Quick Reaction: Raptors 123, Magic 108

Fun game.

TOR Raptors

123

Final
Box Score

108

ORL Magic

B+

A. Baynes32 MIN, 4 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 2-4 FG, 0-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 25 +/-

Another good defensive performance against Vucevic. Pushed up a little too high on occasion and got beat, but he was in the right place a high-percentage of the time. Set a lot of screens in this one, and quite a few to shed VanVleet of his primary defender. Well done. Role player stuff.

A+

F. VanVleet37 MIN, 54 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST, 3 STL, 17-23 FG, 11-14 3FG, 9-9 FT, 3 BLK, 1 TO, 20 +/-

A new franchise record. Outfoxed doubles and blitzes, worked endlessly off-ball, and packed an unbelievable pull-up for this road trip. Attacked closeouts when they came, shot over them when they were late. A very special night for a special player. Congrats Fred. What an accomplishment. Not to mention, his defensive performance was one of the best I’ve ever seen from a player who poured in this many points. This is an A++++

B+

P. Siakam36 MIN, 12 PTS, 5 REB, 8 AST, 1 STL, 4-11 FG, 0-2 3FG, 4-4 FT, 0 BLK, 4 TO, 15 +/-

Strange game from Pascal in this one. The finishing touch was absolutely not there, and he oscillated between really good on-ball decisions and horrible ones. Drew a lot of help early on, which was key in VanVleet snapping off to start the game. Range-y on defense. Truly, a mixed bag.

A+

K. Lowry34 MIN, 14 PTS, 10 REB, 10 AST, 4 STL, 4-11 FG, 3-8 3FG, 3-5 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 19 +/-

A gentle caretaker of the action when Fred wasn’t lighting everything on fire – and quite frankly, he was dousing the ball in gasoline before handing it off to his backcourt partner. Rotates to the bucket on defense, runs down rebounds to jumpstart transition, and finds teammates cutting to the hoop. An excellent Lowry game.

N. Powell28 MIN, 23 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST, 4 STL, 7-15 FG, 4-9 3FG, 5-5 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 11 +/-

Reveling in the simple aspects of basketball, Norm continues to make his money as a weak-side attacker. He punished the Magic throughout for loading up on the Raptors other players, and that’s all he has to do. Also, really nice defensive playmaking in this one. He was on the right side of a few gambles.

A-

D. Bembry18 MIN, 4 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 2-6 FG, 0-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 8 +/-

Big fan of his new place in the rotation. Adds that vertical threat (and we could all use more lobs in our life) to the offense, and similar to the last couple games, he’s extremely sharp on defense. The passing flair came out in full force, too. I’ve said this before, but of the “Defenders Three” I think Bembry has the highest ceiling. He was excellent tonight.

C. Boucher18 MIN, 7 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 2-3 FG, 1-1 3FG, 2-2 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -1 +/-

When a player like Fred is filling it up, it does take away a little bit from a guy like Boucher who is *supposed* to come in and eat up some numbers. Still liked his performance in this one. Muted, but providing enough of what the Raptors needed off the bench.

B-

Y. Watanabe11 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 0 +/-

A dunk, and hustle plays. A very quiet box score, but he had a handful of nice rotations and recoveries on defense.

C+

S. Johnson7 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 0-2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -6 +/-

Bembry was firmly in his role in this game. Didn’t look very comfortable in his minutes, and this game is kind of a wash for him.

T. Davis7 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -7 +/-

Melted into the background in this one.

Inc

M. Thomas2 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-2 FG, 0-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -3 +/-

Missed a couple jumpers, no big deal.

Inc

M. Flynn2 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -3 +/-

Too short a stint.

Inc

P. Watson2 MIN, 3 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-2 FG, 1-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -3 +/-

Too short a stint.

Nick Nurse

Enjoyed quite a few of the Raptors set plays in this one, so well done for that (maybe this praise should go to Chris Finch, idk) and the Vucevic game-plan was tight once again, albeit a little different. Let Freddy stay in and get his record, as most coaches should.