Quick Reaction: Raptors 109, Thunder 121

Agbaji was reinserted into the starting lineup and he came out energized tonight. Ochai came out ready to defend and shoot the three-ball as he started off 2 for 2 from the field in less than five minutes of game time. Agbaji’s hot start fizzled out on the shooting department but he stayed active off the ball and on defence to have a passable outing tonight despite missing his final eight shots of the night.

Barnes started the night off with some great shot contests down low at the rim, at the defensive end. That was his only positive early tonight as he had three poor turnovers and took seven shots to get on the scoring board finally. Once he found his mark late in the first half, he came alive for a bit with some great shots beyond the three-point line. Scottie’s been struggling for form over the last couple of games and tonight was no different as Barnes had another inefficient shooting night.

Mogbo started in place of the injured Jakob Poeltl and he was productive on both sides of the ball early, as he was able to blow up a few Thunder plays early and also delivered a three-ball off the bat. He went quiet for long spells out there, but he would provide moments of brilliance and has been shooting the three-ball well as of late.

Gradey started tonight with a couple of missed shots at the rim but he had solid energy just like the rest of the Raptors starting five. Gradey had an invisible second quarter through no fault of his own as none of the Raptors were looking for the sophomore on the offensive end. Dick struggled to find shots at times but he had a very energetic game where he was able to win Toronto multiple 50/50 plays.

Quickley got the night going for the Raptors on their first possession with a three-ball. He started off nicely with five points and three assists, but he had a lacklustre second quarter filled with four turnovers. Quickley’s good offensive start fizzled out after a 2 for 2 shooting display in the first quarter, he did however fix his decision-making and got better as a playmaker but Toronto needed more out of IQ tonight as a shot creator. It was a surprisingly passive three shots after the first quarter for Toronto’s starting point guard.

Short and quiet first shift. His second shift had a few notable passes that led to some great Raptor looks. Shead’s second-half effort was a step in the right direction too but tonight, despite Shead’s hustle, he couldn’t make the shots he needed to.

Boucher got a chance to go out on the floor early tonight after being dropped from the rotation for quite some time. Unfortunately, his first shift wasn’t too effective. His second-half performance was much better as he was able to warm up his three-ball and ended a tough night on a positive for himself.

Robinson found first-half minutes tonight for the first time since the last two games and he came out productive from the gate. Robinson struggled to knock down shots but earned a big nine-minute shift due to his activity off the ball. His second-half performance was quite impressive too and he showed a good all-around game in both halves. This was easily Robinson’s best performance as a Raptor so far.

Short first shift where he contributed a three-pointer instantly off the bench. He had a deja-vu moment in the second quarter as he was able to make a three-pointer right away in his first possession back on. Walter’s second shift was much better as he had way more energy on both ends and was really productive to end the first half. Like Gradey Dick, he went missing in the second half as the team wasn’t looking for him too much on the offensive end but Ja’Kobe kept his double-digit scoring streak going, making it five games over 10 points now.

Battle enjoyed a second consecutive game back in the rotation and made a nice running hook shot in his first minutes on the court. He didn’t get a second opportunity to re-enter the game until garbage time and he surprisingly won his first half minutes as he checked out of his shift at a +1. The one mistake Darko might have made decision-wise was not letting Battle have another run during significant game time.

Big fan of the starting five call tonight, the rotations were great and Coach Darko won his first challenge in quite some time tonight early in the third quarter but later lost his second attempt early in the fourth quarter. Despite the tough loss, this felt like one of Darko’s best decision-making games over the last couple of weeks.