Manny, Adon and Zarar:
 | Spurs | 102 | Final Box Score | 129 | Raptors |  |
 A | P. Siakam28 MIN, 18 PTS, 12 REB, 5 AST, 0 STL, 7-13 FG, 2-2 3FG, 2-4 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, +26 +/- Slow start with two quick fouls, and then went iso against multiple set defenders twice which ended in ugly misses. However, turned it around quickly and knocked a couple treys he was dared to shoot. Pair that with his extremely aggressive rebounding, refusal to not settle for shots he doesn’t like, leaking intelligently in transition, and you have another excellent and efficient Siakam game. I have no doubt he’ll continue to excel, and the three will come around. What he needs the most is a great playoff showing. | |
 B | O. Anunoby31 MIN, 14 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL, 5-14 FG, 2-8 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, +6 +/- Missed clean looks from three which makes for a shoddy shooting line. We saw a lot less of him using the dribble to set people up, but when he did, he took them deep into the post and took his time to gather and go up for high-percentage looks. It’s good to have the team healthy again so when one guy isn’t firing there’s still enough in the arsenal to fire. | |
 A- | S. Barnes33 MIN, 11 PTS, 9 REB, 8 AST, 1 STL, 4-7 FG, 0-2 3FG, 3-4 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, +15 +/- Quite passive in looking for his shot and a little hesitant on the three. Didn’t matter though because he’s like the Union Station of our offense. His presence in the middle of the floor serves as an interim output before the ball gets swung around to the right wing to create an advantage. He’s getting his assists early in the clock by pushing it and then finding guys while the defense is still settling. Very opportunistic. Case in point below:
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 A+ | F. VanVleet32 MIN, 33 PTS, 2 REB, 7 AST, 2 STL, 12-23 FG, 7-14 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, +15 +/- Deadly from everywhere and his range appears to be extending with each game, and it helps when his teammates are knocking down triples. After the initial OG or Siakam double, the ball gets swung around, it invariably results in a 2-on-1 situation on the perimeter with Trent and Fred versus a defender staring down a choice. Tonight, it didn’t matter what that choice was as both were hitting shots. Fred probably deserves to make the All-Star team, but the team needs to be winning more for that to be a serious consideration amongst coaches. | |
 A- | G. Trent Jr.32 MIN, 21 PTS, 0 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL, 8-16 FG, 3-9 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, +14 +/- I like how the Raptors put him on the weak side and have OG/Siakam operate on the strong. The double usually comes from the weak side and Trent moves well along the arc to give himself a view for clean threes. Lately he’s been more confident putting it on the floor (like he did early today), and though the drive results aren’t there, they’ll eventually come. His grade is entirely a function of how well he made his wide open looks.
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 C | C. Boucher19 MIN, 4 PTS, 7 REB, 0 AST, 2 STL, 1-4 FG, 0-2 3FG, 2-4 FT, 2 BLK, 0 TO, +21 +/- I know you’re a lanky perimeter center but can we please at least try to play some interior defense? His definition of a box out seems to be being side-by-side with his man instead of in front of him. Going with the PnR/centers theme, shouldn’t he have developed some sort of a mid-range pop game by now? Or even something going to the rim with a hop-step? Something man. | |
 B- | P. Achiuwa18 MIN, 10 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 2-4 FG, 0-1 3FG, 6-9 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, +15 +/- Scavenging as usual and found enough dead Spurs carcasses to get a meal. Other than him finding scraps, he’s entirely unintegrated into the offense. I don’t think the Raptors run anything where he has a part to play, so he’s usually wandering the hinterlands looking for a job. The Raptors PnR sequences were mostly with Birch but I’m of the opinion you can do just as well, if not better, with Achiuwa. At least his athleticism and movement can provide an option if the guard decides to look inside instead of kicking out. | |
 A | J. Champagnie13 MIN, 14 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 5-6 FG, 4-5 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, +8 +/- Two corner threes in the first half when this was still game, and on the first he did an excellent job not stepping out of bounds. | |
 C | K. Birch19 MIN, 2 PTS, 7 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 0-4 FG, 0-0 3FG, 2-2 FT, 3 BLK, 3 TO, +11 +/- It’s only when you watch mobile centers (like Poetl) that you realize how little of a threat Birch poses as an offensive player off the ball. After setting the high screen he doesn’t dive or flare quick enough and ends up causing congestion rather than creating options. Defensively, he was caught in no-man’s land in the first half when the Spurs, courtesy of the PnR, were having their best moments. | |
 Inc | M. Flynn5 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -4 +/- Is there a time not called garbage time where we can see him get some run in? Had a nice entry pass to Achiuwa where he resisted jacking it up. It took some restraint. | |
 Inc | D. Banton5 MIN, 2 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1-3 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -4 +/- Remember those days when we were debating whether to play Banton or Flynn? Turns out the answer is C, none of the above. | |
 Inc | I. Bonga4 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -2 +/- Was he wearing something on his leg or did he forget to take his pants off? | |
 B+ | Nick Nurse I can see why he went with Birch against Poetl but when the latter was eating us up on the PnR, didn’t make any adjustments and sort of waited for our offense to take over the game. I’d like to see our centers more integrated into our PnR. Right now the bigs just set a lot of high screens and sayonara right after. Can’t imagine that being a winning formula against good teams. Good job keeping Siakam under 30 on a back-to-back. Could’ve done the same for Fred and OG too but lost the plot there. | |
