 | Charlotte | 98 | Final Box Score | 103 | Toronto |  |
 B | M. Miller14 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-2 FG, 0-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 5 +/- FIRST START ALERT! There should be much bigger bravado for first starts. I’m talking balloon drops, confetti canons, air horns, that big flag that comes out during the 4th quarter that says BIG TIME NOISE but says BIG TIME START instead. Miller looked a bit all over the place with his screens and at times didn’t seem to know where to go on the offence, looking a bit sloppy with some bad shots and missed connections, but if he’s going to be in this rotation for a minute there’s nowhere to go but up. | ||||||||
 A | S. Ibaka30 MIN, 17 PTS, 8 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 6-9 FG, 3-5 3FG, 2-3 FT, 3 BLK, 0 TO, 6 +/- You could say he really SERGED out of the gate tonight, and if you’re too embarrassed to say that don’t worry, I just did for you. Ibaka looked strong in his defence early on and it set a decisive tone for the game. | ||||||||
 A+ | J. Valanciunas30 MIN, 18 PTS, 13 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 8-15 FG, 2-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 2 BLK, 4 TO, 9 +/- He and Ibaka were connecting well in the paint. It’s easy for one or the other to overshadow at times but their synchronicity felt locked in. Our biggest of big men was in attack mode and didn’t slouch against Howard—who, however you feel about him, is a strong dude—cranked a couple rare threes, and was there to tidy up at the glass. All in all it was the version of JV you want every game and without jinxing it, is coming out consistently more often than not these days. | ||||||||
 A+ | D. DeRozan36 MIN, 19 PTS, 4 REB, 8 AST, 1 STL, 7-17 FG, 2-7 3FG, 3-5 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 14 +/- At this point the subtleties in DeMar’s game have gone on to create new spaces for his team to thrive in. There’s so much more room now, when he’s on the floor. He continues to perform as a quiet phenomenon. | ||||||||
 A+ | K. Lowry35 MIN, 14 PTS, 10 REB, 5 AST, 0 STL, 5-13 FG, 2-8 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 6 +/- Rather than state the obvious I’ll just say there was a gentle moment a little over halfway through the 3rd when Lowry took a hard tumble and JV picked him up and tenderly curled him into himself and that’s the kind of care we need to take with Kyle going into this last run of the regular season. He’s a tough guy but he’s irreplaceable to this franchise so let’s all be tender to him and this team, okay? | ||||||||
 B- | F. VanVleet24 MIN, 12 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 3-8 FG, 1-4 3FG, 5-6 FT, 0 BLK, 4 TO, -4 +/- I loathe writing anything less than glowing against angel here on earth, wonderful Fred, but he had a bit of a quiet night and missed some crucial connections, leading to some unnecessary turnovers. Things started to unravel toward the last minutes of the final quarter and Fred didn’t seem as tuned in as we’re used to. I’m sorry, Fred, this hurts me more than you. | ||||||||
 A+ | C. Miles19 MIN, 12 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 4-12 FG, 2-9 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 1 +/- Hi, dad! Miles was dropping long shots like dirty diapers into the trash or else dunking like the ball was a diaper held too long in the hand. Ok that’s it for dad analogies (dad-ogies?). Miles played fast, punchy, and smiling. | ||||||||
 A+ | P. Siakam18 MIN, 7 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 2-3 FG, 0-1 3FG, 3-3 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -6 +/- Spicy guy! First half Skills was goin’ for it with the energy and flair we’ve all come to expect but should never take for granted (*cough* Powell) and though the Hornets aren’t a high stakes game, per se, this is the kind of high-flying, barely contained kinetics that throw opposing teams for a loop and make the job of guarding him a Good Will Hunting (it’s Oscar night) style of equation that can be solved by few, if any. | ||||||||
 A- | J. Poeltl14 MIN, 0 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 3 BLK, 1 TO, -4 +/- The hammer came down and proved to cause some frustration for Charlotte, on both ends of the floor. The trend of this game was that the bench was a lot more subdued than usual and Jakob fell in line with that. | ||||||||
 A- | D. Wright13 MIN, 4 PTS, 1 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 4-6 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -8 +/- Aside from the cartoon slide that had him going down hard and keep going, Wright mostly channeled his energy into speedy drives and sticking with his guys. | ||||||||
 B- | L. Nogueira5 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 3 +/- He was there, he didn’t have much impact, he sat the rest of the game. I think that sums it up. | ||||||||
 A- | Dwane Casey The game shouldn’t have been as close as it was but I’m not sure it boils down to Casey’s coaching. He returned to starters plus VanVleet to close it out because it seemed like he was eager to shut this thing down, as much as I was, because Cody Zeller annoys us both and we wanted to tune into Hollywood’s biggest night. | ||||||||
Things We Saw
- Quiet bench. They weren’t as impactful out of the gate as we’re used to seeing, and got a bit strung out at times making for some sloppy passes and too many turnovers for this calibre of game. Then again it’s a nice problem to have that you notice your bench playing “just average” vs. magical instruments of raw basketball voltage.
- Turnovers—too many!
- Offensive rebounds became a problem for the Raptors from halfway through the third onward, turning a breezy game into a sticky one. Energy went flat. Lowry and DeRozan did their best to dig in and get it done but it was a little too shaky, and way too close, for comfort.
