Quick Reaction: Raptors 97, Pacers 94

Another close one, but another good one.

Samson with the Reaction Podcast:

Rap Up with Oren, Manny and Kyle.

Raptors97Final
Box Score
94Pacers

D
P. Achiuwa17 MIN, 4 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 2-9 FG, 0-2 3FG, 0- FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, -2 +/-

Another poor performance. He was benched for the fourth quarter in lieu of Birch and played his season low in minutes with 17. He’s prone to capitulating the offense with an ill-advised three, or barreling himself headfirst into the body of shot blocker Myles Turner. His starting spot should be gone.

B+
O. Anunoby38 MIN, 15 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST, 1 STL, 6-13 FG, 3-7 3FG, 0- FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, +2 +/-

Solid game overall. Hit a really nice step-back three and distributed the ball well.

A
S. Barnes35 MIN, 21 PTS, 12 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 9-17 FG, 0-1 3FG, 6- FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, +1 +/-

Fair to say he had a quiet team high 21? Besides his free throws (3/6), Barnes was great offensively, scoring off a couple offensive rebounds and hit his mid-range jumpers. He seemed to be very animated throughout towards the officials, probably due to the physical nature of the game. Oh, and he also made a ludicrous pass in the first quarter that made me spit out my drink. Driving to his left on a retreating Domantas Sabonis, he switched hands midair to fling the ball to the right corner into the shooting pocket of Svi Mykhailiuk. Kid is special.

B+
F. VanVleet39 MIN, 16 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 6-14 FG, 2-7 3FG, 3- FT, 1 BLK, 4 TO, +9 +/-

Steady Freddy. When the Raps needed a big bucket, he came through, hitting a deep three to put them up 8 with less than two to go. Hit some of his patented mid range jumpers early in the game and never seemed to force the issue.

C+
G. Trent Jr.23 MIN, 8 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 3-11 FG, 2-5 3FG, 0- FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, -6 +/-

Tonight was the full GTJ experience. Looked listless on both ends for much of the game before hitting back-to-back buckets with less than four to go to open up the lead. Then, he was a hound on defense, disrupting the Pacers’ flow for the next couple of minutes. A shame he can’t show that effort all game, as when he’s locked in, he’s up there with the best isolation perimeter defenders.

C+
C. Boucher18 MIN, 8 PTS, 6 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 3-9 FG, 2-5 3FG, 0- FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -1 +/-

There were a couple of ugly shots he took. That’s probably to be expected but brought tremendous defensive effort and intensity.

B+
K. Birch29 MIN, 7 PTS, 6 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 3-5 FG, 0-0 3FG, 1- FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, +6 +/-

Another solid game from the soon-to-be starter? Nurse closed with him, and despite over-rotating to leave Sabonis wide open late, he played within himself.

Inc
M. Flynn3 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0- FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, +1 +/-

Played three minutes at the end of the first half. Wasn’t involved in the play.

B
D. Banton17 MIN, 2 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 1-4 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0- FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, -3 +/-

Statistically it wasn’t much, but he has been looking better and better as the backup point guard.

A+
S. Mykhailiuk22 MIN, 16 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 6-10 FG, 2-4 3FG, 2- FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, +8 +/-

Tremendous performance. We knew he could shoot, but how about that JAM in the second after a nifty dribble move? Worked well in the flow of the offense and was surprisingly durable defensively. Has opened himself up to more playing time in the coming weeks.

B
Nick Nurse

Played to his personnel and let the hot hand (Svi) play. Also made the right decision to play Birch instead of Achiuwa in the fourth.

Things We Saw

  1. Both teams were on a back-to-back. It showed. A lot of sloppy turnovers early in the game. The refs seemed to let the game flow, as the physicality with Sabonis and Turner was obvious.
  2. I liked the end of 3rd quarter lineup of Banton, Svi, OG, Birch and Boucher. Very stout defensively.
  3. Pour one out for Matt Devlin who was running on his fourth pack of fisherman’s friends. The raspy voice was fitting, seeing as we are a night away from Halloween.
  4. Caris LeVert made his season debut and played wonderfully as he slithered his way to 15 points in 15 minutes in the first half. He didn’t play in the second due to a minutes restriction. The Raptors were, I’m sure, thankful.