Quick Reaction: Raptors 120, Knicks 122

Toronto Raptors

120 – 122

New York Knicks

C	Kawhi Leonard 23 MIN, 6 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 2-5 FG, 0-2 3FG, 2-2 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 8 +/- He didn’t find his way into the game. The flow was going in different directions, and considering it was preseason, there was no reason for him to force his way into things. Quiet early, letting his teammates take the shots, but he calmly up-faked into a mid-range pull for an easy deuce on his first real touch. He had some defensive highs, but he was loose there, especially in the first half, just like the rest of the team.
A	RJ Barrett 31 MIN, 21 PTS, 8 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 6-12 FG, 2-6 3FG, 7-10 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, -3 +/- He’s the running back of this offence, just grinding his way to yards throughout the course of a game. The offence doesn’t really work without his physicality. He tried to bully through Mikal Bridges on the first possession and saw that strength doesn’t always beat length. He bullied his way to free throws after that. Created well with the pass here and there. Cut for a layup. Snatched offensive rebounds. Even drew a charge as a helper on the other end.

A	Scottie Barnes 28 MIN, 23 PTS, 3 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 9-15 FG, 4-5 3FG, 1-2 FT, 4 BLK, 1 TO, 4 +/- A lot of initiating for him rather than being used as a secondary creator, and much of it resulted in mid-range pullups, which he more or less hit. He hit some middies on the catch, too, and even several triples. Defensively he didn’t exert himself early, but he turned it way up in the second half. He erased a Brunson layup as a helper, leading to an easy Murray-Boyles bucket in transition. He stole passes, started breaks, swatted more shots.
C-	Jakob Poeltl 25 MIN, 7 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 3-5 FG, 0-0 3FG, 1-4 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -9 +/- He was very good for a stretch, especially offensively. He was passing early, but he battered Towns in the post on his first shot, leading to an and-1 hook. He attacked the offensive glass, even driving for another and-1 through Towns. Defensively, he struggled to contain Jalen Brunson in the pick and roll and handoff game, and neither could he contain Towns in closeouts. Which is normal, but it would have been nice to see him have sharper teeth there. His second half was much worse.
B+	Immanuel Quickley 28 MIN, 18 PTS, 5 REB, 7 AST, 1 STL, 6-10 FG, 1-5 3FG, 5-5 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 9 +/- His high came in the fourth as he caught in the corner, drove baseline, gave it up, relocated, and caught again for a triple. Defensively, he was really ineffective early. His pressure just gave up back cuts pretty consistently. A heads-up pass to Barnes cutting through the gut when he had an open triple, which is a nice look to see Quickley identify. He cut for a layup from Barnes. The jumper was off, and he took a terrible pull-up triple in transition that could have been a simple layup, but otherwise he had very solid process offensively. Good extra passes, and good movement.
C	Kyle Anderson 12 MIN, 4 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 2-3 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 7 +/- He played when the game was serious, but the game was a little beyond him, given both teams treating it as a regular-season contest for much of the night. In garbage time he put some numbers on the board.

A	Jamison Battle 14 MIN, 10 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 3-5 FG, 2-4 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -10 +/- He was quiet early, but he battled for offensive rebounds and drew fouls, tossed in a little putback in the third. He hit a transition triple to end a run in the second, which came after an up-fake, realization no defender was coming, and then pull — which usually is death to accuracy, but he just hits everything.
A	Collin Murray-Boyles 22 MIN, 12 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 3 STL, 4-8 FG, 1-3 3FG, 3-4 FT, 1 BLK, 3 TO, 3 +/- He’s already a defensive megastar. He was Toronto’s best defensive option on Towns, and though he wasn’t also able to help and close the rim when his teammates got blown by, he was able to at least stop Towns from driving for layups at will. When he guarded the much less talented Drummond, he erased his drive and took the ball as if from a small child. Offensively, he found his way with an above-the-break triple, which looks smooth so far in preseason. Inside the arc, he struggled to find his way early on against a very precise defence, though he cleaned it up as the game went on. He had some moments of cuts and floaters, and he even drove Towns off the bounce from the high post late.
C-	Jamarion Sharp 3 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 1 +/- Played in garbage time (even though the game was still close). I didn’t love his screen craft, and he wasn’t used for much else. Poor hands on the catch.
A	Malachi Smith 3 MIN, 8 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 3-4 FG, 2-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 1 +/- Hit a smooth corner triple in transition to keep Toronto alive, then another with a few seconds left to keep them alive once again.

B-	Jamal Shead 21 MIN, 4 PTS, 1 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 1-6 FG, 1-4 3FG, 1-2 FT, 2 BLK, 4 TO, -13 +/- A tale of two sides of the ball: immaculate defence and sketchy offence. He brought defensive pressure on Brunson that at least moved the ball elsewhere when he checked into the game. Some impressive steals. He blocked a corner triple by a man about a foot taller than him, then another moments later. The jumper really wasn’t there, and he didn’t find enough other ways to contribute offensively against this championship defence. Some uncharacteristically unforced turnovers.
A-	Jaden Bradley 5 MIN, 3 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-2 FG, 0-0 3FG, 1-1 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 4 +/- He’s been much better in preseason than Summer League. His finishing has been crafty and impressive. He even tossed in an iso step-back and-1 to tie the game with a minute left.
B+	Nimari Burnett 6 MIN, 0 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 4 +/- Fit in well. Seems like he could be a very strong G-League performer.
C+	Ja'Kobe Walter 20 MIN, 4 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1-6 FG, 0-3 3FG, 2-3 FT, 1 BLK, 3 TO, -16 +/- An insane level of defensive aggression when he saw Dadiet trying to dribble near him. Forced the jump ball, which he won. Offensively, his jumper wasn’t falling despite extremely open looks, and he really couldn’t create inside the arc.

Inc	Darko Rajakovic I loved his choice to give his starters a little real run, treating the game as more significant than a normal preseason matchup. I further loved his choice to give Barnes-Leonard-Murray-Boyles some time together, which worked to perfection, even against the defending champions, with a big run when the trio played together in each half. The Raptors look good, and Rajakovic looks like he has his finger on the pulse. That being said, how do you grade a coach for preseason!?