Quick Reaction: Kings 123, Raptors 115

Sacramento Kings

123 – 115

Toronto Raptors

C-	R. Barrett 36 MIN, 20 PTS, 5 REB, 6 AST, 0 STL, 8-19 FG, 1-5 3FG, 3-5 FT, 1 BLK, 5 TO, 2 +/- Weird one for Barrett tonight. Two fouls took him out just four minutes in but he came back late in the first and quickly ran up back-to-back buckets to close the quarter. At halftime he finished as the leading scorer as he applied pressure to the paint with strong drives and cuts. That all stopped in the second half, he couldn’t get as deep in the paint and missed his looks when he did. He couldn’t hit a three despite getting some solid looks, combine that with some poor decisions and turnovers down the stretch and this was not a good Barrett game.
D+	S. Barnes 35 MIN, 14 PTS, 5 REB, 10 AST, 2 STL, 5-14 FG, 0-3 3FG, 4-8 FT, 1 BLK, 3 TO, -15 +/- Barnes' shot-making wasn’t really there tonight, as evidenced by the point-blank wide open layup he missed after a fantastic Poeltl pass at one point. What bothers me more was his unwillingness to try and attack with force. While he continued his streak of top-notch playmaking (and yes there were impressive passes), it came at the expense of attacking the rim like he needs to do. Felt he played with not enough punch at all. Late in the fourth the Raptors’ comeback slowed once he took over playmaking duties from Shead when I would have rather he played off Shead as a screener and tried to get into the paint for some buckets.

C+	J. Poeltl 28 MIN, 18 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 6-8 FG, 0-0 3FG, 6-8 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -9 +/- First time playing the second night of a back-to-back since returning from injury and he still looked fairly nimble. He was solid running the floor in transition, and was able to get to the free throw line a solid amount getting behind the defense. He even participated in trapping Sacramento in the back-court, a place you don’t normally see bigs, especially Poeltl. Unfortunately he nor anyone else could slow down Precious Achiuwa on the offensive glass and that was really the story of this one.
C+	J. Walter 32 MIN, 8 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST, 3 STL, 3-4 FG, 2-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -8 +/- Drew the Demar DeRozan assignment, and did a solid job holding him down in the first half. He didn’t have quite the same luck in the second half as DeRozan exploded 26 second-half points. Though every game you can see the confidence grow in Walter as he continues to expand his offensive bag. He made his threes as usual and added more to his playmaking repertoire as he beat guys with smooth dribbles and made tough passes in tight quarters.
A	J. Shead 37 MIN, 16 PTS, 1 REB, 7 AST, 2 STL, 5-9 FG, 3-3 3FG, 3-3 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, 17 +/- Shead down the stretch of the game was incredible. He took full control offensively, he got multiple deceleration layups to drop, drove and then found Mamukelashvili for a three, ran the pick n’ roll with Poeltl and when the ball swung to him after a Barnes drive he drilled the three to pull within four with 3 minutes remaining. He missed a floater down the stretch to seal the loss but he’s hardly to blame. I’d be curious to see his potential assists tonight as there were so many great shots he created that the Raptors didn’t capitalize on.
C	A. Lawson 15 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 1-3 FG, 0-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -13 +/- Came out with energy as the first sub off the bench when RJ picked up two fouls. Had a nice curl cut to end the third and keep things close but missed his two three-point attempts in the first half (though one of them was a late shot clock contested look).

B-	S. Mamukelashvili 33 MIN, 17 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 7-10 FG, 3-5 3FG, 0-0 FT, 2 BLK, 0 TO, -9 +/- Another great scoring game from Mamukelashvili. He brought the pace early when he checked in which was much needed. He hit two massive threes down the stretch and found Shead for another one but he gave up a lot defensively at times as well.
A-	C. Murray-Boyles 18 MIN, 20 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 7-9 FG, 0-1 3FG, 6-8 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 5 +/- A career-high in points for Murray-Boyles that could have been higher had he not been in foul trouble for parts of the game. He showed impressive driving chops in the first quarter beating his man off the bounce and taking it all the way to the rack for the slick finish. He was able to get out in transition and get deep seals in the post for easy buckets as well as providing a release in the opposite dunker’s spot on drives. He left some points on the board not finishing through contact but that’ll come.
Inc	A. Martin 03 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -10 +/- Only spot minutes tonight but drew an offensive foul fighting through a screen and bought a minute of rest for Barnes and Barrett at the end of the third keeping things even.
B-	Darko Rajakovic Coach The team didn't come out with the focus or energy they needed and he couldn't quite find the right balance of stopping DeRozan and keeping others off the glass. Realistically though the Raptors should have been able to get ahead when DeRozan had just 2 at halftime but they couldn't capitalize. Not sure if it was an issue with the gameplan, motivation, or something else but this was a must-win game and the Raptorsm didn't win. Some of the blame has to fall on his shoulders. Though his challenges actually made sense tonight.

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Even getting to this point of sporadic symbiosis has been a long process. Rajakovic says he started conceptualizing how to weave Ingram into the fabric of the Raptors “from day one when he joined our team,” even though the willowy wing was sidelined with an ankle injury that would keep him out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
In the meantime, assistant coach Pat Delaney took charge of the onboarding program, running Ingram through film sessions and “classrooms” to get him up to speed on all the team’s concepts. And a newly extended Ingram tried to absorb as much as he could while patiently awaiting the opportunity to take the court with his new teammates.
“It kind of helped us (that) at the beginning he was not able to play,” says Rajakovic. “He was able to just be around the guys and soak in the energy, soak in the culture, learn what we were trying to build. And I think it really helped the way he acclimated to the team. And we had already started thinking and planning what the future looks like, and how we could incorporate him in our offence and defence.”