Quick Reaction: Nets 109, Raptors 119
Immanuel Quickley / Grade: A- / 30 MIN, 13 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 4-11 FG, 3-6 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, +3 +/-
Okay, okay, okay… While the shot wasn’t falling for Quick early tonight, I wasn’t entirely upset with the process. He was fighting on defense and playing with a really fast pace offensively which I like to see. Then, the shot started to fall. Quick hit two HUGE threes late in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 8, big time shots from the PG to seal the win.
RJ Barrett / Grade: A / 20 MIN, 16 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 4-8 FG, 2-3 3FG, 6-6 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, +3 +/-
RJ’s scoring always catches me off guard, I think he’s playing alright but then I look up and he’s the leading scorer on the team! Like damn dude when did you do that? Whether it’s running in transition, knocking down the catch-and-shoot threes or getting open on cuts to the rim it’s always good to see him get back to efficient scoring. Unforutnately, halfway through the third quarter he came down limping on a fastbreak dunk and wouldn’t return with a right knee sprain.
Brandon Ingram / Grade: B / 36 MIN, 14 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 6-18 FG, 2-5 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 13 +/-
Ingram was throwing stuff at the wall tonight and seeing what would stick. En route to his 10,000th career point he hit some really nice shots but was also having a tough time finishing. Sure, I would’ve liked higher efficiency but he can get buckets any way you want ’em. Including a late shot-clock fading three. Not his best game but definitely enough to get it done.
Scottie Barnes / Grade: A / 34 MIN, 17 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 6-13 FG, 0-0 3FG, 5-6 FT, 4 BLK, 0 TO, +2 +/-
Scottie was also slightly inefficient scoring tonight but he more than makes up for it on the defensive end. He also makes the shots that matter the most, including a couple of turnaround buckets at the end of quarters 1 and 3, AND threw a little sauce on one of those jumpers with a lil’ shimmy shake before knocking it down. Scottie for DPOY??
Jamal Shead / Grade: A+ / 24 MIN, 11 PTS, 1 REB, 9 AST, 1 STL, 1-4 FG, 0-2 3FG, 9-11 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, +14 +/-
I would trust this man with my life, I feel so relaxed when he’s out there. Just knowing that he will make the right play takes so much stress out of the game. Drawing 11 free throws tonight was huge for a struggling Raptors offense, he even got fouled on a three 4 feet behind the line! A true testament to his improvement from deep.
Gradey Dick / Grade: A / 20 MIN, 12 PTS, 1 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL, 3-6 FG, 2-4 3FG, 4-4 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, +7 +/-
This is what I love to see from Gradey: efficient three-point shooting, attacking closeouts strong and making the right reads on those drives. All of his assists were incredibly impactful, really excellent game from Gradey. He also threw down an ALLEY-OOP dunk early and crossed Noah Clowney up before knocking down a three in the fourth. One of his best games of the season by far.
Ja’Kobe Walter / Grade: A+ / 19 MIN, 16 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 6-7 FG, 4-5 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -4 +/-
The confidence Darko has instilled in Ja’Kobe was shown here tonight, he was once again the first in off the bench, and quickly knocked down a corner three off a Shead drive. Later, Brooklyn apparently forgot he was out there as he got a wide open dunk off a cut to the rim on a SLOB. BY FAR his best start of the season, the first quarter for him was incredible. 2 threes in the first quarter! Leading scorer in the opening frame!! In the second half he checked in for RJ and I really liked the way he was moving without the ball on offense, cutting and setting screens. He hit two more threes in the third quarter, and is 8/10 on threes in his last three games, this is the Ja’Kobe I love to see!
Sandro Mamukelashvili / Grade: B+ / 27 MIN, 12 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 5-9 FG, 2-4 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, +11 +/-
Making his first Raptors start, his spacing helped the team to an early 12-0 lead. But for large portions of this game the Nets were eating him alive in the paint, they weren’t afraid to attack him whatsoever, as was evident when Noah Clowney posterized him. Nonetheless, he kept contributing offensively and had a huge putback and three in the closing minutes of the game to secure the W.
Collin Murray-Boyles / Grade: C+ / 17 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, +4 +/-
The box score was not very kind to CMB tonight, but I didn’t notice him doing anything particularly wrong and on defense he was quite strong. He did a lot of little things and the only reason I’m giving him a C+ is because we’ve seen him do better offensively while maintaining high level defense.
Ochai Agbaji / Grade: B+ / 14 MIN, 6 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 3-7 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -3 +/-
HIS BURST IS BACK!!! Checked in the second quarter, came up way short on a corner three. But later showed great burst flying out of the corner for two drives to the rim, and then used the driving ability to create a three for Ingram. The process for Agbaji was far better in this one then we’ve seen of late.
Darko Rajakovic / Grade: B+
Starting Mamu worked very well with the Raptors going on a 12-0 run to open the game, but when the Nets went on a 12-2 run of their own I feel it took a little long to call time. When the Nets switched to a zone he was quick to bring Gradey into the game. Key to beating zones = Lots of shooting. LOVE the fire he showed early on, drawing a technical foul after a few missed calls. Raptors have been getting hosed with the whistle lately, and Darko wasn’t standing for it in this one. Perhaps his greatest achievement to date has been the ability to turn Walter’s season around. In the second half he did a good job managing the injury to Barrett and maintained the balance of Scottie and BI’s minutes. I would have liked to see more CMB minutes late as the Nets were getting to the rim pretty easily and he’s a a better defender than Mamu but again it’s hard to complain when they win missing two starters late.
Three Things:
1 Raptors need Poeltl: Nets got a lot of easy drives to the rim in this one and grabbed 10 offensive rebounds. The Raptors also struggled to get things going offensively which a few Poeltl screens would have helped with quite a bit.
2 Role players love to beat the Raps: First Trendon Watford and now Tyrese Martin??? He killed the Raptors tonight from beyond the arc, going 5-9 as well as getting to the free throw line 7 times.
3 Brandon Ingram scores 10,000th career point: Ingram reached the major milestone in the fewest number of games (512) of his entire draft class.
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