Raptors Roundup: Ingram the stopper, win streaking, and steady Sheady
Wow, what a crazy week for the Raptors! The record says 4-0 but it really doesn’t feel like an undefeated week. It all started when they barely squeaked out a win against the Charlotte Hornets, relying on clutch plays from Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes, and RJ Barrett to steal the win, and then to close the week out it was looking dicey with the Brooklyn Nets before the Raptors pulled away in the closing minutes. In between those clutch victories there were two excellent wins again the 76ers and Wizards, which included another NBA Cup win to clinch East Group A and advance to the quarterfinals.
Let’s dive into each game, talk about some stats from the week, and name the Raptor of the Week before looking ahead to week five for Toronto (hint: It’s going to be a bit tougher).
Game Summaries
Brandon Ingram closes on both ends of the floor, Raptors defeat Hornets 110-108
This was a game that would have many highlights, the first of which came on the opening play:
The game started with a bang, as it took all of five seconds for Ingram to come off a Jakob Poeltl screen and put Kalkbrenner on a poster (Ingram beating up on Kalkbrenner was a theme in this one).
Toronto’s offense was chugging along, but their defense couldn’t quite find their footing almost all night long. The rookie Kon Knueppel was particularly impressive in this one, as he finished with 24 points and 4 triples.
Charlotte was beating Toronto on the glass and in transition, to that point. Charlotte found open driving lanes, especially for LaMelo Ball, who found simple finishes with his inside hands to beat Toronto’s paint help. Frustration with the officials seemed to prevent Toronto from finding much offensive rhythm outside of a few stretches
- Louis Zatzman – Physicality proves to be Raptors’ advantage against Hornets
The real story of this game began with about 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter, when Ingram showcased exactly why he was brought to the team. With the clock winding down, Ingram got the ball and tried to go to work, but Charlotte wasn’t going to allow him to beat them. They quickly sent a double team his way, and Ingram maneouevered his way around it, for a second it looked like he may throw up the shot anyway, but then a timely cut from Barrett saw him wide open in the middle of the paint and he put the layup in to take a 110-108 lead with 18 seconds to go.
On Charlotte’s ensuing offensive trip they had two point-blank opportunities directly below the rim. I thought surely they were going to score and we would be headed to overtime. But like something out of a movie, Ingram and Barnes had two of the craziest blocks to seal the win:
Then the blocks. My god the blocks. Heroic, outrageous, silly. Clutch, audacious. With seconds remaining, Ingram slunk into the paint for a game-saving help block from behind, his third of the game. Barnes topped him with zero on the clock with a real game-saving block on an offensive rebound from Charlotte. Both swats preserved the two-point lead.
- Louis Zatzman – Physicality proves to be Raptors’ advantage against Hornets
Check out all the stats from this one here.
Raptors get revenge on 76ers, Poeltl dominates in 121-112 win
The Toronto Raptors were 8-1 in their last 9 games heading into this matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers, with the one loss coming against? Yup, you guessed it. The Philadelphia 76ers. It was a little over a week prior, and the Raptors were without their big man Jakob Poeltl (who, as it turns out, is extremely valuable to what the Raptors want to do):
Poeltl does hamper the Raptors spacing in some ways, but he elevates it in others. He might even elevate it in more important ways than he hampers it. His screening prowess is obviously very important. He opens up gobs of space for the guards on the roster. He came into tonight’s game leading the NBA in screen assists per game (4.9). The underrated part of his game, I think, is that he is the high point in the soft underbelly of defenses. A big, wide catch radius. A soft touch to make that area dangerous.
- Samson Folk – Poeltl remains massive in Raptors winning streak
Poeltl had an early 10 points in this one, but Toronto trailed by 3 at halftime, largely due to the 15 first half points that Tyrese Maxey scored (who seems to love beating up on the Raptors).
Then came the third quarter, and I don’t know what Coach Rajakovic said at halftime, but boy oh boy the Raptors came out with fire:
In the third, IQ splashed a 3-ball on his former Kentucky teammate and top-three league scorer Tyrese Maxey. This came after IQ ran a high pick-and-roll with Scottie, got downhill with a full head of steam, pitched the ball to Poeltl, and relocated. Maxey lost sight of him and was way too late to close out. This was retribution for Maxey breaking IQ’s ankles earlier in the first quarter.
The bench also contributed to the Raps’ third quarter dominance. Ja’Kobe Walter, who played the first quarter with pizzazz, cashed two triples. Dick had back-to-back baseline drives, scoring the first one after Walter got his man in the air. Dick’s second baseline drive resulted in a wild pass to Mamu on the weakside wing, a better decision than a one-pass away to Barnes. This helped Mamu get to the charity stripe.
The IQ-Mamu pick-and-roll actions at the end of the third were fun to watch, too. The first one was a high PnR — IQ rejected the screen, threw a pocket pass to Mamu, who touched the paint and swung the ball to Walter in the corner. The second PnR was a traditional one with Mamu rolling to the basket.
