It was a nice start for the Raptors in Sacramento. Despite missing their All-Star (Barnes), things looked very smooth early on for the Raptors, who were still missing Jakob Poeltl as well, and choosing to deal with Domantas Sabonis as a gang defensively so that they could shake loose offensively with more shooting and passing on the floor.
Brandon Ingram got to display his above-the-break 3-point shooting very early as the beneficiary of a Mogbo short roll pass, and then a baseline-corner-atb sequence for two separate makes. It was immediately different from game 1 of the preseason, as the Raptors were succeeding in the halfcourt, and not necessarily reliant on getting out and running. A different bring up ball handler nearly every time and playing in space. Ingram looked incredibly comfortable playing around with the ball as he scored 14 of the Raptors first 20 (on 5-6 shooting) as the Raptors kept pace with the Kings who were having Sabonis mash to the rim an relying on some sterling shot making from Zach Lavine.
(I missed a short portion of the game watching the Blue Jays close out the Yankees – whoops! DAAAAA YANKEES LOSE!!!)
When I got back to it, the Raptors had mostly gotten their bench into the game and I got to watch Collin Murray-Boyles put in a terrific stretch of play. Whether it was the thankless, losing job of wrestling with Sabonis, or the fact that he was comfortably driving the opposing bigs to playmake, or maybe it was the pick n’ pop three he hit – but it was a great stretch and he was the biggest motivator for the Raptors bench unit to bust open a lead heading into the second quarter – which was capped off by CMB finding Gradey Dick in the corner for a triple, 36-27.
Dick scored the first 5 points of the second quarter for the Raptors on a run out AND-1 after a great dig from Immanuel Quickley, and then off a lob from Quickley who caught an outlet from Barrett after the homegrown shooting guard got a steal of his own. Playing fast, playing loose, playing well.
Things did bog down a little bit though, as a couple of the starters trickled in and they had to start navigating different types of spacing that required less forming up on the perimeter and more disciplined cutting to pull and prod at the Kings. On the other side, the Kings are obviously a pretty talented offensive team and kept climbing their way back into it – largely on the strength of their guard duo of Lavine and DeMar DeRozan.
Luckily for the Raptors, they traded for a tremendous offensive talent in Ingram who completely changed the flow of the game. The Raptors ran an Iverson Cut for him and he turned it into a self created layup. The next time down he collapsed the Kings defense and found Barrett for a triple. Next time down he and Barrett collaborated on a handoff before Barrett found Sandro Mamukelashvili for a triple.
Through two games, Ingram and Barrett have been dynamite playing off one another. There’s a real yin-yang to the way they. 18 points for Ingram at the half, 13 points and 3 assists for Barrett. Dick also had 10 points on a perfect 4/4 from the field. Raptors up by 13.
A fun wrinkle to start the second half? Ja’Kobe Walter started in place of Ochai Agbaji, and CMB started in place of Jonathan Mogbo. The Kings also started in a 94 foot press with three men in the backcourt. For his part, Walter hit two triples to kick things off. One being a step-back out of pressure. Really nice. He was up to 13 points on the game. An Ingram triple from the corner pocket — after Quickley collapsed the paint — dropped in. CMB blocked a 3-pointer and Ingram threw him a touchdown pass for an and-1 dunk on the break. The Kings got called for a tech. The fellas were rolling as they opened up a 83-61 lead.
At that point, Murray-Boyles had collected 10 points, 6 boards, and 6 rebounds with 2 blocks. A wrecking ball collecting stats and gumming up the Kings offense on his way to impact. The bench units continued the helter-skelter pace until the 3rd quarter came to a close with a 19 point lead in hand.
The deep bench gave a little bit back to the pursuing Kings, but they were in too deep a hole to climb all the way out of it. They held serve. A backtracking corner triple from AJ Lawson (think Ray Allen in the Finals) and a quick 5 points from Alijah Martin (great cut and an open make) were particularly important in keeping the Kings at bay.
The biggest things from this game?
Ingram was obviously very good. Clinical even, as he kept his finger on the pulse of the game and stepped in to create when necessary – or made shots when called upon.
Barrett, despite shooting poorly from the floor and leaving a couple layups on the rim, has functioned extremely well as a secondary ball handler and cutter working off of Ingram; and he even did a tremendous job of pacing the bench lineups. Pushing when he was supposed to, easing off at the right times. He looks important.
Walter was given a huge opportunity in this one. He started out getting minutes with the second unit, then he started alongside the big names, and he played a decent bit with the deep bench. He was saturated in every role the Raptors could imagine for him, and I thought he played splendidly. Not too big for a role, just fitting nicely within it. Dick was near perfect on offense, but Walter’s overall floor game was still the standout.
Lastly, Murray-Boyles is looking every part of a lottery pick, and a particularly high one at that. If the future of the NBA is going to call on players who can comfortably do anything, and do it with physicality and tenacity? He’s very much a part of that future. The jumper is a question mark, but he can definitely drive the ball and move it on with the pass. The defense? Forget about it. He’s clearly already a strong defender at the highest level in the world. He reminds me of Kante the footy player. There’s a classic joke: “They say 70% of the world is covered by water and the rest is covered by N’Golo Kante.” CMB provides something similar to the Raptors. He’s a really fun watch.
The Raptors go again on Friday, in Toronto. Hopefully with Poeltl and Barnes in the fold.
Have a blessed day.
