“Put your KLAWSSSS UPPPPPP” boomed out of Strizzy’s voice to introduce Kawhi Leonard to the Raptors faithful at Toronto’s preseason home opener. Raucous cheers met him. After a lot of waiting — both the 7 years between his time as a Finals MVP and the months that the trade was held up — Raptors fans were overjoyed to embrace Leonard once more.
All observations deserve the following context: the Knicks didn’t play any of their starters.
He was about expected in terms of playstyle. As he should be, players this good have a language to their game of their own, and most viewers can speak it. He hit a trailer triple and stuck his hands in cookie jars. Leonard beat a small down the floor and commanded an empty side post up that he cashed via a fadeaway. He left the court after roughly 5 minutes of play with 7 points and 3 rebounds. The first blow was a good one. He was firmly entrenched in dominant Raptors trio to start the game.
Toronto sprinted out to a 21-12 lead and the scoring punch came exclusively from RJ Barrett (8 points) Scottie Barnes (6 points) and Leonard (7 points). Of course it’s just preseason, but it was nice to see all 3 finding buckets in the same space. Leonard’s willingness to launch from downtown (4 attempts) played nicely along with the burly driving that his teammates were providing.
In terms of what was going on with the rest of the players, Collin Murray-Boyles really stood out in terms of aggression. He was attacking the glass with vigor. Bringing the ball down. Getting fouled if he didn’t. One play in particular that I loved: Allen Graves spaced to the corner, Jamal Shead hit him with a skip pass, and while Graves missed, Murray-Boyles drew a loose ball foul chasing down the miss. Some things stick out as potential lynch pins in a partnership, and it’s easy to see what could work here.
Also, Barnes took the extra possessions that found him and went to work. He put up 15 points on 6-7 shooting in the first quarter. A couple successful ghost actions with Immanuel Quickley. Bully ball duck-ins. And of course, some middy bag work. A touch of class from the Raptors All-Star.
The Knicks were getting absolutely mashed. Pace of play, rebounding, ball security, shot making, whatever, the Raptors were doing it better. 61-33 halfway through the second quarter. The Raptors newly minted starting lineup looked like it had shaken off cobwebs and needed to test itself against some real competition.
By the end of the first half it was 86-47 for the Raptors. A titanic difference between the two teams. It left the Raptors rotation players, certainly, with little to prove. The first half was almost a fever dream of everything you’d want to go right – only with the caveat of the level of competition across from them.
A fun wrinkle for the Raptors:
For the second half the Raptors made one adjustment to their starting lineup: Ja’Kobe Walter stepped in for Leonard. Before the game, Coach Darko did highlight that Leonard would be operating on a minutes restriction due to how they planned to ramp him up before the season, so no cause for concern.
The third quarter went by without much dynamism. The starters + Walter made it about halfway through the frame before exiting the game for good. Walter, notably, took the extra shot opportunities to launch away from downtown, where he was excellent (4-6).
After getting subbed back in, Murray-Boyles continued his perfect night and finished the game with 19 points on 100% shooting to go with 9 rebounds. His frontcourt partner for the time was Graves, who got plenty of looks up from downtown, but had a cold night there. Still, he was effortful in his debut as a Raptor. Shead & Alijah Martin were relatively quiet, especially the former.
The fourth quarter was for the end of bench guys. Kyle Anderson, Nimari Burnett, Jaden Bradley, Trayce Jackson-Davis, and Tyreke Key stepped out for battle. Key hit a floater and three triples to kick things off for the group who had the tidy little job of closing out a game with a 40+ point lead. Easy peasy. Malachi Smith, Jamarion Sharp, and Tyson Degenhart also saw a bit of run before it was over. They left the floor to a standing ovation.
All in all, it was a sublime performance for the Raptors. You can’t change who the other team trots out in front of you, and while we’ll all be waiting for the Raptors big names to start playing some serious basketball, we can wait with optimism because of how dominant they looked here. They also played very much to their own style.
Looking forward to more.
Have a blessed day.
