 B | K. Birch35 MIN, 13 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 5-12 FG, 1-6 3FG, 2-2 FT, 2 BLK, 4 TO, -13 +/- Was guilty of doing too much in the first half, similar to DeAndre Bembry’s criticisms at times. Needs to be paired with veteran playmakers to get the best out of him. The half roll to the rim from Jalen Harris in the Kyle Lowry role mid fourth? That’s more like Khem. | ||||||||
 B- | S. Johnson34 MIN, 15 PTS, 10 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 5-16 FG, 2-6 3FG, 3-3 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 1 +/- Didn’t do anything remotely close to the game of his life 24 hours prior for three quarters. Turned it up in the fourth with some wild stuff. I’m going to illustrate my favourite Stanley possession of this game: Just lol | ||||||||
 C+ | F. Gillespie36 MIN, 4 PTS, 7 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1-2 FG, 0-0 3FG, 2-2 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, -10 +/- Gillie earned his first career start, but it was an awkward fit at the four while being the worst shooter on the court at all times. What in the world was that bogus flagrant foul in the third? Love the swat right after. Brought in late fourth for some great hustle and a key well drawn inbounds play for free throws. | ||||||||
 A+ | J. Harris36 MIN, 31 PTS, 2 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 12-21 FG, 5-12 3FG, 2-3 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, -5 +/- Did the fam proud in his homecoming. Boy gets buckets anywhere on the court, has a quick first step, and is making a huge case to be a consistent fixture on the bench mob next season. Two plays in particular impressed me: 1) absolutely lost Luka weaving around the rim 2) a baseline drive vs Dwight Powell who is at least 5 inches taller, stop and fake to get Powell to jump first, then shoot over him. Looks like the bag of a scorer to me. He tied his career-high in the first half alone. Don’t sleep on the secondary playmaking too! | ||||||||
 A+ | M. Flynn37 MIN, 26 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 11-21 FG, 3-8 3FG, 1-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -6 +/- Malachi’s first offensive possession of the game impressed me. He was completely hounded by Luka, lost his balance and nearly committed a backcourt violation. Then he regained composure and stepped into a three. Did an awesome job balancing scoring and facilitating all game with ZERO turnovers. Took Luka’s cookies too down the stretch. Malachi also set a new career high in scoring. What a game for the rookie backcourt. That’s your 29th and 59th overall picks combining for 57 points! | ||||||||
 B | D. Bembry37 MIN, 8 PTS, 7 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, 3-7 FG, 0-3 3FG, 2-4 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 1 +/- Jack mentioned Bembry’s need to develop a three point shot. That should be an offseason focus, which would only help his passing ability. Was kind of surprised to learn that he’s only made 90 threes in his 5 year career. Also, with his knack for cutting at the perfect time (see the alley-oop lob from Flynn + signature hang on the rim in the 2nd quarter), i’m sure he could also find open spots off-ball to shoot if he had confidence there. Bad closeout on Finney-Smith in a three point game with 2 minutes left. That was a backbreaker. He can low key fill up a stat sheet though. | ||||||||
 B+ | A. Baynes21 MIN, 13 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 5-6 FG, 2-3 3FG, 1-1 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 12 +/- Point guard skills! Had a rare drive and kick to Harris for a three that raised plenty of eyebrows. Made one three, another one was WIDE wide right. There were a lot of bricks and airballs in the first half by both teams though so thats okay. Finished his attempts at the rim! Also its only the third time all season that Baynes made multiple threes in a game. | ||||||||
 A+ | Nick Nurse 37th different starting lineup in 71 games. This is absolute comedy at this point. I’m legitimately wondering if that’s an NBA record. You know how hard that’s going to be to top in the future? If it ever is, guaranteed that season will be as trash as this one. This is an effort grade based on who he had to work with. S**t was entertaining! | ||||||||
Things We Saw
- SEVENTH HEAVEN: Only seven Raptors played, even though Trent and Boucher were technically available. Don’t expect the Indiana game to be much different. Play main guys for what? I’m gonna go out on a limb for Kyle Lowry especially. If you see the GROAT play in the season finale, that makes me think his chances of not returning are stronger. If he sits, it’s like “I don’t need a goodbye because I’m not going anywhere.” I know absolutely nothing, I just want to refer to something on record if this take turns out to make any sense later.
- PORZINGIS: This version of a healthy Kristaps Porzingis makes the Mavs a scary first round team to face. Remember Luka as a playoff neophyte dragged Dallas to six games vs the Clippers last season. Could be a rough draw for Denver if they match up. You can also say then why the hell was this game so close. I don’t have the answer.
- MASTER P: Whoever was watching at halftime saw Percy Miller highlights. Preseason in 1999. If you didn’t know, now you know.
- 30 POINT CLUB: Saving the best for last. TEN Raptors have scored 30+ points this season, which is an NBA record. That stat in itself illustrates how wacky this season has been. Harris is also the 7th Raptor rookie to do so.
