outside.

Things We Saw

  1. Again, nothing that wasn’t already mentioned in the grades, but: the defense was awful, and the Wizards got their spots easily by carving the Raptors from the perimeter and pounding the ball inside to Gortat who had an unacceptable amount of space to work with. Free points.
  2. One of the worst benches in the NBA absolutely smoked the Raptors in the 2nd quarter. They went on a 16-0 run thanks to an unconscious Bogdanovic / Smith who couldn’t miss from anywhere on the floor. It wasn’t until the 6:05 mark in that frame when the Raptors scored their first field goal. By then, the Wizards were already 9/9 from the floor.

    The starters stopped the bleeding and then some, going on a 13-6 run to end the half, but unfortunately that didn’t trickle into the third quarter, where they were outscored 20-14 without a single assist.

  3. On that note, the assist numbers were absolutely staggering:

    Wizards: 32
    Raptors: 11 (even that is a deceiving number, as a good chunk of them came late when the game was sealed)

    The stagnancy on offense truly is torturous to watch when DeRozan isn’t in Jordan mode.

  4. This was painful. It was not easy to watch. The Wizards did not wear black tonight, but everyone at the ACC still attended this funeral.