At the start of the season, the Phoenix Suns were gunning for a championship with a superteam consisting of a Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker core. They have the most expensive roster in NBA history, and anything short of a play-in appearance would be a total failure.
The Raptors, on the other hand, are stuck in no man’s land – they’re bad, but not bad enough to be winning the tankathon.
The Raptors led the Suns 29-24 in the first frame, and the latter’s defensive weaknesses were clearly visible. Garrett Temple and Orlando Robinson had a nice give-and-go, IQ got downhill easily and dished to Robinson, and AJ Lawson got an easy baseline drive and bucket. The Suns were giving the Raptors tons of space to operate in.
But the second was a different story. The chasm widened with Booker leading the charge, and it became all downhill for the Raptors. Beal was out this game, and KD played less than 2 minutes and 30 seconds in the second frame. The Suns demolished the Raptors 39-11, and Book scored or assisted on 23 of the Suns’ total second quarter points.
In the second half, the closest the Raptors got was within 19 points, but there were three positive takeaways from this game.
First, they didn’t half-ass this loss. Based on a borderline G League squad out on the floor at times, and the Raptors’ deficit by the end of the third quarter, their loss was dignified. The Suns also needed to actually win.
Second, these games are mega opportunities for Colin Castleton and Orlando Robinson. Castleton had a Poeltl-esque push shot to begin the game, and he fought to tip in missed shots and grabbed offensive boards. When Scottie Barnes went one-on-one against Oso Ighodaro and settled for a deep two, Castleton fought hard to bat the ball to regain possession. He showed a whole lot of scrappiness.
Robinson showed his full package with an arsenal of moves down low and passes out of the post. At the end of the game, he got a post-entry pass from Battle, and sealed Monte Morris with his right arm, caught the ball with his left hand, and went up strong with his right. Castleton and Robinson both had a game-high four offensive boards, and teammates were looking to get them touches.
Third, the players on the floor, for the most part, gave a shit. The Raptors have had an elite defensive rating since mid-January, and, at least in the first quarter, it showed (case in point: Jamal Shead coming to help after Garrett flew by on a shooter).
Giving a shit also manifested in the visible frustration communicated between players. Temple and Shead, Castleton and Immanuel Quickley were talking, and Scottie was, at times, clearly frustrated at Castleton (e.g. when Ighodaro got the ball from the elbow, Castleton didn’t clearly tag, so Scottie had to come help, which left the weakside corner wide open) though how much communication happened between them, I don’t know.
Old man Temple being all over Tyus Jones at the end of the third quarter was, refreshingly, a stark contrast to Barnes giving up on a defensive possession at the end of the first half. Phoenix missed and got the offensive board. The ball was hopping, Royce O’Neal swung the ball to the corner, and Barnes stayed inside the paint – with both feet in – rather than contesting Ryan Dunn’s triple (which he missed).
Rajakovic didn’t play his best, but the effort was there for most of this game.
