Health plays a big factor in the NBA, and increasingly so every year. The increased pace and court coverage required by the modern game has a had huge effect on the availability of players, and the Raptors and Knicks are no stranger to players missing games.
“We’re gonna miss IQ. We’re gonna miss RJ. But, this type of game, motivation, focus, and attention to detail is going to be very important today.” – Coach Darko said before the game. “There’s a lot of energy. There’s a lot of excitement on the team. Guys are so motivated. I love to play games like this. I feel pumped up. We’re ready to go out there and compete.”
Obviously with the injuries, the Raptors had to start a whole new backcourt for the first time this season. With Ochai Agbaji playing well last game, and replacing Ja’Kobe Walter’s minutes at the time, he ended up taking his starting spot in this one. At point guard, it couldn’t be anyone but Jamal Shead.
“The start of the game is gonna be very important. A lot of times, it starts with us taking care of the ball.” Coach Darko said of the Raptors recent slow starts. Early turnovers, being loose with the ball, traveling, illegal screens, whatever it might be, it takes some momentum from us. So, we gotta be sharp from the jump tonight and we can’t allow the same (kind of) start.”
The first possession of the game? A turnover by Brandon Ingram. It was up to the Raptors to make that either a blip or an omen. They chose blip, at least for the first quarter. The Raptors scored the hell out of the basketball to the tune of 39 points. It’s not as if the Knicks were a highly ranked defense coming into this game, and their lack of resistance allowed the Raptors to get back to a faster paced style, with lots of looks in transition, and a huge boost in the halfcourt by a transcendent 17 points on 7 shots from Ingram over his first 12 minutes of play. He would’ve been the defining player of the opening frame if it weren’t for Jalen Brunson’s eruption on the other end, for 20 points.
Two teams drifting in the wake of star scoring and trying to support in whatever manner they could manage. Neither defense managing to much in the way of stopping singular players, let alone teamwide offense. The Raptors won the first trade of blows by 4 points, going up 39-35.
The shot making wasn’t present to start the second quarter, unfortunately. With Ingram off the floor, the Raptors scored 2 points in their first 5 minutes of play. It’s not as if the Knicks were lighting it up offensively either, with Brunson off the floor as well, but they were at least passable.
Once the Knicks sorted out how they wanted to guard the Raptors — changing where they loaded up — they were able to dull a lot of the sharpness in the Raptors offensive process. It’s been a sticking point of the offense and it’s general lack of ability to create consistent, dependable looks. They can definitely create some, but players have no expectation of where their shots might come from or how many. It might only be Ingram who has an idea of how often and where he’s going to get looks and it’s, of course, because he’s dribbling to his spots by himself. It’s hard to achieve flow and consistency throughout the roster this way. It’s why the Raptors efficiency lived and died with Ingram, or with transition, in the opening run.
They got absolutely dominated in the second quarter. The Knicks offense is top 3 in the NBA, and the Raptors offense has been in a free fall, so I suppose it made sense that they lost the thread. The disparity in shot quality was staggering between the two teams. A 34-13 slam down in the second quarter, and a 17 point deficit heading into halftime.
A string of above the break threes dropped in for the Raptors to start the third quarter, which wasn’t indicative of a better process on offense — more so just, variance — and still, the Knicks withstood it. They had no problem unwinding the Raptors defense, using the method of “Brunson, go make it happen” + a continuous churn of ball movement to do so. Trading buckets. Things did slow down though, as the back end of the 3rd quarter was a bit slog-like. The Raptors, with Collin Murray-Boyles on the floor, were having an easier time of slowing the Knicks 2-man actions, and were generally more present in driving lanes to dissuade forays to the rim.
On the other end the Raptors were back to Ingram-ball — which was the sole reason for a lot of their scoring in this game — and chugging along offensively. Pushing the boulder up the hill. Stuck about as many at the third quarter as they’d been since the first half wrapped up – save for one basket. The Raptors did well to whittle it down from 24 at one point, but they were still down big, at 94-79.
When I tell you the third quarter may as well have been the fourth? I mean it. There were no stakes. The loudest the crowd got was for a very cute child who kept popping up on the jumbotron. Maybe when the Raptors hit 100 points. The Knicks strolled to the finish. The Raptors finished with their worst halfcourt scoring performance of the season.
A word of optimism? I’ve covered the Pacers the last two seasons. I was there for the Finals. That Pacers team turned their season around with the practices they got to have during the time off they had after getting ousted in the NBA Cup. That’s not to say the Raptors are a sleeping dragon Finals team, just that if there are *changes that could work* we’ll likely see them implemented after this stretch, and once the team is back healthy. We’ll see!
Have a blessed day.
