Quick Reaction: Raptors 131, Lakers 132

RJ was not going to be stopped in the first half of the game. What impressed me about RJ’s first-half performance was that he stuck to what was working and kept attacking the paint. He did take a pair of threes but wasn’t settling or trying to force something that wasn’t there. He was cutting, playing aggressively and wouldn’t let up. RJ took this scoring straight into the second half and not letting up at all! D-lo made the choice to talk trash to him and he took this and just gave it right back to the Lakers. That type of mentality makes all the difference in games like this.

Siakam came out the gates with incredible energy going right at AD. Either taking him down low or giving him that quick chest bump for the mid-range. Siakam did slow down after that first-quarter surge, not scoring much in the second quarter but did start to pick it up again in the third. As I’ve said before Siakam plays his best when he plays in the mid-range, attacks the basket, and takes the threes when necessary. Siakam hit some big-time shots for the Raptors in the clutch, once again showing he’s got what it takes to help close games.

Thad was handed an insanely difficult task of guarding AD and did a solid job. He helped keep AD to 3 points in the second quarter, was keeping him off the glass at points and had some solid rotations leading to missed threes. Energy is what mattered most for Thad, keeping up with AD and not being afraid to take a charge. He also played the PnR with IQ, seizing the opportunities he had for an easy score.

Scottie continues to impress, asserting his dominance early on in this game. Knocking down a three, over Lebron and attacking the paint constantly. Also, taking on the challenge at times of guarding AD and helping to slow him down. He did slow it down in the third quarter, taking some bad shot attempts and missing the open man. However, 4th quarter Scottie showed up and was out for blood, returning to what was working for him and just started attacking the paint. He should’ve had the game-tying three…

IQ struggled to get it going in the first quarter, but his game started to flow in the second quarter. It looked like he was overthinking a little bit at first, but as soon as he just played his game, he started thriving again. Hitting three after three, converting in transition and finding the open man when he could. Sadly, he did foul out due to a questionable call, but you can’t ask for a much better game than this from IQ.

Even though Porter didn’t score he still played great defense, made some incredible plays and took the open shots when he had them! Give him some more minutes and games to get his feet under him, he can thrive!

Gary struggled in the first half offensively, and couldn’t make any of his threes. I will give him credit though for finding ways to get himself open and keeping his hands moving for the deflections. GTJ started to come alive in the second half hitting threes and playing more aggressively. He took a few mid-ranges that missed, but I didn’t hate this. They looked makeable and it was flashes of the GTJ we had last year! Overall, a solid game for Gary! He just needs to keep this consistent and he’s golden!

Dennis also struggled in the first half, only scoring three points, forcing up shots and making the wrong decisions. Dennis did make up for this in the second half, slowing it down, making the right play and hitting shots when presented to him.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, at this point, Boucher just has to come into the game, play with high energy and box out. His offence is simply just not there and we could’ve used it this game.

Darko made the BOLD decision to start Thad, but somehow it worked better than most thought! Very impressed by him being able to make those decisions and just turning out some solid lineups. However, there’s nothing more Darko can do when dealing with the calls the team got tonight, just have to keep your head high.