Woe is shooting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQqBpYJ_IZk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_ZuJ9edL3Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLyzCIxCqNw
Hornets vs. Raptors – Game Recap – February 28, 2020 – ESPN
“Probably one of our best wins of the season,” Hornets coach James Borrego said of beating the defending champs on their home court. “They’re a fantastic team, a well-coached team, they know what they’re doing. It was a big-time win for us.”
Rozier scored 18 points, Miles Bridges had 17 and P.J. Washington 15 as all five Hornets starters finished in double figures.
“They’ve got a great group,” Rozier said about the Raptors. “We just dug deep and we stayed with it and we pulled it out.”
Charlotte has won five of seven after losing 13 of the previous 14.
“We’re heading in the right direction. Our young guys are growing,” Biyombo said.
Pascal Siakam had 24 points, Norman Powell returned from injury to score 22 and Kyle Lowry had 21 for the Raptors.
Toronto, which lost 108-97 to NBA-leading Milwaukee on Tuesday, dropped back-to-back games for the first time since losing at Indiana on Dec. 23 and at home to Boston on Christmas Day.
“We just didn’t have the complete effort tonight,” Lowry said. “It hurts. You don’t want to ever lose but you’ve got to grow from it, you’ve got to learn from it.”
Pascal Siakam: The Raptors' New King of the North – ESPN
Pascal Siakam: The Raptors’ New King of the North
After the Raptors lost superstar Kawhi Leonard to the Clippers this off-season, the outlook for the reigning NBA champs was bleak. But fueled by the surprising performance of power forward Pascal Siakam, the Raptors currently sit at second place in the east. ESPN’s Tim Bontemps explains how Siakam and the Raptors have managed to shrug off the loss of Kawhi and become unexpected contenders heading into the playoffs.
Raptors struggle to overcome shooting woes in narrow loss to Hornets | CBC Sports
“For two days in a row we’ve had trouble shooting,” Lowry said. “Minus Freddie tonight, minus Serge tonight, and also a game without Marc, but Norm gave us a big boost coming in. We’ve gotta be a little bit better offensively, but I think we got great shots but we missed a lot.”
The Raptors were coming off a 108-97 loss to the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, that snapped their nine-game home winning streak, and was just their second loss in 19 outings.
Toronto plays its next five on the road, beginning in Denver on Sunday. The Raptors will visit Phoenix, Golden State, Sacramento, and Utah and Detroit before they’re back home versus the Pistons on March 14.
“We’ve usually done pretty good out there, we’re a pretty good road team,” Nurse said. “I think we’ve been home for a long time. I think you guys understand that sometimes home is really busy. There’s a lot of things going on. It seems like stuff everyday. It’s almost like you get a chance to actually regroup on the road.”
Norman Powell returns in pre-injury form, but Raptors' comeback flounders – Sportsnet.ca
The Raptors’ offensive struggles were widespread — they shot 35.1 per cent from the floor as a team, were 10-of-43 from deep and shot poorly at the foul line, too, going just 20-of-29.
Powell seemed immune. He scored seven in the fourth quarter as the Raptors tried to steal a win after playing from behind all night.
That helped Toronto get in position for Lowry to take them home, as the Raptors’ all-star point guard scored nine of his 20 points in the final 2:50 of the fourth quarter to keep pace with the Hornets, who were in rhythm from deep.
They fell short. With the game tied 96-96 and just 29 seconds left, first Powell and then Lowry had a chance from deep to put the Hornets away but couldn’t.
Things got a little strange at that point, as the refs granted Charlotte a timeout even though Caleb Martin had broken free and appeared to be home for a solo lay-up with 2.1 seconds left.
Then, on the inbounds out of the timeout, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was whistled for a suspect foul that put Hornets’ guard Terry Rozier on the line where he broke the tie. Charlotte kept the ball and scored again and Powell couldn’t convert a contested turnaround triple from the corner as the buzzer sounded.