- Teru Ikeda – Raptors re-assert themselves in clutch time
The Raptors outscored the 76ers 44-26 in the third, and led by 15 heading into the closing frame. But a few too many sloppy possesions allowed Philly to pull right back, and all of a sudden it was 109-106 with 5 minutes to go after Quentin Grimes hit his third three of the night. It was clutch time for the second game in a row for the Raptors:
A lot of the Raptors failures in the front end of the fourth quarter actually stemmed from their inability to get Poeltl the ball on offense. Whether it was post entries, checkdowns or laydowns, what would’ve likely been baskets became turnovers. They stopped the bleeding with a Poeltl layup after Barnes found him sliding to the bucket, and Poeltl stonewalled a drive on the very next play.
The Raptors looked for offense late via the pinch post (basically a post up isolation on an empty-side of the floor, designed to create long doubles or room to score in isolation) and they found some points there, but the definitive bucket was Quickley’s as he came off of a Poeltl screen and canned a pull up triple. Toronto force fed their big wings (Barnes, Ingram) and the 76ers responded with more attention there, then they asked Poeltl to clear out space for their best shooter. Great way to close it out.
- Samson Folk – Poeltl remains massive in Raptors winning streak
See all the stats from this one here.
Toronto’s great defensive outing leads to a Wizards’ thrashing, 140-110
Heading into this matchup, Toronto had the opportunity to clinch a spot in the NBA Cup quarterfinals with a win and an Indiana loss. It was a slow start for the Raptors, who struggled to get their offense rolling in the first half:
Good teams have identities. Great teams have multiple. The Raptors may not necessarily be in that latter category (although … they may be?), but they are starting to show an adaptability that prior iterations of this group has lacked. Coming into this contest, Toronto had been a team that won by supercharged half-court offence. That wasn’t a strength in this one, at least not in the first half. So the Raptors had to find an advantage. It very early appeared that Toronto was going to win by strangling its opponent rather than with an uppercut to the chin. (Again: until it did land that uppercut and blast the Wizards into the stratosphere.)
Toronto led at halftime by 10 points, after a few runs in both directions left me wondering if the Raptors were really going to lose to a 1-13 team. But, then as it seems to often do, the third quarter rolled around and the Raptors blew the game wide open.
It was the Barrett and C.J. McCollum show to begin the third quarter, with the Mississauga native pouring in five quick points, while McCollum scored 10 of Washington’s first 12 points in the frame.
Barrett and Scottie Barnes helped break this one open; however, with each scoring 10 in the quarter and helping Toronto on a 10-2 run to make it a 20-point lead.
The Raptors’ bench finished the quarter strong, per usual, as Toronto put up a franchise-high for points in a quarter with 48 points, to lead Washington 105-77 heading into the fourth.
The fourth quarter was fairly uneventful, as the damage had mostly been done. The Raptors maintained and extended their lead to win it 140-110 and Sandro Mamukelashvili finished with a season-high 23 points, you can see the quick reaction here.
Ja’Kobe’s big night has big impact as Raptors defeat Nets 119-109
The Raptors were without Poeltl in this one, as they elected to rest him on the first night of a back-to-back. His absence was very much noticed, as the Nets were walking to the basket and grabbing offensive rebounds with ease. While Mamukelashvili provides great spacing on the offensive end, the Raptors struggled to contain the paint with him holding down the middle. It looked as though it would be a blowout early, as the Raptors opened with a 12-0 run, largely influenced by the offensive contributions of Mamukelashvili. But then the Nets went on a run of their own:
Of course, the opening run isn’t everything and a string of missed shots from the Raptors and run outs from the Nets brought the game back even. Noah Clowney, in particular, had some nice drives to fuel Brooklyn. Also, an unsurprising pain point without Poeltl? The defensive rebounding. Additionally, once the Nets dedicated to switching most actions, the extra spacing didn’t translate into much for the Raptors. They needed someone, preferably an elite screen setter, to help them shake loose of some matchups.
As the half dwindled on, the Raptors maintained a small lead throughout, with contributions coming from the bench trio of Gradey Dick, Ja’Kobe Walter, and Ochai Agbaji, who combined for 20 points in the opening half.
In the third, the Raptors were still unable to pull away before disaster struck. After a fastbreak dunk, Barrett landed rather gingerly and would be ruled out with a right knee sprain. Without Barrett, the Raptors looked to the bench once again to create offense for them, and it was Ja’Kobe Walter who delivered.
Similar to how the Ingram-Dick-Walter-CMB-Shead lineup had success in the first quarter? It found some in the third. Largely fueled by Walter’s shot making at the end of ball movement. First it was Dick driving his closeout to the rim and dumping off for a Walter dunk. Then a swing to Walter for a triple. Then, a steal from Dick, a hit ahead to Shead, who found Walter who unleashed the quickest trigger of his season so far, and found the bottom of the cup. It wasn’t a runaway for the Raptors, as they were still allowing a bit of offense to the Nets, but it was a really needed stretch for the Raptors, and the best stretch of Walter’s season so far. A fading, middy buzzer beater from Barnes kept the Raptors out front by 5 points heading into the fourth, 87-82.
