Quick Reaction: Raptors 108, Grizzlies 99

Still not at his best, but he was good at taking advantage of his matchups in this game and scoring the ball. Range-y on defense, of course, but didn’t help out a lot on the glass in a game that the Raptors lost that battle. He’s had trouble creating and scoring in recent games, and it was nice to see him regain a piece of his game tonight. Especially his late game performance, which was pretty special. Those pull-up triples, though. Hopefully this is the precursor for something more.

Quiet, but usually is when the Raptors offense isn’t operating at a surplus. Didn’t get much of the ball, so we didn’t see that pop off the dribble that we’ve grown accustomed to getting a peek at. Had a nice lil’ sidestep dribble into a 3-point make, and closed off countless passing lanes for the Grizzlies offense with his length and reads. Simple and competent game.

When the Raps offense was struggling early they went to a lot of corner offense looks, which had a middling return, but at least it was there. Banked in a three and was furious at himself, which was funny. The real meat of his game was his defense on ‘JV’. Valanciunas is a load for most players to handle and provides a really important punch to the Grizzlies offense. With Gasol locking him down, the Grizzlies became over reliant on Morant and Brooks and saw their offense become predictable and uninventive. A definitive positive in this one, as he usually is.

Really popped off against the Lakers, but has mostly been the Robin to VanVleet’s Batman in the rest of the bubble games. Lowry’s fingerprints are on everything, usually, but he has been fairly hands off with the offense and that was a factor in his performance today. Still one of the best backline rotators in the league. He operates on the defensive baseline like a shadow cat. Quiet games, but doing so in situations that aren’t incredibly important (save for the Celtics game). Solid stuff.

A hell-ish defensive presence in this one. He harassed every action he was near on that end of the floor, and those heavy hands disrupted play after play. Offensively, classic ‘FVV’. Pushed with purpose and turned pseudo transition into transition, relocated off-ball and made a difference as a spot up option, and got the defense in motion. Morant did a really good job of tracking him in the second half, so the ball went back to Lowry, but his defense was huge down the stretch. He’s been the Raptors bubble MVP so far.

A return to form. Really pressed the backline of the Grizzlies defense when he was curling off of pin downs, and even had a few successful ‘pnr’ possessions. Always loves getting out in transition and did well there too. He’s not all the way back with his jumper, but that aggressive and accomplished downhill game adds a unique element to the Raptors offense.

Best game of the bubble so far. Was a vertical threat on the offensive glass, creating secondary possessions, and spaced the floor well when the Grizzlies were eager to drop. Similar to Norm, he brings a unique skillset to the Raptors, and when he’s doing things well he can really bully opposing teams with them. Moving well, and despite some sloppy hands on occasion, looked super competent today.

Came off the bench and quickly sank two triples off of pin downs. All you can ask of him, really. Had a defensive gaffe, but the man is a shooter.

Still operating firmly in a rut. Had a pretty slick cut to the hoop off of some Siakam attention in the post, but hasn’t found the pacing forming up off of drives that he had for most of the season. And less transition possessions is cutting the legs off of his offense, too. He’s a rookie, just have to be patient.

Got up and down the floor a few times, but not much in the way of impact.

Had some pretty funny big/small pick n’ roll possessions with Lowry today. He was guarded like Ben Simmons, but without a lot of the things that make Simmons special. Tough game for him to fit into, and Nurse realized that.

Felt like a good distribution of minutes. Liked the Norm + starters minutes a lot. Matched most of the Gasol minutes with ‘JV’ and effectively removed one of the Grizzlies best players from the game. Good stuff.