It was just the Raptors’ fourth loss this season against a team with a losing record, and dropped Toronto to 42-17 as they head out on a five-game west-coast road trip that begins in Denver Sunday night.
Powell’s return was both welcome and well-timed.
“He has matured so much this year, like he’s not so up and down and scratching his head [about play calls],” said Nurse. “He’s just out there balling with confidence. I think it’s a new level of maturity. A lot of these came back this year different guys, and he’s one of them.”
The only problem is the 20 games he’s missed — fingers crossed there that the number doesn’t grow. Powell was limping in the locker room afterwards. Did he get banged up?
“No comment. I plead the fifth,” he said.
Toronto Raptors lose to Charlotte Hornets, spoiling solid return of Norman Powell – TSN.ca
And when Nick Nurse walked into the post-game press conference, the Raptors coach could only chuckle and say: “There’s one for the books.”
“It was difficult,” Nurse said. “The big thing is when you’re shifting (players) around a lot is it’s going to look disjointed at times and it did. I thought we found some chemistry.”
Pascal Siakam had 24 points and nine rebounds, while Kyle Lowry scored 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter. OG Anunoby chipped in with 16 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors (42-17), who’ve lost two straight at Scotiabank Arena, and lost consecutive games for only the fourth time this season.
“Obviously, we didn’t make shots,” Siakam said. “Missing everything. Layups, free throws . . . the list goes on. Threes. At the same time, we still put ourselves with a chance to be in the game and have an opportunity to win.”
Devonte’ Graham also had 18 points for the Hornets (21-38).
The Raptors trailed by 17 points in the second quarter to a Charlotte team they’d already beaten twice this season.
They showed some life in the third, and when Powell fed Siakam with a behind-the-back pass on the break, Siakam’s dunk pulled Toronto to within five points, and brought the Scotiabank Arena fans out of their seats.
“I just tried to just see how the game was going and play within the flow of that,” Powell said. “I thought it was a tough time for us as a team to hit shots and get something going offensively. I thought we did a great job from pretty much the middle of the second quarter and on fighting and battling and scrambling and making plays when needed to give ourselves a chance to win the game.”
1. The injury bug bites again
Fred VanVleet and Serge Ibaka were both late scratches against the Hornets.
Per Blake Murphy of The Athletic, VanVleet hurt his shoulder on a screen in Toronto’s loss to Milwaukee on Tuesday while Ibaka has been dealing with some soreness in his right knee.
As of this writing, it’s unknown if they’ll miss more than this game with their respective injuries.
The Raptors have now missed more than 200 games to injury this season, according to Spotrac. That’s the fourth-highest total in the league behind only the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors and Washington Wizards.
The Raptors can only hope that everyone will be good to go for the playoffs. 23 games to go.
2. It’s good to have Norman Powell back
Powell returned after missing nine straight games with a fractured finger. He started in place of VanVleet at shooting guard, whereas Rondae Hollis-Jefferson started in place of Ibaka at centre.
It didn’t take long for Powell to get on the scoreboard in his return. He missed his shot, but he followed that miss up with a 3-pointer in transition a few seconds later to give the Raptors their first points of the game.
Early shooting struggles doom Raptors in tough loss to Hornets | Toronto Sun
As bad as the Raptors were in those first 30 minutes or so, they were equally as good in the final 18 and still could not crawl all the way back to beat the Hornets.
“That was the game, we missed a lot of shots,” Kyle Lowry said. “That’s it.”
The Hornets were physical and aggressive all night and took advantage of the Raptors’ one glaring weakness on the night (besides their early shooting woes) which was size without either Serge Ibaka or Marc Gasol in the lineup. The Hornets outrebounded Toronto 58-45.
On one of the poorest shooting nights of the season — the only one worse came on Jan. 2 when they shot just 31% compared to the 35% they ended up at on Friday night — the Raptors were also without Fred VanVleet and that didn’t help things when shot making became so difficult.
