Heyyyy, that’s pretty good.
 | TOR Raptors | 144 | Final Box Score | 123 | SAC Kings |  |
 A+ | P. Siakam33 MIN, 17 PTS, 9 REB, 12 AST, 1 STL, 7-11 FG, 1-2 3FG, 2-2 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, 17 +/- Incredible control. Cut the Kings to pieces with his passing to the corners, above-the-break, and to the bucket. Cooked Bagley every time he was in single coverage, and shook Barnes a few times, too. This was more impressive than his 30+ performance vs. the Suns. | |
 B+ | O. Anunoby28 MIN, 8 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL, 2-8 FG, 0-4 3FG, 4-6 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 17 +/- This was an encouraging game for his off-the-dribble prowess. Was involved in a lot of actions early on, and passed the ball around with confidence. Defense was there, of course. Still waiting on that jumper to come around, though. | |
 A+ | F. VanVleet33 MIN, 34 PTS, 3 REB, 7 AST, 1 STL, 13-22 FG, 5-9 3FG, 3-3 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 13 +/- His off-ball work has ascended to new heights. The way he scoots himself into opportunities and punishes defenses efficiently should have him in any All-Star conversation there is. He was a menace digging in on bigs, as he always is, and jumpstarted a lot of the Raptors transition opportunities. Keeping his dribble alive has really extended some of his playmaking abilities. | |
 A | N. Powell26 MIN, 22 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 2 STL, 6-8 FG, 4-5 3FG, 6-6 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 4 +/- Defense is still not great, but he was incredibly sharp on offense in this one. The numbers speak for themselves. He cut into the Kings defense repeatedly to force rim pressure and he was clinical from beyond the arc. | |
 Inc | A. Len4 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -12 +/- Started the game! It didn’t go well, but the team as a whole was in major dysfunction at that point. | |
 A+ | C. Boucher29 MIN, 23 PTS, 10 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 9-12 FG, 2-4 3FG, 3-5 FT, 3 BLK, 0 TO, 14 +/- His hands appear to be magnets. He’s picking the ball out of the sky, off the hardwood, wherever. A menacing rim-runner in this one, and punished the sinking defense twice. Rotated for blocks, was lengthy on ‘D’ all game long. Immense in his playing time. | |
 A | T. Davis22 MIN, 18 PTS, 1 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 7-13 FG, 4-8 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 25 +/- As I’ve said many times, he’s exceptional at working himself into open spots on offense. For a stretch he was the man the Kings didn’t want to lose, but he still shook free and hit his shots. The on-ball stuff is still in it’s infancy, but the shot-making tonight was excellent. | |
 A | Y. Watanabe19 MIN, 3 PTS, 7 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-5 FG, 1-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 16 +/- Profiles as one of the better rebounders on the team, and reads the game at a very high level. Some really absurd contains on closeouts as well. When the team is hitting shots he really plugs in wonderfully as a hustle player. He was awesome in this one. | |
 A+ | M. Flynn16 MIN, 12 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 5-6 FG, 2-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 6 +/- Well, this was it. The game we were all waiting for. Stop and pops in the lane, catch-and-shoot triples, control with the ball. Great ‘bench guard’ play. And he’s a fantastic team defender. | |
 C | S. Johnson15 MIN, 0 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 0-2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 11 +/- Still an awkward ordeal when the swing pass ends up in his hands. He doesn’t have the tools to punish defenses. He was active on defense himself, though. | |
 Inc | D. Bembry3 MIN, 2 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1-2 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -3 +/- Not enough PT. | |
Inc | P. Watson2 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -1 +/- Not enough PT. | |
Inc | J. Harris2 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -1 +/- Not enough PT. | |
 Inc | M. Thomas2 MIN, 3 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 1-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -1 +/- Not enough PT. | |
 A | Nick Nurse His pre-game comments indicated a more positive outlook for players like Flynn, and he followed through with some meaningful minutes for him. Opening the 2nd half with Boucher was a great decision, and I hope we see that to open games from here on out. | |
Things We Saw
- Sans Kyle Lowry, this game can’t be considered anything except a major win. Several key members played like the ideal versions of themselves, and upon Lowry’s return he won’t hamper any of that. A good game for some players to stretch their legs.
- Start Boucher. Figure out the rest of the center rotation with OG, Yuta, and one of Baynes or Len. But, start Boucher.
- Haliburton can really hoop, man. And Fox as well. The Kings got smacked, but they’ve got some exciting young players for the future.
