Raptors get steamrolled on defense in loss to Cooper Flagg and the Mavericks
Everything is bigger in Texas, so they say, and the Raptors were up against another huge team in the Dallas Mavericks. Hawks play big. Bucks play big. Mavs play big. Tomorrow, the Spurs will play big. The Raptors have some dragons to slay in terms of their halfcourt offense, their shooting, and their general ability to outrun their limitations. The Mavericks presented a great opportunity for the Raptors to problem solve without being totally overwhelmed. Or, a massive road block.
True to form, RJ Barrett took the mantle of “most important driver” on the team and found his way to a couple buckets early – and so too did Scottie Barnes, but as a middle of the floor release valve against the Mavericks who threw a couple possessions of zone at the Raptors. On the other side of the floor, the Mavericks size made scoring around the basket pretty easy: as they started out 3/3 at the rim and 3/3 from the short mid-range.
In terms of cool news, Collin Murray-Boyles made his NBA debut and stepped on to the court as the Raptors first bench player in this one. He was a bit timid to start. A couple nice plays on defense — a particularly poor one where Cooper Flagg burned him on a spin and an up and under — and a lot of moving the ball on when it came to the other side of the floor.
The Raptors were trailing for most of the first quarter, but a late charge by a lineup led by Barrett & Barnes, and flanked by Gradey Dick, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Jamal Shead had a nice run of play to tie things up before the buzzer signaled the end of it. The run was characterized by a lot of quick passing, pump and go drives, and a decent level of ball pressure. Dallas was plagued by turnovers as they tallied as many assists as they did turnovers at 8. ‘Mamu’, in particular, was the punch at the end of the Raptors swing-swing plays on offense as he racked up 9 points in very short order. A call back to his binge scoring that we saw so often in the preseason. A lot of bigs don’t want to contend with a jumper and a good driver from the frontcourt slot, so ‘Mamu’ was making hay while the sun was shining.
Sloppy play was still ever-present in the second quarter. On the one side it was the Mavericks using their size, and willingness truthfully, to gather offensive rebounds and force their way to the line or to make layups. For the Raptors, they were capitalizing by getting out in transition. Poeltl was playing a really poor game to that point and wasn’t able to negatively affect the Mavericks frontcourt much. So, the game looked like a small fast team that could run out vs. a big team that could score in the paint. It was 17 minutes of that and a 2-point lead for the Raptors. Barnes was the glue holding the game together for them.
Poeltl got into foul trouble early, he only played 7 minutes in the first half, and the Raptors were lucky that, that forced him off the floor. Poeltl was completely ineffective against the Mavericks size, and Mamu was a much smoother fit on offense without seeing a drop off on the other side of the floor. I’ve said before that Mamu is one of the best driving bigs in the NBA, and the Raptors were moving him around the halfcourt like a clock hand, just waiting for him to find a seam to attack. I don’t know if Anthony Davis is quiet-quitting or something, but he had no interest in tracking the Raptors big man – who was second in the game in scoring at the half with 13. Barnes was leading with 16.
A pretty sloppy first half from the Raptors all things told. The stage was set for the Raptors to prove their competency and pull away from a Mavericks team that had hit a lot of difficult shots from outside the paint in the first half. Maintain and extend that 2-point lead.
Side note: Flagg was very solid in the first half as he ebbed and flowed in and out of the Mavericks process on offense. 12 points on 4/5 shooting, and a lot of it coming while being opportunistic instead of featured.
If you’re wondering why Brandon Ingram hasn’t been mentioned in this article to this point, it’s because he was very quiet in the first half. A little bit of rebounding, a little bit of scoring, but nothing particularly impactful. He had a nice stretch to open the second half. Wiggling and grooving to his spots, using his touch to put the ball in the cup repeatedly. It was needed, as the Raptors largely struggled on offense with Poeltl on the floor, and Ingram was the rising tide lifting boats for a short spurt.
Barnes helped rescue the Raptors from yet another disastrous stretch from Quickley in this young season. A full court take on of Flagg for an and-1, a pull-up triple, and 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists on 60-percent shooting in the middle of the third quarter. He was sublime, and largely the reason the Raptors still had the lead in the middle of the third. As soon as Barnes left the floor, the Mavericks stole the lead back and went up by 5 with an 8-0 run. It got even worse, as Flagg had a run out later and put Mamu on a huge poster to put the Mavericks up by 9. Mind you, that play came with Barnes on the floor.
In what was a ruinous stretch to close the third quarter, the Raptors went down 103-91. Their transition defense couldn’t stop the ball if they engaged with it, and they often didn’t. Their punch at the point of attack was extremely wanting. It didn’t matter if it was Quickley, Jamal Shead, Dick – whoever, there was a shocking lack of resistance, and that extended to the off ball defense as well as the Mavericks were cutting them to pieces. The Raptors allowed an absurd 19/21 at the rim to the Mavericks. They were 13/16 in the paint in just the third.
The fourth quarter wasn’t a positive change for the Raptors either. They just couldn’t stop anything. They have a lineup of players who, most are supposed to qualify as average or above average defenders, and there was nothing in the way of resistance. Dallas opened up the lead to 16. A couple run outs for the Raptors (and a nice slip to the rim from Barrett) got the Raptors back within 9, at 111-102. Flagg, who was generally incredible in this game, answered with a pull-up triple.
It wasn’t the Raptors night. PJ Washington was styling on Ingram for buckets late. Washington is a really underrated player, but you’d expect the roles to be flipped in that instance.
Barnes was brilliant. Barrett was quietly very strong and a very effective in support. Ingram had his moments on offense, but gave a lot back on defense. Poeltl and Quickley were really poor. Coach Darko had a really quick hook for the young guys. The young guys weren’t good, but the veterans got smoked in this one.
The Raptors lost their grip on the scheme. Their halfcourt defense got absolutely crushed to the tune of nearly 1.2 points per possession.
Stakes are real this year. They’re supposed to win some games, man. So, if they lose? If they get smoked? They have to wear it. They’re supposed to be better. They need a big response in the coming games, and they’re looking at some sort of basketball superhero in Victor Wembanyama standing in front of their next opportunity.
We move.
Have a blessed day.
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