Rap Up has Oren and Samson:
Down big early and the comeback falls short.
 | Trail Blazers | 114 | Final Box Score | 105 | Raptors |  |
 A- | P. Siakam34 MIN, 28 PTS, 8 REB, 5 AST, 1 STL, 13-20 FG, 0-1 3FG, 2-4 FT, 1 BLK, 3 TO, -2 +/- Somewhat absent in the first half when the Raptors were getting overrun, but pulled it together for the second and was the Raptors best player. Efficient scoring, good playmaking and worked hard in the second half trying to will the team back. Just didn’t get enough help from his teammates. | ||||||||
 C | O. Anunoby42 MIN, 11 PTS, 8 REB, 5 AST, 3 STL, 4-15 FG, 1-7 3FG, 2-3 FT, 2 BLK, 1 TO, -11 +/- It was incredibly frustrating for me to watch OG because I think the Raptors can go to him in times where the offense is creaking. Much like how Nurkic can dominate any Raptor in the block, OG can get high percentage looks against any of their wings (perhaps not Covington, but pretty much anyone else). At the same time, this is a game of confidence and when you go 1-7 from three (mostly clean looks), it has to affect other parts of the game. Needs to be more present on offense and if he’s not, we need to get him more involved. He can’t be a peripheral figure. | ||||||||
 C- | S. Barnes34 MIN, 9 PTS, 6 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, 3-14 FG, 3-11 3FG, 0-0 FT, 2 BLK, 2 TO, -18 +/- He’s got to clean up the casual passes that you can see coming a mile away. He started at C and had trouble handling Nurkic in the block, which is understandable. Portland didn’t have any issue leaving him open from three and daring him to shoot: he missed everything in the first half and made a few in the third. Never quite got the deep post-positions he loves so was reduced to getting his from face-up situations. | ||||||||
 B- | F. VanVleet42 MIN, 19 PTS, 5 REB, 8 AST, 5 STL, 6-19 FG, 4-15 3FG, 3-3 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, +3 +/- I like spot-up-three Fred when he’s being set up out of some movement usually created by Siakam, not the pull-up-while-leaning-three Fred that shoots out of a stagnant offense. Wasn’t able to do much to break down anyone as he was simply too slow to give anyone guarding him trouble off the bounce. When Siakam got more involved in the game, it freed him up to hit some deep bombs in the fourth. Played generally stellar defense in the second half while leading the trap to help with the comeback. | ||||||||
 C- | G. Trent Jr.28 MIN, 13 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 4-15 FG, 4-11 3FG, 1-2 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, -10 +/- If he’s not hitting his shots then he has to be playing an insane level of defense to warrant a passing grade. He did neither, until hitting a few threes in the fourth which helped in the comeback, but his first half was so poor that I’m having trouble looking past it. | ||||||||
 A- | C. Boucher24 MIN, 11 PTS, 9 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 4-7 FG, 3-5 3FG, 0-0 FT, 3 BLK, 0 TO, -10 +/- The unlikely zone-buster against a zone defense that had the Raptors contemplating just how to even set a screen to get the play going. The scouting report is clearly out that he’s the guy to leave open if you’re going to press on the main guys, so credit to him for doing what the defense dared him to do. | ||||||||
 D+ | P. Achiuwa15 MIN, 3 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-2 FG, 0-0 3FG, 1-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -14 +/- Given Portland playing a zone defense, and given how Achiuwa isn’t the greatest at moving without the ball, and given that he can’t shoot, it’s not surprising that he wasn’t able to do much of anything. | ||||||||
 Inc | Y. Watanabe2 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, +2 +/- I’m not sure what he did wrong in the two first half minutes he played to warrant exile to the bench. He defended CJ well on one play and forced the guy into a tough shot which he made. That’s really all I can remember. | ||||||||
 A- | J. Champagnie8 MIN, 6 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 2-2 FG, 2-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, +1 +/- Was the energizer off the bench getting some deflections and steals and after the trap was employed to get the Raptors back in the game. Hit his clean looks as well and overall continued his deserved endearment from Nick Nurse, though didn’t see the game late on which was surprising. | ||||||||
 B | D. Banton12 MIN, 5 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL, 2-4 FG, 1-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, +14 +/- Fresh from a couple big G-League games and carried the momentum over. Hit a corner three, was part of some nice traps that yielded turnovers and even had a nice finish in transition. Couple of circus dribbles and turnovers but I’ll look past it. He needed a decent game with the big club to get his confidence going and this went some ways towards that. | ||||||||
 B- | Nick Nurse Couldn’t cook up anything in response to Portland’s zone in the first half with the offense scraping by making dangerous passes that almost got stolen every time. No semblance of a big/guard two-man game was to be seen in the first half. The traps to fuel the comeback were nice and the shot-making helped, but late in the fourth the back half of the trap was poor so when Portland did manage to get it into the front court, a wide open shooter or drive was easy to find – it’s why the Raptors didn’t pull it all the way back. I like how he went to Banton instead of sticking with the short bench. If we’re going to go anywhere this season we’re going to have to get more out of the bench, so from that view it’s progress. | ||||||||
