Quick Reaction: Blazers 118, Raptors 113

As he did against Detroit, he made immediate choices on offense, whether launching jumpers, swinging the ball, or attacking the rim. He was especially good as a roller, which is a skill he has yet to develop, so that was a really nice thing to see. But his handle was a scooch sloppy, as he turned over a pass in the pick and roll with Birch. Athletically, he looked great, bursting into open spaces on the drive. Defensively, he was far from his best self, giving up lots of dribble penetration and not doing nearly enough to contest shots. As with everyone else — it’s hard to judge someone who was excellent offensively and horrible defensively.

He started in the post and promptly hit a one-legged fadeaway over Norm, then drilled a pair of triples, one pull-up, one catch-and-shoot. Then he went berserk, hitting everything, triples from everywhere. He remained smart though, not just heat checking every time he touched it. He still bullied smaller defenders in the post and passed to teammates who were more open. He lost some of the juice after the second quarter, but he remained effective the few times he did touch the ball.

He guarded Jusuf Nurkic out of the gate, which is ostensibly a big ask for a former college point guard. But Barnes was more than up to the task, meeting him high, using his length to deny post position, helping liberally, and still blocking out (finally!) for rebounds. At one point he defended Lillard perfectly, forcing the guard to simply fall over onto himself, and he was whistled for a nonsense foul and then a nonsense-ier technical immediately after. Good for Barnes. Offensively he seemed to lack some of his usual oomph, but he still cut well for opportunistic layups and got his hands on a few offensive rebounds. Of course, his passing remained elite, throwing some darts through the teeth of the defense. He made some costly, costly mistakes down the stretch, but it’s good for rookies to get that experience.

Is Fred the premier closer in the league now? What the hell? He hit some wild, moonball pull-up triples to will Toronto back into the game in the fourth. He was quiet before that. He let OG Anunoby play lead fiddle to start the game, just chipping in to pass the ball and attack rotations. He threw some great passes out of the pick and roll to a variety of screeners, including Birch and Siakam, but his decision making slid in the second half, as he turned down shots and threw a few turnovers. Defensively, he didn’t do his usual wonderful work, giving up dribble penetration and not creating his usual number of turnovers. This is an A+ if Toronto won, but alas.

His teammates were cooking in the first quarter, so he stayed quiet and let them work. He did his work off the ball, hitting open triples and making simple one-dribble pull-ups after his teammates put the defense in rotation. That’s probably the best role for him, as he was hyper efficient for the second game in a row.

He ran a picture-perfect pick and roll with VanVleet on his first possession of the game, and those plays are the simple meat and potatoes of the offensive diet that Toronto needs. He’s such a great passer when he catches the ball in the heart of the floor, seeming to read where all his shooters are with the speed of a Marc Gasol-type. He was Toronto’s only active player on the offensive glass, but he was fairly inefficient trying to put them back. Ultimately, his inability to score efficiently outweighed all the other offensive positives. He also didn’t do nearly enough to bother Portland’s star guys by stepping up against the pick and roll.

He took Banton’s usual minutes in the second half, to end the third quarter, and he went on a huge stretch! Drew free throws, grabbed his own rebound, and then finished a nifty floating layup to end the quarter. Hey, he may not play much, but he did the best he could with the minutes he got.

After a ridiculously poor defensive outing in his last game, Banton committed an unnecessary foul on his first possession of the game trying to overplay a pass. That happens, especially to rookies. But he missed a layup early and committed a charge on another one. Then he lost his minutes in the second half.

Even after not touching the ball for a whack of possessions in a row after checking in, he stayed active, cutting well and with force. Eventually he caught one in the corner and promptly drilled it. That’s so valuable. But then he missed an uncontested layup in the fourth, and if you’re gonna be a pro scorer, you have to convert, them’s the breaks.

This is a good defensive team, and yet they’ve been playing putrid defense for the first 44 minutes of the last two games. That has to sit on the coach’s shoulders, to some extent. Still, Toronto ran some excellent, crisp sets on the offensive end, and Nurse was extremely creative with the pick-and-roll combinations the team ran. It’s hard to judge a coach in a game like this. The rotations were young Schwarzenegger tight, with all five starters playing around 40 minutes. That’s not a good thing.