Quick Reaction: Magic 106, Raptors 97

Decent start for Scottie B tonight, especially on the glass. Scottie was very passive up until the last few minutes of the second quarter as he only had four shots up to that point but he was able to end the half on seven shots while making four of them. Barnes got more comfortable as the game went on and kept getting better the later it was getting, especially in the fourth quarter as Scottie’s eight early points in the quarter cut a 20-point Magic lead down to 12 with over nine minutes to go.

Good start to the game for the former Kansas product. Agbaji was staying in his lane and taking all the shots he needed to and making the most of them. He was the consistent player we all saw almost all season long before hitting a slump a couple of games ago, but he’s strung together two really good games so far in 2025. Agbaji’s defence was also solid tonight which is a huge part of Ochai’s game.

Poeltl started the night for the Raptors with an and-one finish, which he was able to convert. He also had an early block so it was a very active start for Poeltl who is often forgotten about. Bitadze was no match for Poeltl in the first quarter as he was able to finish off the first 12 with nine points. He slowed down in the second and third quarters but got going again in the fourth quarter when the Raptors needed him most, but sadly it was too little too late.

Quiet start. He was struggling big time with an 0/5 start from the field, before finally making his first bucket midway through the second quarter via a second-chance three-pointer. The three-ball got him going though as he was able to finish the first half with 8 points but that was it for Gradey’s points for the night. Dick’s struggles came back to haunt him in the third quarter and his minutes were cut significantly short as he sat almost the whole fourth quarter.

Quickley started off with a beautiful hustle play when he hit the deck on a 50/50 ball and was able to find Jakob Poeltl for a very early assist. Quickley was moving very quickly tonight as he was able to push the pace a lot in the first half. IQ seemed to have lost confidence late in the second quarter when Suggs was injured and it left him wide open for three, but he was very reluctant to shoot it as he had yet to make a three-ball at that point. Quicks’ shot-making has been rusty so far in his young return, but his pace and playmaking have definitely been a breath of fresh air.

Shead offered instant impact off the bench in the first quarter as the Raptors came out of a timeout and Shead was able to penetrate into the paint and kick it out to an open Ochai Agbaji who nailed the corner three. Shead was able to replicate his instant impact in the second half with a nice floater as soon as he entered the game in the third quarter. His playmaking was superb tonight and he showed good moments of his pesky defence, which was a very consistent part of his game earlier this season.

Walter also provided instant impact in the first quarter with a nice back cut that led to a wide-open dunk down low. Walter was very quiet after that but he made a huge three-point jumper around the six-minute mark in the fourth quarter to cut the lead back down to single digits. He hasn’t been forcing too many shots, which was a bad problem with the rookie so it looks like his shot selection is progressing at least.

Bruce Brown was able to convert two of his first free-throw attempts during his first shift. He forced a tough shot on lengthy Tristan Da Silva midway through the second quarter, which wasn’t the best decision. His second and last field goal was also a very contested look and the veteran definitely played his worst game of the season so far in his third outing and it showed with his minutes as he got a bit of run in the third quarter, which was all for Brown tonight.

Olynyk had a nice steal during his first shift and a good putback attempt that earned him a trip to the free-throw line with 0.3 to go in the first quarter. Olynyk was able to make his first field goal of the game with just a few seconds left in the third quarter as he operated as a buzzer-beater tonight on two occasions. Kind of a similar game to his performance against the Nets on Wednesday night as he started slow and picked it up as the game progressed.

Quick corner three during his first shift early in the second quarter. Mitchell made a beautiful back cut midway through the fourth quarter but missed a wide-open layup off of a Ja’Kobe Walter feed. Mitchell also flashed his hounding defence in the fourth quarter which has seemed to be missing lately so that was a huge positive for sure.

Rotations were decent and I really liked the challenge at the end of the first half from Darko as it was a very soft call on IQ’s defence on a Goga Bitadze at the rim right before the buzzer. Rajakovic was reluctant to call a timeout at the start of the third quarter where the Magic started pulling away at an alarming rate and the timeout might have woken the Raptors up sooner rather than later, but now we’ll never know.