The intentions were clear – the Raptors were not about to let the lowly Hornets defeat them at home after losing the last one to San Antonio by 34 points.
The Big Three – Poeltl, Barnes, and IQ – combined to score 61 points (56% of the team’s total points) en route to a 108-97 victory. None of them played more than 28 minutes, but their role was to give the rookies and the rest of the bench a comfortable buffer to play with.
Poeltl had a 24 and 12 double-double on a near-perfect 12-for-14 shooting, Barnes did a little bit of everything even if the stats don’t pop, and IQ hit five triples on eight attempts and dropped nine dimes.
The game started with a IQ – Walter – Battle – Barnes – Poeltl line-up and IQ was sizzling behind the arc, shooting 3-for-4. The rookies, Mogbo and Walter, hit one each too. After attempting 14 three-pointers in the first quarter, the Raptors pretended to be the Boston Celtics (who are averaging 48 three-point attempts per game), hoisting 11 in the second quarter (but only hit one). As per Matty D, it was the fifth most three-point attempts in a first half for the Raptors this season.
Even though they came out with a 31-point first quarter bang, a poor second-quarter shooting led to only 17 points. It was still enough to go into halftime with a two-point lead.
The table setting role of the Big Three became most clear in the third quarter. And it was solid, entertaining basketball – you could hear the cheering and noise from the crowd through the broadcast.
Darko put out the starting line-up, and it started off with a DHO keep party. Poeltl faked the hand-off to Battle, and whipped a pass out to Walter on the opposite wing for a three-point attempt. Then, IQ pulled off the exact same DHO keep move twice – he put on the jets, penetrated the lane, and threw a one-handed pass into Poeltl for an easy bucket, and on the next one, he scored easily as the Hornets completely overplayed him.
IQ’s impact this quarter was best encapsulated in his now-signature, celebratory skip dance after hitting a wide-open triple to cap a 11-0 run.
Barnes got everyone involved in the third. His lane penetration led to Walter’s stab step from the corner, which led to drawing a foul from the shorter KJ Simpson. Simpson had just made a triple in Walter’s face in the possession before, so redemption was necessary. Barnes also had a nice dish to Poeltl, and when the Raps needed a bucket, he gathered his dribble and willed himself a bucket, or stampeded the catch off an IQ pass and drew the foul.
Walter’s tenacious D on Nick Smith Jr. was not only a beauty to watch, but embodied the team’s defensive ethos. Just after Walter drew a defensive foul on a Hornets’ SLOB play, he applied pressure at halfcourt, went under Mark Williams’ screen, then over as he flipped the screen, and contested his Smith’s short-range jumper. That led to Barnes at the free throw line on the other end.
With four minutes and some change left in the third, the four rookies plus Robinson were forced to fend for themselves and protect the lead. Walter played well offensively, too, along with Mogbo. A solid flair screen by Mogbo led to a clean three-point look for Walter. Mogbo, who had a solid offensive game last night, had a nice move off the catch, into the paint, and his kickout led to Walter’s trey ball.
The fourth quarter started with the Big Three plus Swider and Battle, but the role players were able to close this out on. The final frame was the only quarter where three-point attempts weren’t in the double digits. The Raptors attempted 44 3s this game! Shead scored seven points in the final 12 minutes (17 total points) and hit his lone triple even after he missed his fifth consecutive attempt in the previous quarter in I-will-remind-you-of-FVV-in-transition fashion.
Winning maybe absurd now, but hey, you can’t lose to the Hornets, and the bench got valuable reps. The basketball in the second half was quite good too.
