Ja’Kobe Walter’s heroics saves collapse against Orlando Magic
In a bizarro game that saw the Toronto Raptors close with an unusual lineup, Ja’Kobe Walter nailed a heavily contested three to stop a comeback attempt from the Orlando Magic Tuesday night at the Kia Center, lifting Toronto to a 114-113 victory.
It marked the second straight weird win for the Raptors against the Magic after Franz Wagner blew a wide-open layup in the dying moments on Sunday.
Toronto would close the game with a weirdo lineup, featuring A.J. Lawson, Jared Rhoden, Jamal Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter, and Orlando Robinson.
Shout out to the Raptors 905.
Despite the benching of Immanuel Quickley, Scottie Barnes, and RJ Barrett, the Baylor Bears alum would save the day for Toronto.
With Gradey Dick and Ochai Agbaji out, it was 19th overall pick Walter inserted into the starting lineup, after playing a season-high 31 minutes in Orlando the game previous. In the reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Year’s 10th career start, he came out firing. The rookie scored six quick points — including leading Toronto in points after the first quarter — helping the Dinos get out to a one-point lead at the first timeout. Just like in the previous duel, it was a slog offensively the rest of the way. Both teams struggled to generate offence with reserves in, leaving the game tied 22-22 after one, despite Toronto losing the turnover battle 10-3.
Also of note, Brampton, Ontario’s A.J. Lawson saw first-quarter minutes for the second consecutive game (he finished with 13 points, including eight in the fourth), while recently signed two-way Jared Rhoden also saw action in the first frame.
Shout out to the Raptors 905 again.
The rough-looking offensive play continued to start the second quarter, with only eight points being scored in nearly the first four minutes. The Magic would start to pull away following this, however, with Wagner putting up points against a Raptors lineup that saw Lawson, Rhoden, Robinson, and Jamal Shead all out there. Toronto responded with an 11-3 run themselves to lead by one, before Orlando would respond right back in the final three minutes to end the quarter. An 11-5 stretch by the Magic, capped of by a Kentavious Caldwell-Pope buzzer beater to end the half would give Orlando the 54-49 lead.
The first half was all RJ Barrett, going for 15 points, four rebounds, and four assists while shooting 6-for-7 from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from three.
The third quarter would be all Raptors, beginning the frame on a 7-0 run, holding Orlando scoreless through nearly the first three minutes to retake the lead. As they have all game, the Magic responded, going on an 8-0 run in under a minute to push their advantage back up to six. The third quarter would really see the physicality turned up, with Barrett getting upset over a hard foul. The Mississauga, Ontario native had already been hit in the face earlier in the game, as did Jakob Poeltl and Jonathan Mogbo, with the latter exiting the game. Flagrant fouls and techs were present in the quarter, but ultimately Toronto’s young guys would defend and dominate the rest of the way. With particular strong play from Walter and Shead, the Raps would go on a 20-4 run at one point while holding the Magic to 4-for-18 from the field in the frame, taking the 80-73 lead heading into the fourth.
The final frame would begin back-and-forth, with the Raptors holding an 11-point lead with eight minutes left to go. But just like in the previous game, the Magic would make it interesting towards the end, bringing it within two points with four minutes remaining. But despite the wonky closing lineup from Toronto, Canada’s team would win in weird fashion behind Walter’s shot.
The Raptors will carry a 20-42 record heading into their final 20 games with the easiest schedule in the league by far. They play the Washington Wizards (11-49) three times, and the Utah Jazz (15-46), Charlotte Hornets (14-46), Philadelphia 76ers (21-39), San Antonio Spurs (25-34), and the Portland Trail Blazers (28-34) all twice.
The pivotal stretch begins Mar. 7 against Utah, beginning a four-game homestand.
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