 | LA Clippers | 117 | Final Box Score | 106 | Toronto |  |
 D | S. Ibaka30 MIN, 12 PTS, 8 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 5-12 FG, 2-5 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, -8 +/- The same things that have been said about Serge for a while now apply tonight. Not hitting his shots, not effective on defense, and not playing within the team offense. He’s not bringing a lot to the table, and still getting a lot of minutes, and it was a real problem during that third quarter tonight. | ||||||||
 B+ | O. Anunoby18 MIN, 7 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 3-8 FG, 1-3 3FG, 0-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 3 +/- OG looked good tonight offensively, and was one of the bright spots of this game. Showed some of his bounce is back, and made some great plays. His defense still isn’t quite there yet. | ||||||||
 A | J. Valanciunas20 MIN, 16 PTS, 10 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 7-11 FG, 1-1 3FG, 1-1 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 9 +/- Jonas dominated the first bit of the first quarter, before checking out with foul trouble. DeAndre couldn’t slow him down and he was getting whatever he wanted. Then the Raptors forgot about him every time he checked back in. Wasn’t involved enough, and should’ve had more opportunities. | ||||||||
 C | D. DeRozan34 MIN, 11 PTS, 2 REB, 7 AST, 0 STL, 3-12 FG, 0-1 3FG, 5-5 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, -3 +/- Let’s start with the good. His passing was really nice at points, and he helped get JV rolling at the beginning of the game. But his scoring was tentative and not there, and his defense was really bad tonight, as it has been for a little while now. | ||||||||
 B- | K. Lowry38 MIN, 11 PTS, 6 REB, 8 AST, 1 STL, 4-9 FG, 3-7 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 4 TO, 8 +/- Kyle had some really sloppy turnovers in this one, and didn’t have the best defensive game, but he also hit some great shots again, and made some plays to get guys involved in the first quarter. Not the guy he’s been the last few games though. | ||||||||
 C+ | J. Poeltl25 MIN, 5 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 2-6 FG, 0-0 3FG, 1-4 FT, 3 BLK, 2 TO, -14 +/- Jak’s defense was off. The Clippers attacked him at the rim and found success, and it’s not all his fault that he struggled against the onslaught of guards that got past the Raptors perimeter defenders, but he could’ve been stronger in the paint as well. Really struggled against Boban in the fourth quarter, but the rebounds are nice to get from him in this one. | ||||||||
 B | F. VanVleet22 MIN, 16 PTS, 0 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 6-9 FG, 4-6 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -16 +/- Fred’s scoring was on point, and that’s great to see. But he got abused on defense by Lou Williams, and needs to be a stronger presence there. | ||||||||
 C | C. Miles21 MIN, 11 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 4-12 FG, 3-10 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -14 +/- Hit some big shots, missed more other ones. Good to have him back though, and he clearly wasn’t quite in form defensively yet. | ||||||||
 A | P. Siakam19 MIN, 15 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 6-8 FG, 2-2 3FG, 1-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -7 +/- Pascal’s shot seems to be back, which is a very welcome sign. Played a very solid game, and probably deserved more than the 19 minutes he got. | ||||||||
 C | D. Wright13 MIN, 2 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 1-5 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -13 +/- Even though Delon was struggling to score and had some rough minutes, he probably should’ve got a shot at Lou Will when he was scorching late in the fourth quarter. | ||||||||
 D | Dwane Casey Casey is not getting the defensive effort he needs from his guys right now, and it’s the guys who are getting the most minutes who are struggling the most. DeRozan and Ibaka have both had a stretch of games where they’ve been abused at that end of the floor, and haven’t been lighting it up offensively, and Casey has to find a way to get those guys going. Also, sat Jonas way too long while Boban was dominating at the beginning of the fourth, opting instead to go small with Ibaka and Siakam, which really did not work. | ||||||||
Things We Saw
- The Raptors are still a very good team on the year. At the same time, this stretch heading into the playoffs isn’t what you want to see, and they need to figure things out in a hurry, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
- Dwane Casey is my coach of the year. I think he has a very strong case for the award, and has been great this year, having done some difficult things building a bench out of young guys and rebuilding the offense. Also, his decision making has been very concerning of late, opting to not seek out the better matchups instead going back to small ball, even against lineups it seems ill-suited for. Needs to get back to the decision making that got the Raptors their first 50 wins, because he was excellent.
- Lou Will went off. He’ll likely win 6th man of the year again this year, and certainly showed why tonight, going off in the fourth quarter to seal the game.
