Quick Reaction: Cavaliers 131, Raptors 108

RJ made his first bucket of the night with his first shot since returning from a five-game injury stint. His three-pointer came from a Gradey Dick feed. He was able to get a nice steal in the following defensive possession and hooked up Gradey Dick with a nice pass in transition. Outside of a bad travel in the first quarter, RJ had an amazing showing and was the only Raptor that was ready to go from the start. The best part of Barrett’s game, especially in the first half was his playmaking as he had countless amounts of drive and kicks that found open shots all night long. He had a few errors, especially at the free throw line but Star-J was the only Raptor who was consistent all night long.

Barnes started the night with a technical foul straight out the gate on the game’s very first possession. He was arguing a call and the tech came out relatively quick from the officials. Scottie was able to make his first shot of the night but followed it up with four missed shots before making another shot in the first quarter. He had a good third quarter where his shotmaking came alive. Scottie was able to record his 18th double-double of the season but tonight was not a good performance by any means.

Relatively quiet first quarter but he had a nice bounce pass to a cutting Ochai Agbaji. His offence came alive in the second quarter where he was able to make a free throw and drain a three-point jumper, which has been improving at a solid rate. His best play might’ve been the mid-air assist he got late in the second quarter when he tipped an offensive rebound Battle’s way for a converted three-point shot. The second half was more or less the same as he had a few moments of offensive brilliance to start the second half but that was it.

Gradey Dick’s first bucket came in the transition early in the first quarter off an RJ Barrett feed. After a long and uneventful first quarter, Dick was given only a few minutes before the end of the first half and it was even more uneventful than the first quarter. Gradey’s had a lot of rough games like this throughout the season but in the last two games, his off-ball and defensive energy have been nowhere to be seen.

A ghost in the first quarter. He made a very contested shot at the rim early in the second quarter to get on the board. After making a very tough shot the bricks came back and Quickely finished the half with one made field goal. Quick was able to surpass his first-half points in less than three minutes of work in the second half with a three-ball and a layup in transition. Just like Barnes, his shot-making came alive in the third quarter. IQ’s boxscore actually looks quite respectable but most of the points came when the game was well out of reach.

Relegated to the bench after the return of RJ Barrett. He had a few nicely timed cuts in the first half that found him wide-open shots at the rim. Most of his field goals were at the rim, and he should’ve had at least two more as he left them short on the rim tonight. It was also surprising to see a lack of defensive effort from one of the best defenders on the team. Once you see that, you know it’s going to be a rough night defending for Toronto. Although the defence was missing his third-quarter scoring burst was much needed and gave Toronto life for a brief moment.

Shead made it two nights in a row taking a successful charge early tonight as he was able to stand his ground late in the first quarter. That was the only positive of the half for the rookie guard. Shead’s first field goal came late in the third quarter when he made a tough runner in transition and he followed it up with a steal on the defensive end. That was it and this might’ve been Shead’s worst performance in his young career.

Just like Shead, Walter was the second bench member to not register a point in the first half but unlike him, he didn’t have a memorable moment in the opening 24 minutes. He had a few nice dishes in the second half and that was pretty much it for the first-round pick tonight. All his points came in garbage time so we’re not going to count those towards his grade.

Robinson was another Raptor that was close to impressive as he had two nice shots at the rim before the second half. He had a similar second half and was pretty consistent tonight, just like RJ Barrett. Also, it looks like, after a game that saw Ulrich Chomche in the rotation last night, Robinson did enough to retain his backup role for now.

Battle’s first shot of the game was an airball early in the second quarter. Funny enough Craig Porter Jr. followed it up with an airball of his own in the following Cleveland offensive possession. The rookie shooter was able to make up for his embarrassing shot with a corner three a few minutes later and a surprising putback tip. His eight points at the half were enough to trail team leader RJ Barrett by three points and he was the only Raptor with a positive plus minus at +1. After being one of the best Raptors out there in the first half, Battle wasn’t given any significant minutes in the second half and got back out there during garbage time.

Not much else to do for coach Darko tonight except maybe challenge the very first play of the game that got Scottie teched and riled up and perhaps play Chris Boucher tonight but I don’t think he would’ve saved the game by any means as the energy was missing from quite some players in this one.