 | Toronto | 119 | Final Box Score | 101 | Atlanta |  |
 A+ | P. Siakam40 MIN, 33 PTS, 14 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 12-20 FG, 2-5 3FG, 7-9 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, 23 +/- He just keeps getting better. Another new career high in points, and he made it look so easy, playing backup center tonight post-trade, too. After the energy wasn’t quite there for Toronto in the first half, he provided a lot of the impetus for the run that helped them take the win. | |
 B | D. Green27 MIN, 12 PTS, 4 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 4-7 FG, 1-4 3FG, 3-3 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 3 +/- Not really a noteworthy night from Green, but he delivered enough and was his usual consistent, steadying presence at both ends of the floor. | |
 B+ | S. Ibaka26 MIN, 12 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 4-10 FG, 0-1 3FG, 4-6 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -8 +/- It’s unclear how much Serge’s role stands to change shortly with the arrival of Marc Gasol, but it’s reasonable to guess that he’ll be one of the more impacted players. Tonight he missed some of his bread-and-butter pick and pop jumpers, and wasn’t himself defensively. | |
 A- | K. Lowry36 MIN, 13 PTS, 8 REB, 13 AST, 0 STL, 3-13 FG, 3-11 3FG, 4-6 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, 6 +/- The line is impressive, and Kyle made his mark in this game in impressive fashion despite the struggles with his shot. He did hit a few shots during the run to take the game back to being close and then gain the lead for the Raptors, but otherwise missed most of what he took, making his impact through his passing and leadership. | |
 A+ | F. VanVleet37 MIN, 30 PTS, 5 REB, 6 AST, 0 STL, 11-22 FG, 4-11 3FG, 4-5 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 30 +/- One of Fred’s best games of the season filling in as a starter with Kawhi sitting, as he took a lot of the available usage and had a huge scoring night. He excels when he’s playing within the team concept, instead of trying to run everything himself, and he should get more of those minutes with Gasol’s playmaking. | |
 B | O. Anunoby26 MIN, 6 PTS, 8 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 2-5 FG, 2-4 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 24 +/- OG still looks like he’s figuring some things out right now, after a season that’s been inconsistent for him, but he showed some nice signs late tonight, and getting more clarity in the role the team needs from him once the rotation stabilizes may help as well. | |
 A | N. Powell21 MIN, 11 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 3-7 FG, 1-3 3FG, 4-4 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -4 +/- Norm has become a steadying presence for the Raptors’ bench, which is unexpected but a nice addition to a team that has needed it this season. | |
 B+ | P. McCaw19 MIN, 0 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 0-2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 20 +/- Quiet night offensively from McCaw, but he played well defensively and didn’t get in the way of the guys who had it going, and kept within the team concept and played within himself. | |
 B | J. Loyd7 MIN, 2 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -4 +/- Played some garbage time minutes tonight after the game was out of hand, and was mostly not notable in those minutes. | |
 B+ | Nick Nurse Tough start from Nurse’s team, as the Hawks came out to a 17-point first half lead and seemingly couldn’t miss, and the Raptors looked like they were running in mud. But he got the energy back up, figured out how to spur the offense and get the defense working with a short rotation, and got the win, which is good to see from a team that needed one. | |
Things We Saw
- Obviously this game isn’t indicative of the new Raptors, with Gasol not yet having joined the team and Kawhi sitting, but for a team in transition after a big trade, just getting the win is a big positive, and we’ll see what things look like Saturday in New York. Spirits seemed high on the bench though towards the end of the night.
- The Hawks are a scrappy team that came out playing hard early and made the Raptors work to stay in the game. They take a lot of threes, and hit most of them to start the night, and that put a lot of pressure on the Raptors to respond. They have a bright future.
- Pascal Siakam’s growth is just so incredible. How quickly he’s figuring out all the ways he can impact the NBA game and developing still, it’s a rare thing and just a pleasure to watch.
