Quick Reaction: Grizzlies 104 , Raptors 117
Immanuel Quickley / Grade: C
After hitting a three for the opening bucket of the game, Quickley was very quiet the rest of the half finishing with only those 3 points. He had 0 assists until the fourth quarter as he was playing far more off ball while the forwards took on a higher playmaking burden. He did draw an offensive foul trying to fight over a screen though!
RJ Barrett / Grade: A+
RJ Barrett was fantastic tonight, if it weren’t for a missed goaltending call he would’ve had both the best assist of the night and later on the best dunk as well. You can feel the energy and pace change as soon as he steps on the court, he does a good job hitting guys in transition and was excellent finishing under the basket himself.
Brandon Ingram / Grade: A
Despite having only two points in the first quarter, Ingram quickly got to work in the second and finished with 10 points at half. Some of the shots he takes are wild, but he shot 67% so whatever works! In the fourth quarter he had a big block on Coward to maintain a 6 point lead and then hit the dagger three to put the Raptors up by 13 with less than a minute to go. All around really impressive Ingram performance considering the slow start.
Scottie Barnes / Grade: A+
Scottie Barnes was phenomenal on both offense and defense tonight, he finished with a 4×5! This is the version of Barnes the Raptors need every night. He found his shots in rhythm, knocked down 3 threes, had 5 blocks, and led the team in assists. Despite his touch around the rim being off (possibly due to a right hand injury that was bothering him throughout the night), he was able to grab offensive boards off his own misses to keep possessions alive. Can’t ask for much more from Barnes than what he did tonight.
Jamal Shead / Grade: B+
When Jamal Shead is on the court, you know that good shots are going to follow. He does an excellent job of setting his teammates up. Defensively he’s always up to the task, he sets the tone from the point of attack for the whole team. If he can continue to knock down a couple threes (e.g. the and-1 three he hit with 6 minutes left) like he did tonight it will be very difficult to keep him off the court.
Gradey Dick / Grade: B-
Gradey got a lot more run tonight after having his minutes cut significantly, he was on the floor for 20 minutes and was tied for the second best +/- on the team. A lot of that has to do with the gravity he provides as an off-ball threat (despite only making one three), he still takes some highly contested shots but he did a better job getting the ball on the floor. The highlight for me was a dump off pass that he made to RJ off a cut to the rim, making those secondary reads is a must for him.
Ja’Kobe Walter / Grade: C
Ja’Kobe only saw the floor for 11 minutes tonight, partially due to the fact that Gradey got an extended run. In those minutes he didn’t pop off the page, he missed two threes and otherwise didn’t do anything spectacular, however wasn’t noticeably bad either. Just limited opportunity tonight.
Sandro Mamukelashvili / Grade: D+
Mamukelashvili also got limited run tonight, largely due to Murray-Boyles being incredible and the fact that Barnes was getting more time as the backup center. He only took one shot all night and unfortunately guys are finding it way too easy to finish at the rim when he’s in the paint guarding. He benefits greatly from having CMB as a frontcourt partner, with Murray-Boyles now starting it’s hard to keep him out there if he’s not providing any offensive lift.
Collin Murray-Boyles / Grade: A+
Collin Murray-Boyles was electric tonight, offensively he had great touch around the rim and created countless extra possessions for the Raptors by fighting on the offensive glass. Him and RJ were constantly finding each other on cuts to the rim, taking turns throwing down dunks and finishing layups. Defensively, he was able to hold his own against the smaller Memphis Grizzlies and at one point just ripped the ball away off a double team. Despite not hitting any threes he was impactful in every other aspect of the game.
Jonathan Mogbo / Grade: Inc
DNP
Ochai Agbaji / Grade: C-
Ochai has really been struggling to get his shot to fall so far this season, his defense continues to be solid but if he isn’t knocking down shots he isn’t productive offensively. He did leak out for two fastbreak buckets but otherwise provided zilch on that end of the floor.
Jamison Battle / Inc
Only played two minutes.
Darko Rajakovic / B
Darko is starting to find lineup combinations that really work, he cut Mamukelashvili’s minutes down significantly in favour of Murray-Boyles and allowed Barnes to play more backup center. Scottie playing in those transitional lineups as the center worked beautifully tonight. He also had the Raptors play far more through their wings (Barrett, Barnes, Murray-Boyles) rather than through Quickley which worked well for everyone except for IQ. It was surprising to see him cut down on Battle’s minutes considering his last game, but it’s hard to complain too much when they get the win.
Three Things:
1 The defensive rotations were much better tonight, not nearly as many silly double teams leading to open shots.
2 Second chance and transition points continue to be a staple in this Raptors offense. While the half court offense is looking much better than expected, the Raptors have really done an amazing job hitting guys on the break for easy buckets.
3 Gave up way too many open threes, especially late that allowed the Grizzlies the opportunity to make a run.
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