Welcome to Raptors Roundup! A weekly recap of everything going on in the world of the Toronto Raptors.
In this edition we discuss the tumultuous past week for the Raptors including the win over the Portland Trailblazers, and the three losses against the Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, and Boston Celtics. At the end we’ll name the Raptor of the Week and take a peek at the upcoming schedule.
Before we get started with any game talk, there was a bit of news that was announced ahead of the Portland game that’s worth mentioning:
Today the NBA announced Scottie Barnes as the Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month. Barnes is the first Raptor to earn this honor since its inception in the 2024-25 NBA season.
- Mikai Bruce, Scottie Barnes named Defensive Player of the Month
The award came after Barnes’ excellent November defensively, in which he recorded 64 stocks and was the only player over the month that had 30+ steals as well as 30+ blocks. If you want to read more on what makes Barnes such a disruptive defender, Samson wrote a piece on his defensive impact this week that you can find here.
Riding the high of winning the franchise’s first ever Defensive Player of the Month, Barnes and the Raptors had little time to celebrate as they turned their focus to the night’s matchup with the Portland Trailblazers.
In East vs. West Showdown, Raptors defeat Trailblazers 121-118
The Trailblazers are slowly building a solid team built on a strong defensive identity. With the re-acquisition of their former franchise cornerstone Damian Lillard, it looks as if they could make some noise in the Western Conference next season when he recovers from his achilles tear. Portland showed flashes of that potential in this one as they never went away against a Raptors team coming off a beating against the New York Knicks.
The Raptors bounded out to a 7-2 start early in this game before the Blazers responded with an 8-0 run of their own. The endless line of role players looking to light up the Raptors continued, as Toumani Camara started off 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. The Canadian Shaedon Sharpe also had a great start to the game, throwing down an explosive dunk en route to 6 first quarter points.
The Raptors then quickly found themselves down 23-32 after Deni Avdija found Robert Williams III for an alley-oop, one of Avdija’s career-high 14 assists in this one.
After a Darko Rajakovic timeout, Gradey Dick subbed in and the Raptors began a run spanning the end of the first and into the second.
And, yes, Dick missed his first triple of the game against Portland. But he also followed that up by running in transition and finding a layup, then cutting to draw free throws. He dashed to the corner on a peel switch to steal a pass intended for a shooter, leading to an uncontested Toronto layup the other way. He attacked a closeout, spun in the middle of the floor, and drilled his fading mid-ranger. The jumper will come, or it won’t come. But Dick showed against Portland that he is going to find ways to win minutes regardless.
- Louis Zatzman, Gradey Dick shows why he’s worth patience in Raptors win
Dick’s impact helped the team to a 65-59 lead at halftime after the hot shooting start from the Blazers cooled and the trio of Barnes, Brandon Ingram, and Immanuel Quickley combined for 43 points.
To start the second half, it was Barnes versus the duo of Jerami Grant and Avdija as the two sides exchanged buckets. The game was close until a string of made threes by the Raptors, capped off by Ja’Kobe Walter making his first shot of the game to go up 78-66.
It was looking as if the Raptors were going to run away with this one. By the end of the third, they were up 97-82 and appeared as if they could simply coast to a victory. However, this is the NBA, and wins are never that easy.
The Trailblazers’ shooting reignited in the fourth, this time channelled through Grant and Avdija. In the second half the duo combined for 34 points, Grant with 16 and Avdija with 18. Their hot shooting, offensive rebounding, and rim attacks kept the Blazers in it right until the end.
Grant’s final points came on a pullup three to cut the lead to 2 with two seconds remaining, but after Ingram was intentionally fouled he hit the first free throw and missed the second, leaving no time for the Blazers to get a shot up. The Raptors barely squeaked out a 121-118 win after the ferocious comeback attempt from Portland.
Raptors lose to Lakers 120-123, but make history in the process
It’s always an exciting time when LeBron James is in town, and with Luka Dončić missing this game due to the birth of his second child, the expectations for a big James’ performance were high for what could be one of his final games in Toronto.
We all know how that turned out, James did not in fact have a big scoring performance. He shot 4/17 and his 1297 game streak of scoring in double digits came to an end. A streak that spanned 18 seasons was finally over, but it ended in one of the most poetic ways it possibly could, which we’ll get to later.
