 | Atlanta | 101 | Final Box Score | 104 | Toronto |  |
 A+ | K. Leonard35 MIN, 31 PTS, 4 REB, 6 AST, 6 STL, 11-18 FG, 3-6 3FG, 6-7 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 10 +/- Something new from him nearly every game at this point, and the Hawks had no answer tonight for him. Scored with ease whenever he wasn’t facing the double(and sometimes triple) team, and made two huge defensive plays at the end of the night to get the victory, with two of his six steals on the night. He was everywhere in the passing lanes. | |
 B | P. Siakam35 MIN, 13 PTS, 10 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 6-13 FG, 0-3 3FG, 1-4 FT, 1 BLK, 4 TO, 5 +/- It was a rough night defensively for the Raptors, and Pascal never really totally got rolling like he did against the Bucks on Saturday, but he made enough plays during some rough stretches of the night. His threes weren’t pretty, but that’ll happen sometimes. | |
 C | S. Ibaka32 MIN, 13 PTS, 6 REB, 0 AST, 2 STL, 5-12 FG, 1-4 3FG, 2-2 FT, 2 BLK, 3 TO, 17 +/- It was rough for Serge, who was attacked a lot in the paint and didn’t provide enough opposition. The Hawks scored 56 points in the paint, and the Raptors weren’t doing enough either on the defensive boards or in terms of contesting shots, and that starts with the guy in the middle. | |
 A | K. Lowry32 MIN, 16 PTS, 2 REB, 6 AST, 4 STL, 5-12 FG, 3-9 3FG, 3-4 FT, 1 BLK, 3 TO, -4 +/- Solid night from Kyle in this one. He scored well, but his defensive wasn’t quite up to where we expect it to be as both Jeremy Lin and Trae Young got penetration into the next level of the defense frequently, and he badly missed a chance to hit a go-ahead three late, when he was wide open after the defense collapsed on Kawhi. | |
 C | F. VanVleet34 MIN, 9 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 1-6 FG, 1-4 3FG, 6-6 FT, 0 BLK, 4 TO, 2 +/- When Fred is at his best he plays within the offense, which means letting Kyle, Kawhi and Pascal run things more when he’s out there with them, and tonight he was ball dominant often, and the same comments about Kyle’s defense also apply to Fred in this one. It’s not that he wasn’t sometimes valuable, it’s that he definitely could’ve been more so. | |
 B+ | O. Anunoby28 MIN, 14 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 5-6 FG, 2-2 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 6 +/- Great energy from OG in this one, with a nice 14 points off the bench and some big offensive boards. Used his frame and activity well, and got the nod to close out the game because of it. | |
 B- | N. Powell17 MIN, 2 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 1-7 FG, 0-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -17 +/- Norm’s energy, again, was great in this one as it’s been recently, but the scoring wasn’t. Left some points at the rim and wasn’t able to hit his threes, and the Raptors need more bench offense in this game. | |
 B | D. Wright16 MIN, 4 PTS, 1 REB, 5 AST, 1 STL, 2-3 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 5 +/- Quiet night from Delon, who did hit a nice runner in the lane at the end of the first half and had a few assists, but otherwise just wasn’t enough of a presence. | |
 D | G. Monroe10 MIN, 2 PTS, 6 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-3 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-2 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, -9 +/- Monroe was a presence on the boards tonight, but he brought little else in this game. Wasn’t able to score, and his defense leaves a lot to be desired. Rough game. | |
 C | Nick Nurse The energy wasn’t great from the Raptors, with both of their All-Stars playing for the first time in nearly a month, and Nurse didn’t really find any answers to that. Got enough from his stars to win the game, but against Atlanta, it shouldn’t have been this tough and Leonard and Lowry shouldn’t have had to bail the team out to this degree. | |
Things We Saw
- A win is a win. At the end of the day, the standings are tight in the East, and you definitely take all of them that you can get with seeding potentially mattering in a top-heavy conference. You move on from this one, but there’s a lot to work on from this game.
- Vince Carter got a warm reception from the Toronto crowd, and had a nice enough effort, with 6 points, and it felt like it might be a storybook ending for him with an opportunity for a game winner that never fully materialized at the end.
- Sometimes this will happen, energy-wise. The Raptors had three big, emotional games recently and managed two huge wins while shorthanded, and it’s not surprising that was followed by a let-down tonight.
- Jonas Valanciunas is missed. The Raptors have been being attacked in the paint by opponents frequently, where they miss his big body and rebounding presence, and there have been some tough stretches offensively where they definitely could’ve used his ability to create quality buckets.
