Quick Reaction: Magic 93, Raptors 109

A bad turnover from Scottie B gave Kentavious Caldwell-Pope the first bucket of the game with a free layup. He also got the Raptors going with a corner three off of a Gradey Dick feed which took the team just under three minutes to finally score. It was nice to see Scottie make two three-pointers tonight as it was the first time that happened since the Raptors were in New York, 13 days ago. Just like in the first half, Barnes opened up the scoring for the Raptors in the second half, this time right away with their first possession with a layup. Scottie had a great night on the defensive end and gave Toronto a true two-way performance tonight which was consistent the whole night.

A quick two fouls in the first quarter saw RJ get pulled midway through the first quarter without registering a point. Lucikly Bruce Brown played well in the first quarter. It took RJ a while, but he was able to get on the board with his first shot of the game midway through the second quarter. Barrett finished his second stint with around 40 seconds to go in the first half as he picked up his third personal foul moments before getting subbed out. Star-J started off the second half ready to roll with a bundle of points and helped Toronto earn their first lead of the game midway through the quarter. He kept the offence going the rest of the night with a very efficient performance and didn’t pickup a foul for the rest of the game.

Poeltl was involved very early on in the first quarter and he looked like the only starter that was ready to go from tip-off. His involvement was nowhere near what it was in the second quarter and third quarter. We didn’t see Yak out there too much due to his foul trouble and he finally got four more points in the fourth quarter after going dry for two quarters on the offensive end. Poeltl wasn’t able to keep his consecutive double-double streak going and fouled out of the game with six minutes to go. He had a forgettable performance but in my opinion, he was the best starter for Toronto in the first six minutes of the game where it was looking really rough.

Started the game with a missed three-point attempt and a turnover. We also saw three rare misses from the free throw line from Gradey tonight. Gradey had a nice zone-breaking cut early in the third quarter where he was able to finish with a reverse layup. He had a phenomenal third quarter with ten points and found five of those points while the Magic were in zone defence. His two dunks were uncontested but they were huge momentum gainers and it got the crowd going.

Off-night missed a layup after a really nice blow-by early in the first quarter and started the game 0 for 2 from the field. A much better effort from Mitchell in the second quarter where he was able to get on the board with a nice left-hand layup and missed an assist after Scottie B blew his lob pass. That wasn’t all, as he was much more involved on the defensive end too drawing an offensive foul. Davion started the third quarter with a nice three-ball and two really good swing passes but only one of them led to an assist. That was pretty much it for Mitchell tonight, and he usually puts in great performances despite the stat sheet not saying so. Tonight was no different.

Brown checked in around the six-minute mark in the first quarter and surpassed three starters in the points tally within seconds of checking in. Brown let frustration get the best of him when he received a technical foul after arguing to the refs and it cost the Raptors a point. He responded great after the technical adding eight points, a steal and an assist. The final three-pointer in the quarter was a buzzer-beater which gave Toronto some much-needed momentum after a terrible start. He was solid the rest of the way and came nowhere near his first-quarter production, but he still carried the back end of that quarter and gave the Raptors a huge momentum boost heading into the second quarter.

First time we saw Walter back in the rotation in quite some time. He had a very quiet game and made his first bucket early in the fourth quarter near the tin. Ja’Kobe has had his moments this season, but he’s been the least impressive so far out of the four Raptor rookies in my opinion. He squandered a chance to possibly re-enter the rotation tonight and we’ll see when his next opportunity will come.

Pedestrian first shift. He committed a terrible reach-in foul late in the first quarter when the shot clock was about to expire, but it led to two free throws for Wendell Carter Jr. in the ensuing possession. After two forgettable shift’s in the first half, Shead was able to knock down his first shot of the game late in the third quarter to give Toronto a seven-point lead. It got his confidence going as he was able to knock another three-pointer later in the quarter. He was out there during closing time and didn’t contribute much, but the third quarter was enough to earn him a passable grade.

It was a passable first shift where Boucher came down with a few rebounds and was able to finish off a Bruce Brown dish on a fast break. Most of his three-pointers were short today, barely grazing the rim. That was it for Montreal’s finest as we didn’t see him for the rest of the game.

Olynyk started off by making his first shot of the game late in the first quarter. He was also dialled in on the defensive end as he checked out in the second quarter with two steals. He did some great work in the third quarter with three amazing passes, one of which led to a Gradey Dick dunk and the other led to a Bruce Brown and one finish at the rim. Don’t forget about the shot-making too as he scored most of his points in the third quarter. Surprisingly great rim protection tonight too, which we haven’t seen at all from him since becoming a Raptor. His four blocks tied his career-high, which he set all the way back in 2018. Also, how about that plus minus? Unreal.

Garbage time minutes.

Garbage time minutes.

Garbage time minutes. Welcome to Toronto and congratulations on your debut!

Garbage time minutes.

Garbage time minutes.

Good work from Darko tonight. The rotations were good, the only questionable call I’d say is leaving Davion Mitchell out of the game for most of the second half after he really started playing well in the third quarter. Another part of that is Jamal Shead was given the closing point guard minutes after not having the greatest game out there but luckily Toronto gave themselves a nice cushion, which meant the rotations didn’t matter at all.