Quick Reaction: Clippers 106, Raptors 114

LA Clippers

106 – 114

Toronto Raptors

A-	RJ Barrett 23 MIN, 20 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST, 1 STL, 7-11 FG, 3-5 3FG, 3-5 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 21 +/- Re-sign RJ Barrett. What a workhorse he is. It’s seriously impressive to see him just will his way to the rim and the free throw line. His jumpshooting was excellent as well, including a nice pull up mid range jump shot.
B-	Scottie Barnes 22 MIN, 12 PTS, 10 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 4-10 FG, 1-3 3FG, 3-4 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 22 +/- Turned it up in the second half with a couple quick buckets. He missed some mid range shots we’ve grown accustomed to him making, but still created offense for his teammates with slick interior passes. Able to turn it up and drive as needed but not his most imposing game on either end.

B	Jakob Poeltl 22 MIN, 9 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 3-4 FG, 0-0 3FG, 3-6 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 19 +/- This is by far the healthiest Poeltl has looked in a long time. He’s hedging screens and recovering well, was grabbing more rebounds, and even DOVE on the floor for a loose ball. His hands were good on both ends, had a couple nice finishes and got to the foul line.
A-	Immanuel Quickley 19 MIN, 18 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 6-8 FG, 5-6 3FG, 1-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 27 +/- The type of game you love to see from Quickley, six three-point attempts in just 19 minutes is a very welcome sign. Making five of those attempts is the cherry on top. Showed great off-ball movement to get his looks and had a couple of nice drives, one where he dumped to CMB for a hook shot and another where he threw up a crazy floater over Brook Lopez. Would be very happy if Quickley continues to shoot as often as he did tonight.
C	Ja'Kobe Walter 19 MIN, 3 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1-4 FG, 1-4 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 11 +/- Walter is still so bothersome on defense, but Darius Garland was able to negate his peskiness a couple times by just rising over him to shoot. Shot wasn’t falling for Walter tonight and he still hasn’t shown much inclination to create off the bounce.
B-	Kyle Anderson 16 MIN, 0 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 0-4 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -1 +/- Slo-mo is going to prove to be a very good glue guy veteran forward. His basketball IQ shined throughout this game. Poking the ball loose on a spinning Hachimura, give and go in transition with RJ and performed one of the most satisfying moves in basketball: A beautiful touch pass off a cut to a cutting Poeltl for an open dunk. He should be fun as a versatile option off the bench this season

D+	Tyson Degenhart 12 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-2 FG, 0-2 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -9 +/- Don’t see Degenhart making it out of the Raptors 905 this season. Didn’t stand out today, but he was at least able to draw a foul on five-foot-seven Yuki Kawamura on a post up.
B	Collin Murray-Boyles 22 MIN, 13 PTS, 9 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 4-9 FG, 0-1 3FG, 5-7 FT, 2 BLK, 4 TO, 2 +/- Really strong play from CMB tonight. Had a poster dunk over Baba Miller and generally finished pretty well. He did attempt one three that he missed, but the shot looked sound. Had some run with Jakob Poeltl a few times and primarily played as a big man in those lineups rather than a wing like some expected. Still a little worrisome that he’s losing the ball so often on drives.
B	Trey Jemison III 8 MIN, 0 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 0-2 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -5 +/- I really liked Jemison’s hustle tonight, he was doing all the little things well, setting screens, handoffs. On one possession he set a beautiful screen for Shead and then boxed out the help defense so Shead could float it in. A nice energy option on a two-way contract.
C+	Tyreke Key 7 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -5 +/- Plays hard every time he’s out there, evident by the flagrant foul he committed immediately upon checking in. Not a ton of minutes tonight so not too much to judge for him, but the hustle is always there.

C-	Malachi Smith 13 MIN, 4 PTS, 1 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 2-5 FG, 0-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -9 +/- After leading the team in minutes last game, Smith played no minutes in the first half. He had a couple of nice drives, one where he attacked Gradey Dick and hit the floater and another where he found Burnett with a cross-paint pass for the dunk. Again 0/2 from three, which is concerning considering three-point shooting is meant to be his swing skill.
B	Jamal Shead 19 MIN, 13 PTS, 1 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL, 5-9 FG, 0-3 3FG, 3-3 FT, 0 BLK, 4 TO, -8 +/- After the first half I wrote that I was really concerned about Shead’s lack of scoring. He quickly shut me up in the second half as he scored 13 points, he was just constantly punishing Keaton Wagler on drives, blowing by him and using his strength to finish. I do still have major concerns about his three point shooting, he had pretty wide open looks tonight and couldn’t convert on any of them.
B-	Jaden Bradley 21 MIN, 8 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 3-4 FG, 0-0 3FG, 2-2 FT, 1 BLK, 4 TO, -13 +/- Much better game than last time, his strong defense continues to shine and he had some really nice off ball cuts through the paint for easy buckets.
B-	Nimari Burnett 16 MIN, 10 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 4-6 FG, 2-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -9 +/- Continued to be aggressive in hunting his shot and this time had the shooters touch on a corner three that bounced off every part of the basket. Hit another quickfire three in the closing minutes of the game right after he stole the ball for a nice euro finish. Better game than last time for sure, showed some knack on the boards as well.

Inc	Chucky Hepburn 1 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -3 +/- Hepburn checked in for only a minute before exiting the game with a hamstring strain. He has just had terrible injury luck, hoping this isn’t anything serious.
Inc	Darko Rajakovic Again, I don’t know what to give as a grade to a coach for a game like this. He won his challenge so that’s great. Otherwise now is the time for experimentation and tweaking and the team did that well.