Ah, another championship contending team is in Toronto tonight, great. Today it was the Dallas Mavericks and their big three of Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and Klay Thompson.
Yeah, big yikes going up against that talent no matter who is on our squad, but the Toronto Raptors did have something going for them — a shorter injury list! It was the first game all season that Kelly Olynyk was available to play this season, as he has been recovering from a lumbar injury in his back. Jakob Poeltl was also back in the lineup tonight after missing the team’s last game due to an illness. Davion Mitchell was also back for this game.
So that left the injury report to just Immanuel Quickley and Bruce Brown, who are both hoping to return to action soon. Olynyk was also on a minutes restriction, but did check into the game in the first quarter, making his first points of the season on a three point shot.
With a team as young as the Raptors, they came into this game as the underdogs — see the names of the big three above for context. There were some highlights to the Raptors’ play in the first quarter, especially things like Gradey Dick’s shooting from three, or just the fact that Poeltl was back to crash the glass.
Yet, as the game settled into a rhythm, the Mavericks started to make their shots... and the Raptors’ did not. There were a few misses that ultimately led the Mavericks to get a 10-ish point lead over Toronto in the second quarter. Messy turnovers gave Dallas chances to get ahead more, and the Raptors weren’t taking the best care of the basketball. Also, Luka gets through defences like a knife cutting through jello.
It didn’t get away from them in the first half though, as the Raptors tried to keep their deficit around 10 points. Until Luka made a wile buzzer beater shot at halftime.
From there it definitely got away from the Raptors for a bit.
Quickly out of the half the Mavericks shot up about 20 points over the Raptors, and it stayed that way most of the time remaining.
It was most likely a great time for the many many Luka supporters in the crowd, has the star put on an absolute show for them. He was dishing, shooting, being dramatic (not hating just a fact), and backing it all up with a classic performance.
The Raptors made a push in the 4th quarter to try and make it a close game. It was a 5 point game at the 9-minute mark, and SBA was starting to get into it. A few minutes later, they again brought the deficit within six points.
With one minute left, the Raptors were within three points of the Mavericks when Coach Kidd challenged a goaltending call against Dallas. The challenge was successful, bringing the Raptors back to 5 points behind. Seconds later, Coach Rajakovic challenged a foul against the Raptors, which unfortunately failed. Both free throws went in, and the Raptors were down six points.
Ultimately that seemed to be the dagger for the Raptors. Another hard fought battle that ended in a loss for the team. The Dallas Mavericks take this one 125-118. A fun and valiant effort for the Toronto Raptors against a very good team.
Key factors to the game:
Scottie’s Assists... are the goggles working magic?
Scottie had a fantastic game despite the loss, scoring 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 14 assists (a career-high). He also had 3 steals and 1 block. While not the highest scorer on his team, his leadership showed in the way he was trying to get his teammates looks. Making 14 assists in a game at his position is incredibly impressive, yet also something the Raptors need as they wait for the return of Immanuel Quickley.
Aside from facilitation, Scottie was simply all over the court tonight. He was making big buckets when needed, was all over Dallas on defence, and was making an impact on every play he was on the floor for.
Maybe those goggles are making some magic, because he’s been playing extremely well since returning from injury.
Gradey Dick Shooting
Gradey Dick was the Raptors’ highest scorer against the Mavericks with 27 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal. He made 5 of 14 three point shots as well.
His confidence just continues to rise as he gets more minutes this season. Other than Scottie, he played the most minutes in the game at 34.
The Raptors play the last game of this home stand on Monday as they welcome the New York Knicks.