Reluctantly putting the pizzas away, for now.
Fun game but ultimately the first half was the Raptors downfall last night, trailing by as many as 23 points. Domantas Sabonis racked up his sixth triple double in the last ten games, Sacramento made 14 of its 21 threes in the first two quarters and De’Aaron Fox added 24 points in a supporting role to help the Kings beat the Raptors at home for the first time since 2016. Toronto outscored Sacramento 73-58 in the second half and had chances to tie but the Raptors fall to 1-1 on the six game road trip, missing an opportunity to jump Atlanta in a jumbled East Play-In picture.
Bench Production
Encouraging signs from the reserves, starting with Chris Boucher. He had 14 points and nine boards, providing great energy and deservedly closed out the game.
Good teammate Chris was also on display, sprinting down the court after Pascal Siakam was harmlessly tied up with Malik Monk.
Dennis Schroder continues to impress with his transition to the bench, putting up 18 points and three assists. It was also a career night for Jontay Porter. He was the first sub into the game, once again competing on the defensive end and knocked down two threes to finish with his first double digit scoring game of his NBA career. Having a big that can space out behind the arc like this is a welcome addition.
Darko Rajakovic praised his reserves postgame.
Quickley’s comeback attempt
Immanuel Quickley appears to be a slow starter, but also helped the Raptors make this a game late. He scored or assisted on 22 of the Raptors 33 points in the fourth quarter, finishing with 20 points and eight assists.
The play below doesn’t account for that stat, but its unfortunate that Quickley couldn’t knock down this three to further embarrass Kevin Huerter.
Quickley had two chances to tie the game with under 20 seconds left after the Raptors closed the deficit to three. Both shots left something to be desired. IQ thought he was fouled on this first three point attempt, a sentiment Darko echoed after the game.
A better play could have been ran on the Raptors final possession, where Quickley’s highly contested three over Chris Duarte resulted in an air ball.
Sidenotes
- If you check the boxscore, you will see Ron Harper Jr’s name. Why is anybody’s guess.
Up Next: Raptors in Golden State on Sunday. The Warriors have also been heavily mentioned in Pascal Siakam rumours, as the Kings were before reportedly pulling out of trade talks before this game.
