The Raptors court was purple. It was all very purple; light purple that transitions to dark purple. Golden cup iconography thrown in, and a bunch of players battling it out on top of it all. Perhaps, to match the bruising that would follow a very physical and gritty game against the Pistons.
As has been the case in so many games this season, the Raptors forayed into the paint early and often. There’s nothing like a paint touch or a rim attempt, and the Pistons were eager to jump anyone who crept into the lane. That is the Raptors game, though. Outside of Gradey Dick they have very little recourse to score outside of the paint, and that’s represented in the numbers. It’s an offensive environment that requires an incredible amount of resilience from RJ Barrett & Dick in particular, and maybe more than anything else relies on Jakob Poeltl to be the central hub, the central screener, and the central finisher. Just a mammoth amount of responsibility, but one that he usually meets the moment for – and certainly did in this one.
Before every game, at every practice, you can see Coach Ivo Simovic walking Dick through all of his drills. The thing Dick works on most? The boxing match just before the screen. Teams know how much the Raptors rely on Dick, and so they attempt to top-lock (play very physical in front of the screen to make him avoid using it) him every single time down the floor. Dick is already one of the NBA’s most well traveled players, but he goes to war in front of every screen, and the Pistons did a really great job of fighting him for every inch.
Also, just as an aside, Davion Mitchell was brilliant checking Cade Cunningham. Mitchell really pestered his dribble, didn’t cede ground often, and weaked so many of his pick n’ rolls that it genuinely took the Pistons offense out of its rhythm.
Still, Dick battled for space, battled to the line, and kept the Pistons attention over near him, so there was more room for the Raptors as a whole to squirm to the bucket. Unfortunately, the Raptors left a lot on the rim. That inefficiency at the bucket was basically the inverse of how the Pistons managed, as they shot 13/13 at the bucket. The Raptors hung around in this game at the half, only trailing by 3, because both teams shot horrid from downtown, and the Raptors were far better in transition than the Pistons were. Their trio of Poeltl, Barrett & Dick was also pretty good.
The transition gods continued to favor the Raptors to kick off the third quarter as they ran roughshod over the Pistons, toward a weakly contested rim and free throws. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s worst nightmare, as he told me pre-game how important it was to keep the Raptors in the halfcourt prior to the game.
We also got a Dick triple off the Raptors favorite BLOB, the double stagger.
With all that, the Raptors managed to charge out to an early lead to begin the third quarter. A couple funky plays that are of note: Raptors run a Chicago action where both Dick & Barrett cut downhill, discombobulating the Pistons defense and letting Poeltl walk to the rim for a bucket. Also, Dick came off a screen driving left and threw a fading right handed push-lob to a diving Poeltl who got fouled in air. Free throws, no bucket, but still just an awesome play.
I suppose it’s a good time to point out that Poeltl was having the best game he’s had all season. Before the fourth quarter had even started he had 21 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks. A real warrior on the inside, and the largest motivator for the Raptors 4-point lead that they took into the final frame.
The lead evaporated to nothing pretty quickly — the Raptors best on/off guys this year have been Poeltl & Dick and without them things go sideways fast — and Poeltl was thrown back into the game to help steady the Raptors on both sides of the court. Dick wasn’t out there yet, but Jonathan Mogbo was, and he’s been another big positive (especially in his minutes with Poeltl) – in fact those 3 guys are the Raptors biggest positives, as rudimentary as plus-minus is. The Raptors squeaked back out to a 1-point lead with roughly 8 minutes to go after Jamison Battle canned a corner triple. Of course, the Pistons nabbed it back with a slick Chicago action that led to a lob right away.
Guys like Cunningham, Harris, and the Pistons shot makers started to, erm, make some shots in the midst of a really ugly shooting stretch from the Raptors (even Poeltl went 1/7). Dick was hoisting up triples, missing them, and overdribbled himself into a turnover and next thing you know, the Raptors were down eight. The Raptors started missing bunnies, started giving up a lot of offensive rebounds, put their hands on their knees whenever the ball was dead – they looked tired as hell.
Enter Barrett, who pushed hard as hell in transition to score a couple times and give the Raptors a pulse. We got a stalwart defensive stand from Dick on Cunningham, a rapid push in transition that led to a dump down to Poeltl for a bucket; we got a pickpocketing courtesy of Mitchell at halfcourt. The Raptors found a second wind to scratch and claw their way back into it.
A pick n’ roll between Barrett & Poeltl, a great baseline to corner pass that found Dick, and a triple that rimmed out. The Raptors were less than an inch from the lead, and they needed a 3-pointer on a night where very few came, and where Dick was 1/9 from downtown. The following play they ran, it was for Dick, and he missed that triple as well. Tough luck. Dick has made some late triples this season, and he’s been pretty great in general. However, the second half in this one was maybe the toughest he’s had all season. Wins and lessons.
Also, Poeltl finished with 25 points & 19 rebounds. At some point during the game it said that he had his 20th rebound and even the Raptors themselves had acknowledged the milestone that would’ve marked the franchises first 20 & 20 game in, funnily enough, 20 years. However, it seems a rebound was taken away in the wash. We’ll see if the Raptors go to bat for this with the league. Huge night, regardless.
Oh well.
Have a blessed day.