Quick Reaction: Raptors 116, Grizzlies 107

It’s a good thing Ibaka makes his shots most of the time, because as soon as he gets the rock, he’s shooting it. He had 18 points in the first half tonight, one of the few reasons that the Raps were as close as they were at halftime. His defense was spotty, but the effort was there for the most part. The rebounding struggles continue.

Game ball goes to the kid. OG was all over the place, working his butt off on defense early on when the rest of the Raptors were trapped in invisible quicksand. He was draped all over his man all game long, and was right there each time on help defense. He had two key steals and made more effort plays than you can count on both hands. He also made a great cut that led to a monster dunk (which he finished, Ben McLemore!) and drained a couple of nice threes.

Valanciunas got punked by Gasol early on, but in the second quarter he adjusted and actually started playing the Spaniard really well on defense, changing the flow of the game at that point and getting the Raps out on the break. He didn’t score much, but he rebounded well and stood his ground in the paint. Solid performance.

This was another great showing by DeRozan, whose game has improved in various ways this season outside of scoring. He did a little bit of everything again, making good passes and getting on the glass. His defense was subpar in the first half, like most of the team’s, but he turned up the intensity later on. The funny thing is, this felt like a quiet DeRozan game, and yet he still had 26 points. Huh.

Lowry was typically brilliant, taking over at several points in the game to hit his patented PUJITs (pull-up jumpers in transition), make savvy passes, and direct traffic. He, too, picked up his effort on defense after a slow start, and ultimately was the major cog in tonight’s victory.

Poeltl had a tough task coming in to deal with Gasol when Valanciunas hit the bench, and for the most part he did quite well. The effort is always there with Jak, and he is almost never out of place. He got beat on the glass once or twice, but otherwise was his usual impressive self.

The fourth quarter is his time, huh? VanVleet was quiet most of the game until the final period, in which he dropped eight points and even made a fantastic play on transition defense, stopping Parsons (with the help of Lowry) by ripping the ball free from his hands without fouling. Just another night at the office for the net rating king.

Siakam came in with Poeltl and gave the effort we’re used to seeing from him. Nothing spectacular tonight, but that’s not what we expect from Siakam. He came out and gave solid minutes, per usual.

A relatively quiet game from Norm, but he had several strong drives and got himself to the free throw line to get his points. He put in the effort defensively in the fourth when the bench made their run, and was generally solid.

Not much of a night for C.J. Kilometers. Casey didn’t play him much after he bricked a few threes early on and didn’t help the sedentary defense that allowed the Grizz to run wild. These nights happen.

Casey was searching early on, trying to find somebody (other than OG) who would kickstart his team. Credit to him, he eventually found the lineups he was looking for and stuck to his guns. He called timeouts at the perfect moments tonight, letting his team hear it for their lacklustre effort.