Fan Duel Toronto Raptors

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Quick Reaction: Raptors 105, Cavaliers 116; Cavaliers lead series 1-0

Toronto 105 Final Box Score 116 Cleveland D D. Carroll15 MIN, 3 PTS, 4 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 1-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -15 +/- The point of starting Carroll continues to elude me, but alas, here he was doing…whatever. He started off the first quarter with a confident…

Toronto105Final
Box Score
116Cleveland

D
D. Carroll15 MIN, 3 PTS, 4 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 1-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -15 +/-

The point of starting Carroll continues to elude me, but alas, here he was doing…whatever. He started off the first quarter with a confident pull-up three…and that was literally it. He didn’t take another shot for the rest of the game, couldn’t keep anyone in front of him, and promptly watched the rest of the game from the bench. It’s time for someone else to start.

B-
S. Ibaka32 MIN, 15 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 6-14 FG, 3-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -14 +/-

Ibaka started off ice-cold from the field and tried to create a few too many plays for himself instead of working off the ball. He found his shot for a stretch in the second half and finished a perfect 3-3 from deep but wasn’t the rim protector he’s capable of. He was dragged out to the line when Cleveland went small and had trouble recovering at times to help under the net.

D+
J. Valanciunas21 MIN, 6 PTS, 6 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 3-7 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, -21 +/-

Overmatched on defence and overused on offence. JV couldn’t contain Tristan Thompson to save his life and was asked to do too much on offence. His pump fake fooled no one and he couldn’t break down Kevin Love no matter how hard he tried.

B-
D. DeRozan35 MIN, 19 PTS, 7 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 7-16 FG, 0-1 3FG, 5-5 FT, 0 BLK, 4 TO, -32 +/-

DeRozan’s offence usually outweighs his defence but against the Cavs it’s hard to ignore just how much he struggled to get stops. He was boxed out, lost on back door cuts and out-muscled along the perimeter. He worked for his shot on offence and deserved a few more whistles but will have trouble finding them at this point in the playoffs.

A-
K. Lowry40 MIN, 20 PTS, 2 REB, 11 AST, 1 STL, 7-13 FG, 2-4 3FG, 4-4 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, -13 +/-

The best Raptor on the court by far. Lowry started off hot with a three in transition, found his open teammates and had a double-double by the third quarter. He was perfect from the line, shot over 50 percent from the field and turned the ball over just three times. His teammates just couldn’t knock down shots but man he looked good tonight.

A
P. Tucker26 MIN, 13 PTS, 11 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 6-11 FG, 1-4 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, -1 +/-

Get this man more minutes. Did he single-handedly make LeBron’s life difficult? No, but he tried. He led the Raptors in rebounding and was the best player off the bench. He inexplicably decided to take a half step over the line on seemingly every three he took but outside of that was his normal aggressive self.

C+
P. Patterson22 MIN, 5 PTS, 2 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 1-7 FG, 1-5 3FG, 2-2 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, -14 +/-

It says Patterson played 22 minutes but it felt like he played five. He still plays excellent team defence and was often the first player back on any Cleveland rushes. He even disrupted a LeBron lay-up one-on-one but just can’t hit a shot no matter how open he is. The offence needs to improve immediately.

B-
N. Powell21 MIN, 12 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 2 STL, 3-11 FG, 2-7 3FG, 4-7 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 14 +/-

We saw Powell too late, but it hardly mattered. His insane hot-streak from three ended as he made just two of seven but was at least confident and aggressive in trying to get his team back in the game. He was downright dominant as a starter against the Bucks and while this matchup is tougher to do that in, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him out on the court earlier in Game 2.

D
C. Joseph10 MIN, 2 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 1-3 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 0 +/-

Outside of a fresh cut CoJo did nothing. He took three shots, made one, dribbled the life out of the basketball and finished with just one assist. He was ruthlessly overwhelmed by the athleticism of the Cavs’ defence and needs to make decisions faster.

B
D. Wright8 MIN, 2 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 14 +/-

Offered a better look than Joseph based solely on his length but looked timid to help create on offence. Nice to see him get to the line once and knock down his free throws though.

B
P. Siakam3 MIN, 0 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 9 +/-

Garbage time but played with energy and grabbed a few rebounds.

A
F. VanVleet3 MIN, 6 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 3-3 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 9 +/-

Played better in three minutes than Joseph did in ten. Knocked down all three shots, (again garbage time) but came out like a bat out of hell.

B
J. Poeltl3 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-2 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 9 +/-

Garbage time, no real impact.

C-
Dwane Casey

Was animated early and already working hard to bend the refs’ ears. Waited too long to go to Powell and ran with JV a little longer than anyone would have liked but hey, this is a different series and he’ll hopefully make the right adjustments.

Things We Saw

  1. Dwane Casey and Lebron James get into it. Casey called out James and the refs after a perceived flop by the King early in the game and it set the tone for the night. The Cavs got under the skin of the Raps early and never let up, Casey was just the first domino to fall.
  2. This is the King’s court. Lebron James didn’t have his first foul called on him until the fourth quarter, played with his typical controlled mayhem and disrupted the Raptors at every turn. He’s really good at basketball.
  3. A strength becomes a weakness. Outside of Ibaka, DeRozan and Lowry the Raptors’ supporting cast didn’t offer much support. Their normally productive bench was outplayed drastically by Cleveland’s reserves and it’s going to be very short series if Toronto’s bench doesn’t get their act together.
  4. Cleveland likes the basketball. The Cavs turned over the ball just four times until the start of the 4th quarter and by then the game was out of reach. Their movement is orchestrated by the maestro himself, but Toronto needs to find a way to disrupt the flow.