RJ Barrett led the way with 31 points in a much-needed Raptors win. Most of his points came alongside Jakob Poeltl. The duo has formed a connection that might be the solution to the Raptors’ half-court woes.
I broke it down here:
From Samson Folk on the game:
If the Poeltl stuff was a sight for sore eyes, so too was the Gradey Dick burst of energy and transition that the Raptors got. The numbers are very staunch in saying that the Raptors play more transition when Dick is on the floor. Now, this isn’t some sort of unique quirk, because the Raptors use him as a hyper aggressive outlet man who is meant to sprint to the rim or corner to open up lanes. For the role he hasn’t fulfilled as a shooter this season, he has at least helped the Raptors play more transition and score more efficiently while doing so. His burst in the late first quarter was largely a product of open, full court play. The contributions from the bench 2 guard spot didn’t end with Dick either, as Ja’Kobe Walter was taking to his dunker spot/cutter role quite well with the transitional lineups – wiggling to and fro to stress the Mavericks defense that often lost track of him.
All the while, the Raptors were comfortably clamping down on the Mavericks offense. It’s more than worthwhile for the Mavs to put Cooper Flagg in a wide array of playmaking and initiating positions, but the Raptors, with Scottie Barnes as a primary defender or very attentive helper, came into this game in a very strong position to get stops and bother the young star. Jumping ball handlers and passes on defense helped super charge the Raptors transition offense — where they spent nearly a third of their first half offensive possessions — which promoted run outs and mismatched assignments for the Mavericks on defense.
For a Raptors team that has been very reliant on Ingram’s offensive stylings to move them through portions of games this season, the fact that they put together a very strong 108 ORTG in the half court despite their leading scorer putting up 2 points on 7 shots? That was really nice to see. Even Quickley, whose hot play of late has been uber important, only put up 5 first half points on 9 shots. The team as a whole was 4-19 from downtown (21%, woof), but they were passable in the mid range and dynamite from the rim.
