Quick Reaction: Raptors 118, Nuggets 133

Couldn’t be anything besides an A+. His rebounding continues to impress, and he’s applying himself inside the arc offensively. He eats the point to wing pass for breakfast and gobbles up players who come to close. A defensive masterclass and an uber-efficient offensive night. He made this game close for long periods of time.

Super tough game offensively for him. The feathery touch we’ve come to expect from him around the basket has gone a bit wayward this year and that was under the microscope in this game. The Nuggets sat back on him and he responded pretty poorly in the half-court. His defense was really impressive, though. Tough game.

Thought he did a commendable job on defense. Not only was he as tough on Jokic as a guy his size can be, but his rotations off of him were pretty crisp. He really stagnated the offense with his negative spacing, though. And that’s largely where the Raptors offense saw it’s struggles.

Little pockets of inspired play next to shooting funks. That’s been the Lowry we’ve seen in the past couple games. The defense was on brand and tenacious, no faulting him there. But, the lack of potency from downtown really hampers the Raptors in these games.

Killed the Nuggets poor transition defense. He’s gotten so good at picking his spots that 20-points has become commonplace for him. Obviously would’ve liked more from 3-point range, but thems the breaks. Great ancillary piece in a tough, tough game for the Raps.

So, we’re still seeing a bit of a sticking point when he’s initiating offense. But, he was better off the ball than he has been in past games. And despite the fact that TD2 makes way bigger plays, McCaw was a bit more sound defensively in this one. I wouldn’t have, but I understand why Nurse went with him when the back end of the defense was constantly in motion.

I’m expecting a big game from him against the Suns (bookmark this) and he was nearly as good as advertised in this one. Aggressive shot-hunting with nice efficiency, out of nowhere rebounds, and ready to run in transition. Got back-cut a couple times and had a couple funky rotations, but hey, that’s life.

Really nice start to the second Q for him, but that faded quickly. He’s usually at his best when teams are spaced out and he can come in as a rim-runner, but the Raptors couldn’t do that for him tonight. Super tough matchup to try and hang in with.

Too short a stint.

It’s tough to try and think what type of coaching decisions turn this game into a win, right? Maybe more motion for Siakam, but the Nuggets went under everything and he missed his jumpers. Davis instead of McCaw? That probably doesn’t save the day. Just a tough night.