It was around the start of the second half when Pascal Siakam decided enough was enough and started attacking the basket like a man possessed. He still missed his fair share at the rim, as everyone in a Raptors uniform seemed to, but the aggressiveness was awarded with trips to the free-throw line and suddenly Siakam was back in the 20s in the scoring line of the boxscore.
Look out, Raptors rivals — Nick Nurse is watching | The Star
Players watch to see what their buddies are doing or what their old teams are looking like, or because it’s a particularly compelling matchup. In many ways it is mindless entertainment, and because they get so immersed in a season as it goes on, watching becomes the normal off-night lifestyle.
Coaches tend to watch with a more discerning eye. They look for plays and player rotations and out-of-timeout or end-of-game situations they can tuck away to either steal for their own use or be prepared to defend if a similar situation arises.
It’s work, and it’s fun. They watch to see how teams are coached and how they play.
“I do both,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse was saying not too long ago. “Part of my job is to know my counterpart … what are they? If you give me a name, I should be able to give you five sentences on who they are. That plays an important part in our scouting.”
It also feeds perfectly into Nurse’s willingness to, and love of, experimentation as he detailed this week.
He has watched a ton of Milwaukee Bucks games over the course of the season, as a rival and a fan of the game. He’s seen some things — groups of players, sets the Bucks might run with this or that group on the floor — and it got him thinking of how to defend or attack it.
He was ready to spring a few things on them this week, in experimental mode.
Raptors' offence dries up in ugly loss to Hornets – TSN.ca
Off nights happen, bad games happen, but they can be tough to justify when you’re the defending champions and one of the best teams in the NBA.
“Well that was one for the books,” Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said, in jest, following his team’s 99-96 loss to the lowly Charlotte Hornets on Friday – arguably their worst defeat of an otherwise remarkable season.
It sure was ugly. The Raptors led for less than 10 minutes on the night and trailed by as many as 17 points. They bricked threes, clanked layups, committed some silly fouls and had a few uncharacteristic defensive lapses. Yet somehow, they still had a chance to win.
With eight seconds left, after Kyle Lowry had scored Toronto’s final 10 points to tie the game, Norman Powell – who returned to action after missing the past month with a fractured finger – missed a good look from three-point range. Lowry grabbed a long offensive rebound and missed what was probably a rushed shot from the corner, giving the ball back to Charlotte with a chance to win it in regulation.
However, before the Hornets could even inbound, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was whistled for a foul for colliding with Terry Rozier, who was coming to the ball. Hollis-Jefferson fouled out and Charlotte was awarded a free throw and possession, in what turned out to be the deciding play.
It was close, and not a call you generally see officials make that late in a tight game, but it was a foul. That’s not why the Raptors lost.
Of course, they were undermanned and undersized, but that’s also not why they lost.
On a night in which the Raptors hit 35 per cent of their field goal attempts and 23 per cent of their threes, they certainly could have used Fred VanVleet’s shot-making. They were missing both of their centres – Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka – who certainly could have helped on the boards, where Toronto was out-rebounded 58-45, or defending at the rim.
Terry Rozier scored 18 points and the go-ahead free throw with 2.1 seconds remaining to lift the Charlotte Hornets to a 99-96 win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday, spoiling a solid return by Norm Powell.
But while Powell returned from a nine-game injury layoff to score 22 points, the Raptors were without Fred VanVleet (sore shoulder) and both centres: Serge Ibaka (sore knee) and Marc Gasol (hamstring), who’s missed 24 games.
And when Nick Nurse walked into the post-game press conference, the Raptors coach could only chuckle and say: “There’s one for the books.”
“It was difficult,” Nurse said. “The big thing is when you’re shifting (players) around a lot is it’s going to look disjointed at times and it did. I thought we found some chemistry.”
Pascal Siakam had 24 points and nine rebounds, while Kyle Lowry scored 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter. OG Anunoby chipped in with 16 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors (42-17), who’ve lost two straight at Scotiabank Arena, and lost consecutive games for only the fourth time this season.