He finished the game with 16 points, making four of his five three point attempts. By far his best performance of the season.
Heading into the closing minutes of the game, the Nets tied the game at 104. Once again, the Raptors were facing a clutch time situation against an opponent who had no business making it that close.
In the end, it was Immanuel Quickley who played hero. A common theme in these closing situations has been to get the ball to Ingram in the post and play from there. The Nets sent the double team to him and he moved the ball immediately before it eventually found itself in the bottom of the net courtesy of a Quickley three ball. Another three from Quickley on the next possesion pushed the lead to 8. Once again the Raptors faced the fire of a fourth quarter closing and emerged victorious on the other side, something they were not doing last season.
Stats of the Week
- Third quarter dominance: I said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t know what Rajakovic is saying to these guys at halftime, but whatever it is, don’t change it! Over the week, the Raptors scored 35.5 points on average in the third quarter, and that’s including the 22 point 3rd quarter they had last night. I remember watching Raptors games in the past, and you always had to account for a potential slow third quarter. This season though, and particularly this past week, Toronto has dominated coming out of halftime, with a 30.4 net rating in the third.
- Steady Sheady: Jamal Shead may end up being the biggest steal of his draft class, as the 2024 45th overall pick is looking like one of the best backup point guards in the league. Over the week, Shead had 29 assists and 5 turnovers in the four games, good for a 5.80 assist-to-turnover ratio. In the past two games, he had 19 assists and only 1 turnover! He truly does remind me of Kyle Lowry, both in demeanor and in how comfortable he makes you feel when he’s on the court.
Raptor of the Week
When the team goes 4-0, it can really be difficult to pick just one player who stood out the most, especially on a team like this where the load is shared pretty evenly across all players. This week, I once again asked the other RR writers for their help in selecting this week’s Raptor of the Week. Once again, I selected three initial candidates, and asked them to vote:
Brandon Ingram: 21.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.5 stocks on 46/44/89 splits
RJ Barrett: 19.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 0.8 stocks on 51/41/73 splits
Sandro Mamukelashvili: 12.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 stocks on 50/46/80 splits
So it should come as no surprise to you, that by a one vote margin, they selected Ja’Kobe Walter as this week’s Raptor of the Week! Yup, that’s right, those pesky creatives went outside the box and chose someone who wasn’t even nominated. Looking back, it’s hard to argue with them, after some early-season struggles he bounced back big this week. Rajakovic moved him into being the first one off the bench and it seems that a little consistency has done Walter extremely well.
Over the week, he put up 7.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists, and 1.8 steals on 80% shooting from three! While the counting stats aren’t eye-popping, the efficiency absolutely is. Before this week, Ja’Kobe was shooting 27.3% from deep, so after capping off the week with a 16-point performance against the Nets, he certainly deserves the Raptor of the Week honours.
News
Nov 17th – Scottie Barnes breaks Raptors’ franchise record for steal-and-block streak
Scottie Barnes just set a new Raptors franchise record with 10 straight games recording both a steal and a block, surpassing the previous mark held by Vince Carter during his electric 1999–2000 “Air Canada” season.
Nov 18th – ‘Coach of the Year candidate’: Zach Lowe praises Raptors’ Darko Rajakovic
“I love the way they’re playing offensively. I had a lot of concerns about that going into the season. I was very negative on the Raptors going into the year, just thinking like, how is this offence going to work? … I love this team. I love the way they play offence, I think it’s a lot of fun as one of the fastest teams out there … I have to give credit to the coaching staff, I thought they’ve done a great job.
Nov 18th – ‘Best value free agency signing of the entire offseason’: Zach Lowe on Raptors’ Mamukelashvili
Mamu has been bang for the buck, maybe the best value free agency signing of the entire offseason … He has completely changed their team.
Nov 22nd – Raptors clinch east group A in the NBA Cup tournament
By winning their group, Toronto has clinched a spot in the NBA cup quarterfinal, which means they will have a chance to compete in the knockout round. The winners of every NBA cup group advance to the knockout round, along with two wild-card teams that are selected by who has the best record and point differential amongst non group winning teams.
Looking ahead
Monday, November 24th – Cavaliers @ Raptors | 7:00pm on Sportsnet
Wednesday, November 26th – NBA Cup game: Pacers @ Raptors | 7:30pm on TSN
Saturday, November 29th – Raptors @ Hornets | 6:00pm on TSN
Sunday, November 30th – Raptors @ Knicks | 6:00pm on TSN
Record prediction: 3-1
That’s it for another week of Raptors Roundup, thank you for reading and let me know below how you think the Raptors will do this week. Happy Monday, let’s have a wonderful week!
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