Fan Duel Toronto Raptors

Raptors survive slog in New York

After making a big splash at the trade deadline on Thursday to acquire Marc Gasol, the Raptors got their first chance to have him in uniform Saturday in New York. With Gasol still adjusting to the Raptors’ playbook and his new teammates, he came off the bench in this one, with Serge Ibaka getting the…

After making a big splash at the trade deadline on Thursday to acquire Marc Gasol, the Raptors got their first chance to have him in uniform Saturday in New York. With Gasol still adjusting to the Raptors’ playbook and his new teammates, he came off the bench in this one, with Serge Ibaka getting the start at center, although that will likely change as his comfort level grows.

The Raptors starters came out slow in this one, as they couldn’t establish early offensive flow and the Knicks took advantage, but they managed to close the lead in the middle of the first and when Gasol checked in with the second unit they were able to drive a 7-0 Raptors run to take back the advantage, with Gasol showing his defensive chops and making several great passes to find teammates for open shots. Even though he would only notch one assist on the night, his passing was on point and he gave the Raptors several opportunities to find shots with crisp decision making.

On this night, though, the Knicks scrappy play and hard work at both ends of the floor was able to keep the game close, combined with the Raptors struggles to find their own buckets, paced mainly by strong nights from their starting backcourt, with 22 from Kyle Lowry who went 5-7 from downtown and 14 from Danny Green who hit 4 of his 6 tries from three-point distance. Lowry, who had been mostly struggling since early in the season, has quietly showed signs of his shooting returning to his career norms of late, and tonight it was much needed, with Kawhi Leonard and Pascal SIakam both struggling from the floor. Leonard was mostly missing off the front of the rim in this one, looking like he might be showing signs of his sore knee that kept him out of Thursday night’s victory in Atlanta. Leonard did have a strong night with his playmaking though, contributing six assists and showing his growing comfort level with his teammates, which was a big positive, and a needed development for the Raptors.

Nurse did give a brief look at the Raptors starters with Gasol in Ibaka’s place in the fourth quarter as the starters came back in to close out the night, but it only lasted just under a minute and a half before Ibaka’s return.

This wasn’t a pretty win by any means for Toronto, and the argument can certainly be made that they should’ve been more impressive against a Knicks team that has now lost 16 straight, but this game was more about the process for the Raptors. They’ve scarcely had Kawhi and Kyle available at the same time in recent months, and with integrating Gasol into the team concepts as well right now, there’s a lot of work to go around before the playoffs for a team hoping to contend. The signs were good in this one, both in terms of Lowry re-establishing himself as a scoring threat, and in terms of them seeing glimpses of the Gasol that they traded for. His playmaking and his defensive instincts are a big part of what made him one of the best centers in the league for years, and while he has slowed down some from those days, the Raptors have to hope that they can use those instincts to help propel them through what looks to be a tough playoff run just a few months out.

Check the reaction for the player details and the Morning Coffee for the quotes and interviews. Will was at MSG for the post-game podcast.