“Obviously, we didn’t make shots,” Siakam said. “Missing everything. Layups, free throws . . . the list goes on. Threes. At the same time, we still put ourselves with a chance to be in the game and have an opportunity to win.”
Devonte’ Graham also had 18 points for the Hornets (21-38).
Recap: Charlotte Hornets win a wild one in Toronto, 99-96 – At The Hive
A 6-0 Raptors run a short time later cut the Hornets lead down to two and forced a Hornets timeout. The teams went back and forth for a few minutes, before Kyle Lowry drew a foul 45 feet from the basket. He missed the second free throw, but an offensive rebound led to a Lowry three that put the Raptors up one. The Hornets quickly recpatured their lead with a three from Terry Rozier on the next possession.
Kyle Lowry took it back with a driving layup a couple possessions later, and that was answered by Bridges pulling a three in his face. A Lowry free throw tied the game.
The teams exchanged misses. PJ Washington nabbed the Raptors miss with just over two seconds remaining and alertly found a wide open Miles Bridges who had leaked into the front court, but the Hornets bench had called timeout before realizing that he was home free for an uncontested game winner.
The Hornets advanced the ball into the front court for the inbound, but Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was called for pushing Rozier before the ball was inbounded. That’s an away-from-the-play foul, meaning the Hornets got a free throw and retained possession. Rozier calmly sank the free throw.
Devonte’ Graham received the next inbound and tried to throw the ball in the air to run out the clock, but the Raptors were granted the foul anyway. He hit both free throws to put the Hornets up three. The Raptors couldn’t get a good look at the basket and their hail mary attempt when begging.
This was an incredibly fun game with an atmosphere that overstated the importance of it. The Hornets played well on both ends of the floor for the most part and showed all of the promise fans have been looking for. All five starters scored between 13 and 18 points, led by the guard duo’s 18 apiece.
Norman Powell’s return is nice, but Raptors need full health — and soon – The Athletic
The injuries have come frequently enough that Nick Nurse had to check with the Raptors’ head of media relations, Jennifer Quinn, that no member of the walking wounded was too badly hurt. The Raptors are about to depart on a five-game Western Conference road trip, and every player on the roster is scheduled to be on the Denver-bound airplane on Saturday.
“We’re hoping at some point on the trip most of those guys get back,” Nurse said after the Raptors’ 99-96 loss to Charlotte, the rare evening when those injuries have seemed to really impact their play this season. “I’m just trying to think if we have anybody with broken arms or anything right now. Any broken bones or anything?”
Nope. Norman Powell was the most recent player to break something — his left ring finger — but he came back Friday night after four weeks away. Of course, his return was more than offset by Fred VanVleet and Serge Ibaka missing the game to shoulder and knee soreness, respectively, but those are not expected to be long-term injuries. In theory, the Raptors are headed toward full health. We have said that a lot this season.
Powell soaked up more than 36 minutes Friday, which was not part of the plan. The Raptors’ trio of reserve guards — Terence Davis, Patrick McCaw and Matt Thomas — shot 2-for-16 from the floor and forced Nurse’s hand. (McCaw received the most minutes of those three players, nearly 20, but was a game-worst -16.) On Powell’s last basket of the game, you could see the toll those minutes had taken. Powell crawled around a screen headed to his left and lofted up a floater with a pace that belonged in a YMCA run.
10 things: Raptors lose horrendous game to Hornets in horrendous fashion
One — Horrendous: This was an uncharacteristic performance by the Raptors, who couldn’t muster the composure nor the focus to win this game, which is antithetical to their season. Sure, the Raptors closed the gap in the second half and even took the lead late, but they never found a rhythm. The Hornets left the door wide open so many times, but each time the Raptors were undone by unforced mistakes. Bad shots, missed rotations, and a wholly needless foul doomed them on a night where they did not deserve the win.
