 | ORL Magic | 82 | Final Box Score | 111 | TOR Raptors |  |
 A | P. Siakam37 MIN, 19 PTS, 10 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 8-16 FG, 0-3 3FG, 3-3 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 21 +/- Another nice scoring night in a series where he was supposed to struggle with the matchups, but it was the defense where Pascal really made his impact. He was huge at that end, especially in the dominant first and third quarters for the Raptors, and was a huge part of the big win. | |
 A+ | K. Leonard33 MIN, 37 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 15-22 FG, 4-8 3FG, 3-3 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 37 +/- Pure dominance. The Magic have no answers for Kawhi, and he took over entirely in this one, at both ends of the floor. The scoring felt almost too easy for him, and he had a great defensive game as well. The best player on the floor made a statement tonight, and having Kawhi, who can be that against most teams in the league, is quite a thing for the Raptors. | |
 A+ | M. Gasol22 MIN, 9 PTS, 3 REB, 5 AST, 4 STL, 3-5 FG, 3-4 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 22 +/- The statline is quiet, but he dominated the matchup with Vucevic in this game, and the Magic offense couldn’t really recover from having their most important cog negated for most of the night. Also, his playmaking was huge for the offense, helping to keep the other guys going in rhythm. | |
 A+ | K. Lowry38 MIN, 22 PTS, 4 REB, 7 AST, 2 STL, 8-13 FG, 2-4 3FG, 4-5 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, 30 +/- To say he bounced back from not scoring in game one would be an understatement. Hit a big three early and just never looked back. Showed confidence on his drives and his outside shooting, and it could’ve been a bigger night had he got a few continuation calls that easily could’ve gone his way. | |
 B+ | D. Green22 MIN, 0 PTS, 6 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 0-4 FG, 0-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 23 +/- It’s not ideal for Danny to go scoreless, but when the other starters are firing like they were tonight, it’s not really a problem, either. Gave the team some strong defense and the threat of his shooting is a weapon offensively, even if he’s not knocking them down. | |
 C | N. Powell26 MIN, 5 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 2-10 FG, 1-6 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 6 +/- It was rough for the bench again, and Norm taking 10 shots to get 5 points isn’t really what you want. Has to play more under control and within his own game, and let things come to him. | |
 A | S. Ibaka24 MIN, 13 PTS, 8 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 4-8 FG, 1-2 3FG, 4-4 FT, 2 BLK, 2 TO, 10 +/- Gasol was really good in this one for the most part. Had a few tough plays that stood out at times, and it’s easy to focus on those, but he really was mostly good. | |
 C | F. VanVleet21 MIN, 2 PTS, 0 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 1-5 FG, 0-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 8 +/- Fred was playing some of the best ball of his career for the last month leading into the playoffs, and it’s tough seeing him struggle like he has in games 1 and 2. Tonight he just seemed to not really be comfortable most of the game, and if he finds his game again it’ll be big for the Raptors going forward. Terrence Ross propelled his mini-run mostly against VanVleet who can’t really contest Ross well enough if he’s hitting shots. | |
 C | J. Meeks8 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-3 FG, 0-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -5 +/- It seems like Meeks is mostly getting minutes just filling in for Anunoby’s injury, but he really doesn’t provide the same things. He’s outmatched defensively against Orlando’s wings, and he didn’t knock down his shots, and it’s tough sledding if he’s not shooting well for Meeks. | |
 B | M. Miller4 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -2 +/- Got a look in garbage time, due to the huge lead, but wasn’t notable while he was out there. | |
 B | J. Lin4 MIN, 4 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -2 +/- Lin came in for some garbage minutes, and it was nice to see him knock down a shot and hit some free throws, and hopefully it helps his confidence in case the team does need him at some point in the playoffs. | |
 B | E. Moreland3 MIN, 0 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -3 +/- Played the last few garbage minutes and had a nice offensive board, but was otherwise not notable. | |
 A+ | Nick Nurse Fantastic game from Nurse. He had the team ready to go from the first bounce, managed his rotations well for the most part, one rough bench stretch at the end of the first aside, and was able to keep things rolling as the game went on. The Raptors’ defensive strategies were smart and able to keep Orlando in check, and a lot of credit has to go to Nurse for that. | |
Things We Saw
- At halftime, Raptors fans were a little upset with Marc Davis, and with decent enough reason. Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green each had three fouls at that point, and the remaining starters had 2 fouls, while Orlando only had 8 total. The Raptors were able to keep their emotions in check and dominate the third quarter to make sure the officials weren’t a story at the end of the night, though.
- The crowd was incredible tonight. They were engaged immediately and loud, and kept going all night, up until huge ovations for Leonard and Lowry as they exited in the fourth quarter. Home court advantage was very visible in this game.
- The starpower advantage was the difference in this one, as the Raptors’ stars all three had huge nights, and the Magic just couldn’t consistently generate much aside from Aaron Gordon hitting tough shots, which he managed well. Kawhi is, in and of himself, a huge advantage that was on display.
- The Raptors starters have dominated the series. They won their minutes in both games so far by comfortable margins, and will have to create advantages as the series heads to Orlando on Friday night.
