 | Clippers | 108 | Final Box Score | 116 | Raptors |  |
 A | P. Siakam40 MIN, 25 PTS, 19 REB, 7 AST, 2 STL, 10-20 FG, 1-2 3FG, 4-9 FT, 2 BLK, 3 TO, +22 +/- Smooooth. Great hooks and spins. Crafty and calm. Drew fouls (a lot!). Hit his jumpers. The star who does everything. He seemed to play defense at 60 percent, yet he still swatted shots from behind in transition, grabbed rebounds (a lot!), did his thing. He was just by far the most talented player on the court, and he knew it. The Raptors rocked the Clippers when Siakam played and got rocked when he sat. Absolutely cooked Reggie Jackson down the stretch as he ran two-man action with Fred to get the switch. | |
 A | O. Anunoby36 MIN, 26 PTS, 6 REB, 0 AST, 4 STL, 8-16 FG, 3-7 3FG, 7-8 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, +10 +/- OG as the number-two/three/four scorer is so smooth, man. He hit from the midrange, on spot-ups (a lot of spot-ups). His defense was below his usual level in the first half, but he picked it up in the second, grabbing some pick-six steals. | |
 B | K. Birch19 MIN, 6 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 3-4 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, +8 +/- How do you spell ‘solid?’ K-H-E-M. Ha. But he fits in so well, doing everything that catalyzes the success of his more heralded teammates. “All in all you’re just another brick in the wall.” He fought for offensive rebounds on near every possession. Finished well. Also, he picked up a ridiculous block (called goaltend) in transition, flying horizontally through the air to get the swat. Could have been the highlight of the game? | |
 B+ | F. VanVleet39 MIN, 31 PTS, 4 REB, 9 AST, 2 STL, 10-27 FG, 4-13 3FG, 7-8 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, +11 +/- He was quiet to start, seemed to treat the game as warm up. He finished well and passed well, but his jumper was off, especially in the first half. Did what he needed rather than too much. He really pushed in the second half, attacking in transition as much as possible, to bring Toronto back into the game. Clutch in the fourth. | |
 D+ | G. Trent Jr.31 MIN, 10 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 4-12 FG, 2-6 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, +3 +/- He hit some open triples, which Toronto didn’t have nearly enough of across the roster, but he made some mistakes elsewhere. Ran half speed through cuts, which sank plays. Mediocre defensive positioning energy and positioning (bad combo), and he didn’t do enough to create advantages on the offensive end. | |
 B | C. Boucher23 MIN, 6 PTS, 9 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-3 FG, 0-1 3FG, 4-4 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, +5 +/- With the full center platoon available, it was hard for the Raptors to find Boucher minutes. And with his minutes sparse, he didn’t duplicate his outrageous performance last game when he was on the court. But he led the centers in minutes and played luth minutes in the fourth, too. Rebounded well. Solid. | |
 C | P. Achiuwa9 MIN, 4 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-3 FG, 0-1 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -12 +/- Probably the rustiest returner, but that makes sense given he’s been off the longest. He still rebounded well, especially on the offensive end. | |
 D | Y. Watanabe13 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-4 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -8 +/- Honestly, wasn’t his best game. Made some defensive mistakes, didn’t do much to help out on offense. He got blocked twice in approximately 30 seconds of gameplay, both in pretty big ways. Whatever, New Year’s Eve. | |
 B | J. Champagnie10 MIN, 2 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, +7 +/- With everyone going half speed, he put in the full effort, which was kinda enough. The Raptors already had talent, so Champagnie just had to get them, you know, playing. His presence helped. | |
 C- | M. Flynn5 MIN, 2 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 1-2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -9 +/- Rough first outing as the Raptors got shelled, didn’t show up again. | |
 Inc | D. Banton3 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, +4 +/- Under 3 minutes, didn’t do much in them, either. | |
 C | S. Mykhailiuk12 MIN, 4 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-3 FG, 1-3 3FG, 1-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -1 +/- He was at least in the right position defensively, but he got overpowered at times. On the other end, he still didn’t hit his shots. He did chip in on the offensive glass, leaking in from the weak side, and moved the ball after putting it on the floor. Mixed. | |
 Inc | Nick Nurse The Raptors played a pretty meh game, but they won, so what are you gonna say about the coach? I have no idea how to judge a game like that for Nurse. | |
Things We Saw
- Every starter had one basket before any starter had two. That’s egalitarian offense! There was no one player doing all the work even with passing, as everyone set good screens, shot well, cut, etc. Obviously Toronto’s starters included the four most talented players among either team, so don’t take too much out of it. But it’s good to see them working together as a unit, rather than deferring to any single player. Big reason why the Raptors jumped out to a big lead early.
- Serge deserved every seat full screaming his name in appreciation during his tribute video. Life isn’t fair, obviously, given what we’re all going through. But it made me sad regardless that he didn’t get the full range of appreciation that he earned in his time here. I hope that they do another appreciation video next time he plays in Toronto when there is a crowd.
- Well that was a frustrating game. Just a little bit of precision at any point in the game would have put the Clippers away. Whatever, they won.
- Happy New Year’s, readers! Enjoy yourselves 🙂