News: LeBron James’ 1297-game double-digit scoring streak ends in Toronto
For decades, LeBron James has terrorized the NBA. Perhaps the Toronto Raptors most of all. He has scored in double-digit figures for 1297 games consecutively. That is, until he played tonight in Toronto.
The last time James scored in single digits was on January 5, 2007. He finished with eight points in a win, as he started alongside Eric Snow and Drew Gooden, among others.
- Louis Zatzman
To start this game the Raptors once again found themselves in a hole, the Lakers hit 5 of their 9 three’s in the opening quarter while the Raptors struggled, making only 2 of their 7 attempts.
Stat #1: This week, opponents shot 39.6% from three against Toronto, the rest of the season Toronto limited opponents to just 32.0%, tied for best in the league.
As the game went on, it was clear that while the Raptors were able to contain James, they had no answer for Reaves and his scoring punch. In games without Dončić, Reaves is averaging 41 points per game, and he obliterated the Raptors defense to the tune of 44 points in this one.
It was a true team effort to keep up with his offensive firepower, seven different Raptors reached double digit points as they clawed their way to a tie game with about eight minutes left. In those next few minutes, it was Jamison Battle who kept the Raptors offense flowing, hitting a deep jump shot, knocking in a free throw and cutting baseline for an open reverse layup.
As the clock wound down, Barnes found a cutting Sandro Mamukelashvili, who made the layup while being fouled and put the Raptors up 118-116. It was then James who tied the game for the Lakers, simply barrelling from halfcourt to the rim for his eighth points of the night.
On the next possession, James, attempting to keep his streak alive and take the lead, backed Barnes down before pump-faking and spinning around for a fadeaway jumper. However, the Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month had other ideas as he rose up and blocked the shot. Ingram secured the rebound and scored a wide-open elbow jumper to put the Raptors up 2 with 49 seconds remaining.
After Reaves then tied the game, and Ingram failed to take the lead with a missed layup. It was the Lakers who had the chance to win it and James the chance to play hero, scoring the game-winner and extending his double-digit streak.
What ensued on the final possession can only be described as a quintessential Lebron James moment. Reaves brought the ball up, and Barnes reluctantly double-teamed him, Reaves quickly swung the ball to James who had tons of space to take a shot and win the game. Instead, James did what he often does, he made the right basketball play. He disregarded the space he had, taking a couple of dribbles towards the rim before rocketing a pass out to Rui Hachimura in the corner who hit the three at the buzzer to win the game. James’ streak was over, but the Lakers had won, a worthy tradeoff that represents James’ entire career, prioritizing wins over individual glory.
Raptors fall to Hornets in embarassing fashion, lose 86-111
Since I wrote the post-game recap for this piece, I won’t come up with new ways to describe a truly atrocious loss and instead will put together the key points of my original recap here.
This game started out with the defensive wrecking-ball, Scottie Barnes, taking the role of offensive powerhouse, as he opened the game with a mid-range pull up. Lamelo Ball, who was benched throughout the end of the fourth quarter and overtime in their last matchup, responded immediately, driving to the rim for a strong finish underneath.
Directly after that bucket, just 40 seconds into the game, the game was put on hold due to a disco party breaking out. Well, something like that, there was actually a strobe light malfunction in the arena that delayed the game for over 10 minutes. Either way, the delay didn’t seem to slow down Barnes as he immediately knocked down a three and then got deep into the paint for a turnaround jumper. The response? Once again Ball, this time with a beautiful give-and-go cut before dumping it off to Kalkbrenner for the easy under the basket hoop.
Something about the Hornets just gums up the Raptors offense. Toronto went four-plus minutes scoreless twice in this one, both times giving up big runs to Charlotte and the second time finding themselves down 17 after the fact.
Stat #2: Immanuel Quickley (31 points) single-handedly outscored all other Raptors starters combined (27 points) in this game.
If not for Quickley’s hot night, the Raptors may have ended the game with 60 points. Quickley scored another couple of buckets midway through the fourth, trying to stop the Hornets final run and reaching 31 points on the night.
Unfortunately, Quickley’s heroic efforts were not enough, and we saw seven minutes of garbage time as the Raptors opted for extra rest over a late push. Probably a good choice given their schedule of late.
