A bunch of people dressed up like the Toronto Raptors managed to sneak into the Orlando bubble last night, and played basketball against the Boston Celtics. Of course, they got steamrolled by the excellent men in green, but if our real team had been there…wait…what? Are you sure that was our team?
In one of the dreariest affairs we’ve forced ourselves to sit through in many months, the Raptors got pounded. As an anonymous baseball player said many moons ago, “We started badly, then our game fell off.” Didn’t it just?
From the tip, Toronto’s shooting was frosty (how about 6 for 23 in Q1?). After three quarters, Toronto was an unsightly 4 for 27 (14.8%) from beyond the arc. The fourth quarter was irrelevant. I can’t remember being in garbage time so early, but then being down by 34 points after 36 minutes is mighty rare.
Hope snatched away
Not a single Raptor in the rotation managed a decent game. Our starting five totalled 3 long balls in 19 tries. They were outgunned by the back of the bench guys in one quarter.
Meantime, Boston’s excellent collection of wingmen weren’t stinging the strings until halfway through Q3. At that point, they ran away and hid. The Raptors appeared to be on the move, shrinking the lead to 10 points. False hope, Toronto fans. Jaylen Brown and his Celtics pals drained 8 of 12 long balls in the Q, piling up 39 points.
Cue the scrubs. For family and friends of Chris Boucher, Matt Thomas, Terrence Davis and the rest, Q4 was fun. They exploited Boston’s second unit, and scored 43 points. Stanley Johnson, whose career is hanging by a thread, hit a 3-ball as time expired to get our team to a century. Hurray.
Snap out of it
Serge Ibaka is mired in a dreadful jump-shooting slump. When that happens, his defender plays him loose and there’s little chance to drive to the hoop. He provided little compensation on D. Serge had no blocked shots, and ended a minus-22, tied with Fred VanVleet(!) for team worst.
Pascal Siakam had his second disappointing game in a row. It’s one thing to commit turnovers and miss shots against the Magic, but a team like the Celtics will extract a heavy penalty for ongoing mistakes.
Our starting guards both had a night to forget. I can’t beat up Kyle Lowry and FVV for a total of six assists, which would normally be a humdrum night for one of them. You don’t get a dime unless your teammate scores, which seemed a foreign concept this game. But minus_42?
Yes, this was the Raptors first loss in eight games. Yes, every team has a dreadful game now and then. Those are only thoughts which console at the moment.
Back to work, team.
Tip Ins
Every player on the roster save Paul Watson made at least one basket. That’s normally a positive indicator, but not when our highest scorer (FVV) has 13. The scales don’t balance.
Patrick McCaw has left the team for treatment of a “benign mass” on his left knee. I don’t like the sound of that.
For the second straight game, OG Anunoby managed one basket. To get him going, Coach Nick Nurse has to run more isolation plays early.
Next game vs. Memphis Grizzlies, 2:00PM on Sunday.
- Tags: Toronto Raptors
