Quick Reaction: Magic 95, Raptors 104

ORL Magic

104

TOR Raptors

A	P. Siakam36 MIN, 24 PTS, 9 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 9-16 FG, 1-4 3FG, 5-5 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 9 +/- It didn’t feel like he was particularly great on offense tonight, he struggled a little bit with Jonathan Isaac’s defense, and still ended up with a really nice box score line because he’s just that good. Played great defense down the run of the fourth quarter, and he’s just a guy who you can depend on for big minutes at this point.
A+	O. Anunoby38 MIN, 12 PTS, 8 REB, 2 AST, 5 STL, 5-11 FG, 2-4 3FG, 0-0 FT, 2 BLK, 0 TO, 8 +/- I’m not entirely sure how to describe his defense anymore. Five steals, two blocks, and he was everywhere at that end of the floor. He’s the best defensive player on a very good defensive Raptors team and has been great for most of the early season. It’s a joy to watch him take away an offensive player’s game. Also contributed 12 points and shot well, once again.
A	M. Gasol26 MIN, 10 PTS, 10 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 4-7 FG, 2-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 16 +/- This was, to my eye, Gasol’s best game of the season thus far. He was a willing shooter and just as active defensively as he has been, but also was really strong and an important presence on the boards, both grabbing them for himself and helping clear space for his teammates. He’s still got room to improve, but he was really solid tonight.
A-	F. VanVleet39 MIN, 14 PTS, 5 REB, 6 AST, 2 STL, 3-14 FG, 1-7 3FG, 7-7 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 8 +/- This was mostly a good Fred VanVleet game, he was solid defensively and wasn’t bad offensively, but there were stretches where the offense was too much of him forcing his game, something he didn’t do in the first game of the season. He’s a rhythm guy offensively and he wasn’t in it tonight, and that slowed things down during stretches when Orlando went on runs.
A+	K. Lowry38 MIN, 26 PTS, 5 REB, 6 AST, 0 STL, 7-18 FG, 3-11 3FG, 9-10 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 13 +/- Lately he’s looked a lot like he’s in his prime once again, in a year where he was supposed to be slowing down. Lowry hit a bunch of massive shots tonight, created free throws, played great defense on Terrence Ross at the end of the night, and just generally made winning plays. Like Kyle Lowry does.
B	S. Ibaka22 MIN, 9 PTS, 10 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 3-10 FG, 1-5 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 4 TO, -10 +/- When Ibaka struggles with shooting and doesn’t have the offense moving around him, it can be tough for him and it definitely was at that end of the floor tonight. His usual solid self defensively though.
B-	N. Powell20 MIN, 4 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 1-7 FG, 0-4 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 0 +/- Norm couldn’t have asked for better looks offensively, and just didn’t knock them down. That’s going to happen sometimes, but he has to hit some of those shots for this team, because the bench lineups really need him to be a contributor.
C+	P. McCaw17 MIN, 3 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 1-2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 1-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -1 +/- His first game of the season, so I don’t want to be too critical, but there was a lot of room for improvement. McCaw needs to find a way to be a more effective defender, needs to fight through screens better and be more active, and he didn’t bring much to the table on offense either. Still, some of that may definitely be rust.
Inc	C. Boucher4 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 2 +/- Didn’t play enough to evaluate.
Inc	T. Davis0 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 0 +/- Didn’t play enough to evaluate.
A-	Nick Nurse The defense has been phenomenal this season, and he clearly knows what he wants the identity of his team to be at that end. It’s working too, the Raptors have been severely limiting opposing offenses. At the other end of the floor it definitely gets stagnant at times, and the Raptors need organized offense to get out of those slumps this year without Kawhi to takeover. Tonight for stretches that was something that clearly needed work.