News: Jamison Battle exits Friday night’s game with a left ankle sprain
Early in the fourth quarter, Jamison Battle exited Friday’s matchup with the Charlotte Hornets after tweaking his ankle contesting a three-pointer. The X-rays have come back negative and he is considered day-to-day.
After failed comeback, Raptors lose third in a row, 113-121
I always love a game on a Sunday afternoon, there’s nothing better than plopping on the couch and watching some hoops before supper. Unless of course, the game you sit down to watch looks like a complete blowout by halftime, then it becomes a good excuse for a Sunday nap.
That was much the case early in this one as the Celtics — who shoot 43 threes a night — hit more three-pointers in the opening quarter than Toronto attempted. Leading the way was Derrick White, who had 14 points in the quarter and hit three three’s of his own.
The Raptors offense was slow to get rolling, by the 3:40 mark of the 1st quarter they had only 16 points. 10 from Ingram and 6 from Poeltl.
While the Raptors looked sluggish in the first, it was nothing compared to the second quarter. It wasn’t one player who beat them, but a variety of Celtics who took turns scoring against Toronto’s disintegrated defense. The Raptors were slow to close out on multiple possessions, allowing the Celtics to add another 6 threes to their total and extending their lead to 18 at halftime.
A bright spot for Toronto throughout the game was AJ Lawson, who after a strong start in the G-League found his way into the rotation after Battle’s injury.
Coach Darko looked his way, needing something, and Lawson started off by slipping a screen for a layup. Then he hit a triple. He crashed the glass. He hit another triple. He filled lanes in transition. Maybe most importantly, his constant effort defensively helped the Raptors stay on a string.
After allowing 77 points in the first half, Toronto shored things up majorly in the second half, allowing Boston only 44 points. In the third quarter in particular, they were able to hold Boston to 20 points on 36.4% shooting.
Toronto on the other hand, found their scoring once again, sparked largely by new father Ochai Agbaji, who had 11 points.
Stat #3: Agbaji’s corner three at the 2:25 mark of the third was his first made corner three of the season, and only his second made three of any kind this season. Agbaji is shooting just 10.0% from three after shooting 39.9% last year.
After a Shead layup, the Raptors were down by six heading into the fourth, a small miracle considering the way the game started. Smelling blood in the water, Shead continued to attack, hitting a floater before finding Lawson for a fastbreak three, the crowd erupting as it found the bottom of the net.
The game continued to ping back and forth until the Celtics remembered they could hit threes, and the Raptors left them open to do so. In an instant the Celtics lead was back up to 9. The Raptors continued to fight but had used all their gas making the comeback, and had none left to get the job done. The Celtics would go on to win 121-113, stealing third place in the Eastern Conference from the Raptors in the process.
Stat #4: Toronto had the 22nd ranked defense this week, with a 119.4 defensive rating, down from 5th the rest of the season with a 111.5 defensive rating.
Raptor of the Week: Scottie Barnes
The man who started the week with an award, ends it with one just as prestigious in my eyes. In one of the Raptors’ worst weeks of the season, Barnes’ effort never wavered. In many of the games he was the sole reason the Raptors were even in it.
On the week, he averaged 20.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 2.8 stocks while shooting 49% from the field, 33.3% from three and 80% from the free-throw line.
While he never recorded a triple double this week, he came extremely close multiple times. He was one assist shy against the Lakers and 2 assists short against the Celtics. It’s amazing when he can put up statlines like that, but the beautiful thing about Barnes’ game is that while he may not always have it going offensively, his defensive effort never wavers.
With all the chatter about the Raptors’ overreliance on Ingram, particularly in the clutch, my thought has always been that getting the ball in Barnes’ hands more and more can help alleviate that. He’s shown throughout the past week an ability to get to the rim whenever the team needs, and is a far better playmaker than Ingram in those situations. While it was a tough week for the Raptors, Barnes reminded the world why he is still the face of this franchise.
Looking ahead
Tuesday, December 9th – NBA Cup Quarterfinals: Knicks @ Raptors | 8:30pm on Sportsnet
While the Raptors will have more than one game this week, the rest of the schedule won’t be determined until after the Cup quarterfinals with New York. If the Raptors win, they will advance to Vegas and play more Cup games. If they lose, then additional games will be added to the schedule.
Record prediction: However many wins it takes to win the Cup!
That’s it for another week of Raptors Roundup, thank you for reading! Happy Monday, have a wonderful week!
