With it being a rematch of the Raptors’ season opener, and a bit of extra importance due to it being a cup game, the competitive juices were flowing early in this one. The Hawks, without Trae Young in the lineup, were far more potent defensively. Capable of switching a lot of actions and far less willing to allow the Raptors any type of advantage through driving lanes or screen craft. The result? The Raptors called upon their shot maker extraordinaire, Brandon Ingram, who scored 8 of the Raptors first 11 and did so while going 100% from the field. He kept them afloat while the Raptors were waiting on a bit more inside finishing pop from Poeltl, or more outside pop from Quickley – the latter came first.
Atlanta was doing a lot of their scoring off of cuts against a sleepy Raptors defense, and it makes sense that they would, because they came into this game as one of the most efficient cutting offenses in the NBA. The Raptors started in a deficit, but true to form, they climbed back into the game with a transitional bench lineup. We were locked at 26 after the first quarter, and with the visiting team looking like they could play a whole lot better. The Hawks scored 10 points off of 6 Raptor turnovers in the opening frame.
It was a sloppy start to the second quarter for the Raptors as they allowed a 13-2 run. A couple missed shots (they started the quarter 1/12), a couple turnovers, and a few gambles on defense, that’ll get you in trouble. They played rough basketball across the first quarter, but played even worse once they escaped it. At the heart of a lot of this, was Poeltl. Maybe a bad back day? He had a lot of trouble moving defensively, and couldn’t find his utility on offense either. The difference between he and Mamukelashvili was staggering on both sides. Also of note, Okongwu was doing a great job of pounding the glass against the Raptors forwards and nabbing extra possessions for his squad.
Simply put: the Hawks were doing a phenomenal job on defense, and their excellence was all the more dominant because the Raptors were missing the meager amount of good looks they managed to scrape together. Coach Darko’s response? Put in the young guns, the ball pressure boys, and harass the Hawks on ball. Atlanta doesn’t have a lot of great ball handlers, so the thought process was that they could disrupt defensively and run out. However, for all their activity and bluster, they allowed an ORB and a triple, and fouled a 3-point shot on back to back possessions. Tough to get back into games that way.
The Raptors were forced to grind. Flat isos on Porzingis in space for short middy’s or jump hooks. The results? Not great. Porzingis was much better closing ground than they expected. It was a torturous struggle to get to the end of the first half, and they did so down by 9. They were within single digits while sustaining a 1/10 half combined from Barnes & Barrett. As a team they were shooting 33% from the field and 21% from downtown. Woof!
I have to credit the duo of Barnes & Barrett though, as they came out on a mission to start the second half. Quickley was also sharp in the opening as he stole the ball on a back cut and canned a pull up triple in transition to reduce the Hawks lead to 3. Barrett & Barnes pitched in with scoring of their own. Barnes in particular, was very resilient in trying to find his offense. Offensive rebounds were really coming back to bite them. They looked really slow to react to the ball coming off the rim all night long. Their lack of reaction and activity haunted them for long stretches and contributed to another run from the Hawks and a 10-point deficit again.
This wasn’t a small team getting dominated by the likes of Steven Adams, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson and Tari Eason. This was a team that was getting beat to the punch repeatedly. Effort.
Toronto mustered up a 7-0 run in the midst of a rock fight, in the midst of the 3rd quarter, and it brought them back within 2. A Keaton Wallace floater put the Hawks up 4 right before the penultimate quarter finished.
Porzingis outscored the Raptors in the opening stretch of the fourth, unfortunately. Catching with momentum, hitting from the post, and making the Raptors pay for breakdowns. A 9-0 run from Gradey Dick — a no dip corner triple and a hard charging drive for free throws — and Barnes — fouled on a jump hook, and a screen reject to get downhill for a layup — helped calm things down for the Raptors in response though, and gave them the lead. A pull up triple from Quickley increased it. The run increased to 14-0 before a layup from the Hawks stopped it.
Slowly, the Raptors turned the tides on the effort plays. I’m not sure if it was the shot making that caught up a bit, and in turn made them believe they could win, but the Raptors stopped losing the race to every loose ball. Their talent and effort coalesced, finally, at some point in the fourth quarter. With a 5-point lead and 4 minutes left, the Raptors went to their starting lineup to close it out. A lineup that has lost a lot of minutes this season. It was proving time.
They proved something. They got stops and managed to run out consistently, something they desperately needed. When things were going slow, they went to some sort of Barrett/Poeltl hub action to created downhill pressure in the halfcourt, and both played well down the stretch. Barrett in particular, as he started the game 0-6 and followed that up with 6 straight makes. Quickley’s shot making was present throughout and he played his best game of the season. Ingram scurried his way to 20 points with tough jumper after tough jumper.
They played to the last buzzer, trying to run up the score — due to the NBA Cup point differential system — and took home a 12-point win.
Not only was this win important for NBA Cup purposes, but it encompassed the best stretch their starting five has played together so far and their point guard’s best game of the season. Beating a wiry, grizzly defense on their home court, and doing so on a night where the shooting went cold. Well done fellas.
Have a blessed day.
