Photo Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images
Kawhi LeonardI'm a little bit surprised how off Leonard has looked to start the season. On defense he's been quite good, his hands created a ton of disruption and he's helped on the glass. I'm so used to seeing him automatically hit jumpers and layups it's been a bit jarring to see how he's started this year. Hoping to see him ramp up as the competition increases.
RJ BarrettThe Raptors will regret it if they ever trade RJ Barrett. He was everywhere for the team tonight and a big reason they pulled it out. As the game continued to get janky, he juiced the offense with his cuts and rebounding. He is one of the few guys who can create offense out of nothing and he did that tonight when the team really needed it.
Scottie BarnesIn an ugly game, Scottie Barnes did everything that was needed to secure the win, especially in the second half. Early in the game Barnes was settling for a lot of mid range jumpshots. While I was happy to see Barnes shoot a lot, I wasn’t thrilled with the specific shots he took. Later in the game, after the referees decided this was going to be a foul fest, he did a better job of attacking the rim and cleaning the glass. While he was loose on a couple of passes, hence the 8 turnovers, he was all over the place on both ends cleaning up mistakes and when the shots started falling, he was dominant.
Jakob PoeltlProbably Poeltl's best game in a long time. He did a good job for the most part keeping Sarr and Davis out of the paint. He had a couple nice finishes around the rim (I love his little baseline floater) and initiated some offense from the top of the key, something he didn't do much in game one. Even when he switched on to guards he did a decent job containing their drives.
Immanuel Quickley29 MIN, 12 PTS, 1 REB, 6 AST, 0 STL, 5-15 FG, 0-6 3FG, 2-3 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 1 +/-Big step back from game one, he couldn't make anything from beyond the arc despite having some great looks. I was honestly pretty impressed with his mid-paint shots in the first half but his decision making in the second half wasn't great.
Trayce Jackson-Davis1 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -1 +/-Garbage time.
Jamison Battle12 MIN, 5 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 2-3 FG, 1-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -4 +/-Hit a big three when the Raptors were in a three-point drought. Had a couple of defensive miscommunications in the third quarter. Twice when Trae Young and Champagnie ran a pick n' roll, Battle tried to switch while Shead (as we all know he loves to do) tried to fight over, leaving Champagnie open for wide open layups on back to back possessions.
Collin Murray-Boyles18 MIN, 8 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST, 3 STL, 3-6 FG, 0-0 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 21 +/-For a guy that had three fouls in the first quarter, Collin Murray-Boyles played quite possibly the most impactful 18 minutes of anybody tonight. He was aggressively disruptive on defense, even against the much larger Anthony Davis. He finished a +21 in his limited minutes which is incredibly impressive given he played in foul trouble essentially the entire game.
Allen Graves6 MIN, 2 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 3 +/-He had a really excellent first half. I was really impressed with his on ball defense. He had a possession where he switched on to Young, stuck with him the entire drive and blocked his scoop layup attempt. His only bucket came on an offensive rebound he neatly scooped up and laid in. Kind of surprised he didn't get minutes in the second half but I think the Raptors were searching for offense more than anything.
Jamal Shead24 MIN, 5 PTS, 2 REB, 5 AST, 0 STL, 1-3 FG, 0-0 3FG, 3-4 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 9 +/-Not seeing the Shead I hoped to see this season. He made some uncharacteristic mistakes tonight, he gambled on defense a couple times and got burned by Young when he pump faked him out of his shoes and drilled the wide open three. He had a couple of possessions where he tried to attack the rim with fervor but was largely unsuccessful. Still continues to be one of the better passes and did draw yet another offensive foul on a lazy AD screen.
Jaden Bradley1 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -1 +/-Garbage time.
Ja'Kobe Walter24 MIN, 7 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL, 2-8 FG, 2-7 3FG, 1-2 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 19 +/-Walter's on ball defense is simply incredible. He is legitimately stuck like glue to his man at all times. I can't fathom trying to dribble with him anywhere nearby. I was happy to see him try to create some looks off the bounce and I like how quick he is to shoot threes even with a light contest. You could make the argument he should have closed over Kawhi tonight given how strong his defense was.
Alijah Martin1 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -1 +/-Garbage time.
Darko RajakovicI didn't love some of the decisions Rajakovic made tonight, in particular the choice to use his second challenge with 53 seconds left in the first half on a fairly inconsequential out of bounds call. Even if he got it right (he didn't), why use it there? At that point Kawhi Leonard, Collin Murray-Boyles, and Immanuel Quickley had three fouls. You need to save that in case a call bites you late in the game.
Things we saw
The referees really dictated the flow of this game. The first half was the Trae Young show with him getting endless free throws on ticky-tacky fouls.
Scottie Barnes recorded his 110th career double-double tonight, tying Antonio Davis for fourth most in franchise history.
It's strange to see Leonard miss so many shots, in particular layups around the rim. Hopefully just acclimating.
The Raptors continue to fire threes up at will, they are really leaning into their goal to shoot them more frequently but they need to find the balance between attacking the rim and shooting.