Two — Unfortunate: The blame for the loss will ultimately fall on Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who put two hands on Terry Rozier’s back before the Hornets inbounded with the game tied. That foul effectively ended the game, as Rozier shot the technical free throw while also retaining possession with 2.1 seconds left. Moments earlier, Hollis-Jefferson called his own number in a late shot clock situation by ploughing aimlessly into Bismack Biyombo, and was rudely turned aside while also wasting the possession.
Three — Leadership: Serge Ibaka made sure to comfort Hollis-Jefferson on his way out of the locker room, which shows decency on the part of Ibaka. As it happens, Ibaka committed the same mistake — fouling before an inbound pass — that forced the Raptors to endure overtime against the Hornets earlier in the year. Hollis-Jefferson was in a tough spot all night, as he was left yet again playing the center position in a pinch since Ibaka (knee soreness) and Marc Gasol (hamstring) missed the game, leaving the Raptors barren at center. All night Hollis-Jefferson found himself outnumbered on the glass and outmuscled in the paint, so you could cut him some slack on the last possession.
Raptors unable to find a path to victory against Hornets in 99-96 loss – The Globe and Mail
Nick Nurse, who has repeatedly shown a flair for creative lineups, turned to his 14th combination of starters this season. With VanVleet out, Kyle Lowry assumed the point-guard duties and Norman Powell began at the shooting guard. OG Anunoby started at small forward with Pascal Siakam at power forward. Very short on big men at the centre position, Nurse called on 6-foot-9 Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to start in the 5-spot, ready to tangle with former Raptors big man Bismack Biyombo.
“He’s really versatile defensively for us. He’s undersized but he’s strong. He works and he gets physical and all that stuff,” Nurse said about using Hollis-Jefferson (four points, nine rebounds) at centre. “He and Chris [Boucher] are really our only fives left. And then I guess we’ll go to Pascal next, OG maybe.”
The shooting woes that plagued Toronto in its Tuesday loss to Milwaukee persisted on Friday. The Raptors shot a shaky 32 per cent in the opening quarter. The most glaring misses came from Siakam, who made just two of his nine first-quarter attempts. Toronto trailed Charlotte 25-23 heading into the second.
The Raptors shooting got worse in a sloppy second quarter – a frightening 22.2 per cent – and they were being badly out-rebounded too, as they slipped behind by 17. Even their free-throw shooting was lousy. They called shooting specialist Matt Thomas off the bench, and even he misfired on three of his four field-goal attempts before halftime. The home team straggled behind by nine points at the break.
Hornets Edge Raptors for Dramatic Road Victory | Charlotte Hornets
Charlotte led by 17 in the second quarter, but Toronto rallied in the fourth and eventually got the score knotted at 96-96 with 52.8 seconds remaining. After Graham’s go-ahead triple rimmed out, Norman Powell and Kyle Lowry each missed three-point attempts for Toronto, giving Charlotte one last chance with 2.1 seconds to go.
On the next possession, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson fouled Rozier before the inbounds pass, sending the latter to the free-throw line. After the make, Toronto then fouled Graham once the ball was in play, who followed suite and hit his two freebies to extend the advantage to three. Powell got a three off at the other end, but came up short thanks to some tremendous defense from rookie Cody Martin.
“I take 100 free throws every day,” said Rozier. “It’s just the same shot that I always shoot if I’m in the gym with a lot of people or if I’m in the gym by myself. I just took my time, tried to knock it down and make a smart play. I’m just happy we got the win. My teammates played very well. We were coached well throughout the game and we needed this one.”
“We stayed in the moment,” said Coach Borrego afterwards. “Probably one of our best wins of the season. We were complete end to end. Things didn’t go our way down the stretch a few times, but we stuck with it and didn’t hang our heads. We kept making plays and went on to the next one. Just keep competing, playing with each other and that’s what we did.”
Miles Bridges continued to play well, posting 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, five rebounds and three blocks. PJ Washington narrowly missed a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds, while fellow frontcourter Bismack Biyombo had 13 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks for his eighth double-double of the campaign. Rookie Jalen McDaniels had nine points and seven rebounds off the bench and Cody Martin added four points, four rebounds and a career-high six assists.