Quick Reaction: Raptors 125, Clippers 118

Toronto Raptors

125 – 118

LA Clippers

C+	RJ Barrett 37 MIN, 26 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 10-19 FG, 2-6 3FG, 4-8 FT, 2 BLK, 2 TO, 18 +/- A tale of two sides for Barrett. Still one of the Raptors best half court creators, and tonight he was creatively aggressive in his finishes around the rim, avoiding Lopez and finishing through contact. On defense he was not good. At all. Gradey Dick was beating him, he was late on rotations, and he left Baba Miller wide open for a corner three when he got caught ball-watching. His offense late in the game helped the Raptors win, he’s proven to be an elite cutter and is one of the few that can unclog the Raptors’ offense. His value on that end still greatly outweighs his defensive shortcomings.
A-	Scottie Barnes 38 MIN, 22 PTS, 15 REB, 8 AST, 2 STL, 7-15 FG, 0-3 3FG, 8-15 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 6 +/- What a performance from Barnes in the fourth quarter. He was dead in the water. Through the first three quarters of the game Barnes looked incredibly hobbled and limited. In the fourth quarter it looked like he was never hurt. He scored 15 of his 22 points in the final frame and grabbed 8 of his 15 rebounds. He took on the Darius Garland matchup and completely erased him from the game. On offense he set screens, he cooked in the paint, and he grabbed tons of offensive rebounds. An incredibly impressive turnaround from what was shaping up to be his second worst game of the season. He seriously could barely get off the floor in the first half, what he did late is astonishing.

B+	Collin Murray-Boyles 28 MIN, 18 PTS, 7 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 7-14 FG, 1-3 3FG, 3-4 FT, 2 BLK, 2 TO, 12 +/- Really impressed with how he stood up against Brook Lopez in this one. He was strong at boxing him out, and generally wasn’t afraid to attack him at the rim, he even tried to put him on a poster. He had a possession where he switched onto Garland, hung with him, and blocked the three. He was big in the fourth quarter, getting to the line, hitting a corner three and drawing the foul on Lopez to get him out of the game. Was Murray-Boyles first start of the season and we was the only viable big man tonight. Had three fouls in the first half which had me worried but he quickly cleaned them up.
C+	Immanuel Quickley 38 MIN, 27 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 8-13 FG, 1-4 3FG, 10-11 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 8 +/- I have to give credit to Quickley for two things: He hit some timely shots, and he was one of the few Raptors to hit his free throws. He was big in getting to his spots and hitting his jumpers late in the game. Outside of that I was largely unimpressed. The team’s ceiling will continue to be limited by his terrible decision making and lack of creativity as a point guard.At times he demonstrated a complete lack of awareness. When Barnes tipped a dribble out of Dunn’s hands, Quickley took off down the court instead of securing the loose ball. The Clippers got it back and drew a foul late in the shot clock. That’s on IQ. When he was in control he was solid, he hit good shots, at times he was wildly out of control flinging up bad looks, like a pull up three late in the game when Murray-Boyles had broken loose in transition for a breakout. He helped win the game in the end, but was a big reason the deficit was so large in the first place.
C	Ja’Kobe Walter 35 MIN, 10 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST, 1 STL, 2-6 FG, 0-3 3FG, 6-10 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 10 +/- He did a decent job containing Garland early, but he had five fouls in the fourth quarter. He was overly aggressive with his hands and had some bad reads that put the Clippers in the bonus early. His shot didn’t fall tonight but he was all over the offensive glass and got to the line quite a few times trying to immediately go back up with it. Nice to see him find impact when his shot isn’t falling.
D	Kyle Anderson 8 MIN, 2 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, -2 +/- Not good tonight. Got small ball five minutes after Jackson-Davis was pulled. Lopez blew by him, I-Jax beat him every time, he really wasn’t there defensively. He did hit a nice little midrange pull up but that was really it

D-	Trayce Jackson-Davis 2 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -10 +/- Got pulled early into his minutes, he was getting toasted on defense. A -10 in 2 minutes. Yeowch.
B+	Jamison Battle 21 MIN, 12 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 4-7 FG, 4-6 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -5 +/- Darko challenged him after the last game to come in and hit shots early and he did just that. He was the first glimpse of the Raptors having a chance in this one with his three made first half threes. His defense wasn’t great, he had a late foul in the shot clock that bailed the Clippers out. I wish the Raptors would run some more actions to get him open looks, he’s a truly dangerous shooter.
C-	Allen Graves 7 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 2 +/- A quiet game from Graves, he had a beautiful short roll pocket pass to Barnes that was really nice, but that’s about all I noticed from him. He had limited minutes.
C+	Jamal Shead 20 MIN, 6 PTS, 1 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, 3-7 FG, 0-4 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -6 +/- Knowing that Barnes was limited in the first half, Shead was aggressive in trying to provide some juice to the Raptors lineup. He had a nice midrange pullup and was getting downhill and finishing some tough shots off the glass. He once again drew a foul on a screen. He wasn’t quite as effective on Garland as he beat him on his first possession in the game, but Shead made the passes that he needed to push the Raptors over the top.

C	Alijah Martin 6 MIN, 2 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 2 +/- Had a little catfight with Brook Lopez immediately upon checking in which was fun. Resulted in a double foul. Nice offensive rebound and putback late in the fourth quarter. Not one to ever back down and the Raptors needed that.
C-	Darko Rajakovic Not my favourite game from Darko, I thought the Raptors played quite lackluster and giving up open threes to guys isn’t working. He tried messing with rotations to find something that worked but in the end it was really just Barnes’ miraculous healing powers that saved the game. He did win both his challenges but I credit that more to the review staff rather than Rajakovic himself.