Raptors win behind Ingram’s 29-point performance

Last night, Brandon Ingram reminded me of playing your favourite NBA Live (yes, NBA Live) superstar on Rookie mode, and absolutely dominating a game. 

Ingram couldn’t miss. He went 11-for-15 (73%) from the field and seven of those came in the mid-range. Robert Mahoney at The Ringer who insinuated RJ Barrett was putting up empty stats is the same guy who said BI’s game was ugly – or that BI’s game was hard on the eyes, that his game was aesthetically unappealing. What?!?

From the start of the game, he made mince meat out of Zaccharie Risacher and last year’s DPOY candidate Dyson Daniels. He bumped Risacher and scored on him, and hit a fadeaway over Daniels. When that didn’t work, he drew a foul from him and hit his free throws. 

A 8-0 Raptors’ run, punctuated by back-to-back dunks by BI and Barnes forced Darko’s good friend Quin Snyder to take a timeout. The Raptors took a four-point lead. Uncharacteristically, the Raptors built a small lead at the start of the game and never gave it up, though the game was always close.

After said timeout, BI’s pump fake from the perimeter made Nickeil Alexander-Walker jump for the rafters. Easy bucket. His fadeaways continued to shred Dyson in the second frame.

BI’s barrage of middys may have inspired Barnes – who had 20 points – as the latter came out of halftime with a nice bump on Onyeka Okongwu before hitting a shot over him. All of Scottie’s field goals came inside the paint.

BI scored at all three levels in the third quarter, knocking down his first 3 of the game. He hit a tough baseline mid-range jumper over Risacher, and glided through the Scotiabank floor gracefully, beating Jalen Johnson off the dribble and meeting Risacher in the air, finishing through him, as if he was just a cumulus cloud in the crisp, Toronto night sky. BI finally looked human in the fourth quarter when he turned the ball over, failing to get past Daniels with his handles. Ingram blew by Mouhamed Gueye – just as he had done earlier on NAW – but couldn’t finish.

But it wasn’t just BI’s aesthetically-pleasing 29-point performance that should silent the critics. RJ Barrett’s 29 points came from him knowing how to play without the ball in his hands. In the second quarter, he shaked from the corner and IQ faked a get action. Barrett passed to Barnes at the top of the arc, and made a strong cut and finished at the basket. On the offensive possession before, Barnes was miffed at the refs for a non-foul call after failing to finish down low. Barrett lead by example.

“The team is scoring 1.09 points per possessions when Barrett runs a pick and roll, which is in the 81st percentile leaguewide, and at big volume, too. It’s not just that. He’s setting a career high in efficiency with cuts, handoffs, as a scorer in the half court in general. “
-Louis Zatzman

Barrett hit four 3s and finished the game on 11-for-19 shooting. The Raptors are now 3-1 since he returned and I will repeat what Louis has already repeated.

“I’m just going to repeat a stat I’ve already used because it bears repeating: The team is 7-9 with Barrett out of the lineup and 13-6 with him playing. Or (again): The Memphis Grizzlies with him injured and the New York Knicks with him playing (by winning percentage).”

Toronto may not be New York, but the Raptors were able to freeze a sizzling Hotlanta team who blew out Minnesota and New York the night before.

Behind BI and Barrett’s 29-point performances, Mamu was two assists shy of a triple-double. The ball moved well too. Jamal Shead hit two catch-and-shoot 3s assisted by bigs (CMB and Sandro), and continued to touch the paint. Ja’Kobe Walter came in the fourth quarter and hit a corner 3. Gradey Dick impacted game in limited minutes and stayed confident. When he missed a middy in the fourth, he made up for it by a dunk on the next possession. And we got a very brief look at Mo Bamba too!

It’s a rest day today, but two analytically-minded friends will go at it again tomorrow night as they gameplan for another high-scoring, entertaining game.

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