 | Brooklyn | 112 | Final Box Score | 116 | Toronto |  |
 B | S. Ibaka31 MIN, 10 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 5-8 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 2 BLK, 1 TO, -3 +/-A better start for his offense early on, but some fouls and defensive mistakes didn’t help the defense in the first half. He got stronger as the game wore on though, and his rim protection in the final period was way better than what we’ve seen recently. | |
 C+ | O. Anunoby13 MIN, 2 PTS, 0 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -4 +/-Just another pedestrian night for OG, which I’m not sure if I’m really worried about. Hard to figure if it’s the injury, a lack of confidence or just part of being a rookie. It’s unfair to criticize him at this point…but something out of the starting SF spot would be nice. | |
 A- | J. Valanciunas21 MIN, 23 PTS, 8 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 8-14 FG, 1-4 3FG, 6-6 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 1 +/-I loved JV’s assertiveness, decisiveness and overall activity level offensively, but the shooting and offensive sharpness of the Nets made things difficult on the defensive end as part of an abysmal starting lineup. All things considered, including his closing minutes, you can’t knock his performance tonight. | |
 A+ | K. Lowry37 MIN, 25 PTS, 10 REB, 12 AST, 1 STL, 7-11 FG, 5-6 3FG, 6-6 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 11 +/-The sizzling hot shooting continued tonight with 5 made three-pointers, to go along with a triple double. We could be seeing the benefits of resting him throughout the season materialize before our eyes – here’s to hoping we can continue to get him adequate rest going into the post-season. | |
 B+ | D. DeRozan33 MIN, 21 PTS, 2 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 8-21 FG, 0-4 3FG, 5-9 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, -2 +/-It was looking like it wasn’t going to be his night during the first half but as usual, a couple of strong attacks to the rim, and DeMar found his rhythm late in the game. Brooklyn defenders remained disciplined on his pump-fakes and DeMar didn’t seem to have his normal shooting stroke tonight. | |
 A | F. VanVleet32 MIN, 16 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 6-12 FG, 4-7 3FG, 0-2 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 10 +/-Fred was just being Fred all night. He was the only one playing any defense early on, and his 3-point stroke and attacking ability were sorely needed to keep the Raptors within striking distance for the first 3 quarters. Also made a huge 3 to put the Raps up 103-101 that seemed to be the turning point. | |
 A- | P. Siakam26 MIN, 11 PTS, 8 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 4-8 FG, 2-2 3FG, 1-2 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 7 +/-Siakam’s offensive game continues to slowly develop and his effort and energy level in other areas of the game is unquestionable. | |
 C+ | D. Wright22 MIN, 4 PTS, 1 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 1-5 FG, 1-3 3FG, 1-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 3 +/-Made a couple of judgment calls at the rim that didn’t go his way, and didn’t seem to have his usual step defensively. We’re so used to seeing this guy operate at another gear relative to everybody else on the floor, but that just wasn’t the case tonight. | |
 B+ | L. Nogueira12 MIN, 4 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1-3 FG, 1-1 3FG, 1-2 FT, 3 BLK, 1 TO, 10 +/-His impact on these types of games continues to be pretty good – his length and abilities at the rim once again made an impact – to the tune of a +10 in 12 minutes of action. I’ll take it. | |
 C+ | J. Poeltl7 MIN, 0 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -9 +/-The Siakam/Poeltl pairing didn’t look as good as it did in the second quarter against Cleveland, as Jakob didn’t have his usual nack offensively around the basket. With Serge, JV and even Bebe playing well tonight, there just wasn’t room for Poeltl to make an impact in this one. | |
 C | N. Powell5 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 0-2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -4 +/-Not much to say really…the weird season for Norm continues. | |
 B- | Dwane Casey: Couldn’t seem to get his team up for this one in the first half (something that is a legitimate trend at this point), which surprised me a little given how tough the Nets have played us all year. It’s hard to put some of these “effort” problems on the coach, but we’ve seen it time and time again – it’s just a bit concerning that it seems to persist for stretches against bad teams. I liked him going to the bench early in the third quarter, and his closing lineup with FVV, Kyle, DeMar, Serge and JV was clearly the right decision. | |
THINGS WE SAW
- It’s those annoying Nets again: The Raptors’ struggles against weaker opponents continued yet again. Similar to their past 2 meetings against the Raps, the Nets asserted themselves offensively in the first half shooting nearly 60% from 3, and taking it to the Raptors at every opportunity. The Raptors, in typical mid-season fashion, made a methodical comeback early in the fourth quarter thanks to some marvelous play from Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet and JV, but the Nets played super hard and actually had me worried for some parts of the fourth quarter.
- It was one of those Kyle Lowry-over-everything games: Kyle’s 5 made 3-pointers put him at 215 for the season, which is a franchise record … with 9 games left still to play. Kyle’s shooting it at a torrid 48% in the past 10 games from beyond the arc … a great sign heading into the post-season. Oh, and he had a triple double.
- Missing CJ Miles: CJ Miles was once again out with the stomach illness that he has been battling – needless to say, Toronto could’ve probably used the floor-stretching and shooting that Miles may have been able to contribute tonight, as the Raps went through some pretty ugly offensive lulls for 3 and a half quarters.
- Raps look tired and disinterested: Playing their 10th game in 16 days, the Raptors looked about as tired as we’ve seen them all season. The schedule will space out a little bit from here on out, and 2 more home games with some practice time available certainly doesn’t hurt.
