Quick Reaction: Raptors 100, Pelicans 138

Bruce Brown got the start in place of the absent RJ Barrett, and it was evident, that he doesn’t have that same downhill ability of the Canadian. It was good to see him eliminate the tunnel-vision drives from the last couple of games, but that was about all I could take away from his night. Maybe his new mustache look can help squeeze out an extra draft pick in a trade? I’m not totally convinced his play as of late will.

There was a lot of talk about Scottie Barnes’ “assertiveness,” following the OKC game, and the hope from most people was probably that he’d come out and shut some of those talks down…but he didn’t. Scottie was trying out there, but it felt like he was settling on a lot of his opportunities with the ball. It could’ve been fatigue, or just the sheer size of New Orleans inside, which to be fair, was a lot to deal with. But he just wasn’t looking intentional with the ball. He finished with just six shots inside the paint, and it’s not like he was even settling on drives for mid-range jumpers. He either had looks under the basket or settled for threes, nothing in between.

It was a weird Jakob Poeltl game because he was very efficient on offence. The big Austrian started 7-for-7 from the field, finishing a lot of pick-and-roll plays and just finding his touch at the rim. But it felt like so much of that was given back on the other end as he let numerous rebounds slip right passed him and looked pretty non-existent when it came to deterring anyone around the rim.

Didn’t feel fair to grade Gary in this game, despite playing 15 minutes. He didn’t play following halftime due to lower-back tightness, and if it was bad enough for him to sit out, I have to assume it was a factor during his time out there tonight. So I don’t want to put much stock into his poor performance if he was hindered with a back injury.

Quickley had a lot of moments where he’d jump first and think later. It got him into some tough situations where he had to improvise without much of a plan, and sometimes it worked, but other times it didn’t. Last game, especially down the stretch, we saw a poised lead guard creating for others…tonight didn’t feel like that. He just didn’t have that same level of meaningfulness with the ball in his hands tonight.

Being a minus-13 isn’t really something to rave about, but he played outside of garbage time and in his time out there, things weren’t as ugly as they were the rest of the time. That’s worth something…right?

Darko went to Dennis early as a way to inject some playmaking and facilitation into the lineup but that just didn’t come to fruition. A lot of dribbling, not a lot of creating anything.

All the work the rookie has put in, and all the hopes of Raptors fans, converged into a singular awesome experience tonight. Gradey Dick for practically the entire first half was the most aggressive player on the Raptors, and definitely the most successful. He hit two early triples off baseline out-of-bounds plays and the willingness to pull the trigger seemed to an indicator that the 20-year-old had some extra punch to his game tonight. Dick hit catch-and-shoot threes, made step back jumpers, and even curled off screens to get downhill and attack towards the basket. That was all while being active on defence, staying in front of his man more often than not.

It feels like Nwora is in the Gradey Dick role from earlier in the season. He’s being given spot minutes, and he has no choice but to make the most of it, otherwise he’ll sit back down. Odd considering he’s provided some quality offence. He had some avoidable turnovers but it’s still clear he can hit some tough shots, so his role being so up-and-down seems strange.

Garbage time…but also woof. Looking that rough in inconsequential minutes is…tough.

Garbage time.

Garbage time…but 11 points and six rebounds, so why is he not in the rotation? You’d think it’s related to the trade deadline but who really knows.

It’s getting a little cyclical having to say, Darko deserves credit for trying things, but ultimately the things didn’t do a whole lot. They got Gradey involved when he was the hot hand but then sat him for quite a bit coming out of the break. You’re down big, the rookie is young, and it’s clear some of the guys who played a lot the night before look tired, why not put in Dick, Nwora, or even Chris Boucher, who’s just out of the rotation now?