Quick Reaction: Raptors 90, Pelicans 120

Oof. This sucked.

Raptors

Final
Box Score

120

Pelicans

P. Siakam33 MIN, 18 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 7-19 FG, 0-2 3FG, 4-5 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, -20 +/-

This stat line doesn’t capture the amount of work he put in. Along with Fred, he played a lot of his minutes 2 on 5, and the Pelicans were more than happy to load up on him. Rough whistle, too. Hope the eye heals up. Aside from being a superhero, he did his part.

O. Anunoby25 MIN, 3 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 1-5 FG, 1-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -23 +/-

When the stars of the team are receiving so much attention, you need a guy like OG to make hay in the space provided. He didn’t. It’s not worth diving into for the most part. Ugly, muted performance.

S. Barnes20 MIN, 5 PTS, 4 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 2-10 FG, 0-2 3FG, 1-2 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -25 +/-

I feel for him a little bit. Trying to score on JV in deep drop (where he’s tremendous) is a huge ask, and that was asked of him over and over again. The typically dependable touch left him for this game.

F. VanVleet31 MIN, 20 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 6-15 FG, 4-9 3FG, 4-4 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -22 +/-

Same as Pascal. Every time he came downhill he was blanketed by 3 players. They pushed up on him above the break because they knew they would dig in or double regardless. Gave him no space and he still gave you 20 on 40% shooting. Hope the knee is better right away.

G. Trent Jr.28 MIN, 6 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 2-15 FG, 2-8 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -25 +/-

Worst game of the year without a doubt. His shot selection is never ideal, but tonight’s was much worse. The defense was also really bad, and so much so that we got to hear a teammate curse him out loud enough that the broadcast picked it up. He’ll bounce back.

A-

T. Young12 MIN, 4 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 2-5 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -6 +/-

I actually thought he was awesome! You can see that he needs to be partnered up with players who can shoot, at least to some degree, and even the Raptors shooters didn’t do that tonight. A couple clever passes, a couple flip shots, and some extra possessions. What more could you want?

B-

C. Boucher23 MIN, 15 PTS, 6 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 3-5 FG, 0-2 3FG, 9-12 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -3 +/-

Went at the Pelicans over and over again. Good for him. Had a couple defensive gaffes, but I really did appreciate his attempts to make the Pelicans pay at least a little bit for overloading on other players.

P. Achiuwa15 MIN, 6 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 1-4 FG, 1-1 3FG, 3-4 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -11 +/-

Had a triple, which I love. But, this game was tough for him and a lot of it seems aimless when the Raptors are down by 20+ for so much of it.

Inc

Y. Watanabe5 MIN, 3 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 3-4 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 0 +/-

Drove hard at the rim, which is nice for him.

K. Birch17 MIN, 6 PTS, 6 REB, 0 AST, 2 STL, 3-4 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -5 +/-

Thought he had a really good first half. Grabbed boards, moved pretty well on defense, and was pretty heady overall. It’s not his fault no one capitalized on his good plays.

Inc

M. Flynn9 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 0-4 FG, 0-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -4 +/-

Not good.

C+

D. Banton12 MIN, 4 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 2-6 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -5 +/-

Don’t think tonight was much different than a good game for him, his teammates just couldn’t open up as many opportunities. Thought he was actually quite good on defense.