Top 10 Raptors Plays of the Week: Brandon Ingram milliseconds away from an all-time play

Week five kicks off with our first-ever honourable mention of the new series here on Raptors Republic. A shorter week of basketball for the Toronto Raptors, as we had two games of the Atlanta Hawks and a Denver Nuggets game to choose from.

Honourable mention: Brandon Ingram almost does the impossible

Ingram hasn’t been short of clutch plays so far in his young Raptors career, as he had a game-saving block against tonight’s opponent, the Charlotte Hornets, a while ago, plus the game-winner against the Indiana Pacers during Toronto’s season-high nine-game win streak. He was just milliseconds away from yet another famous moment, but the ball left his fingertips just a bit late. Still a great play as he banks a tough fading shot from a beautiful Scottie Barnes outlet pass. This could’ve been an all-time Raptors play, but it just wasn’t meant to be on New Year’s Eve.

10. Mamu and Shead two-man action

To start our list, we have Sandro Mamukelashvili, who continues to make the Raptors front office look like geniuses for signing him to a steal of a 2 year $5.5 million contract. He shows off his moves in this play after receiving a pass from Jamal Shead, hits a nice spin move on Onyeka Okongwu and then kicks it out to the perimeter for a Jamal Shead catch and shoot three that hits nothing but net. This possession was all Mamu and Shead as they delivered a big bucket for the Raptors. Okongwu, if you don’t know, now you know the name of Mamu.

9. Scottie’s bounce pass to BI3

Honestly, this play doesn’t look like much, but it’s another nice two-man action this time involving Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram. Scottie shows off his elite playmaking skills as he fits a nasty bounce pass into a really tight window to set up a corner sitting Brandon Ingram for another three that hits nothing but net. Both of them were great again against the Nuggets as Ingram had a game-high 30 points, 8 rebounds and 5 made threes for Toronto and Scottie Barnes had yet another monstrous triple-double with 20 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists.

8. Toronto replicates the 2014 San Antonio Spurs yet again

It feels like I’m talking about the 2014 Spurs ball movement weekly on our Top 10 Plays of the Week, as Toronto just keeps playing beautiful basketball on the offensive end. Seriously, how can you not admire a possession like this where the ball touches almost every Raptors’ hand and it culminates in a wide open look, this time Immanuel Quickley is the lucky Raptor that gets a very clean look. It was another halftime deficit Toronto dug themselves into against Denver, and they almost made three straight comebacks and were so close to a perfect five-and-zero homestand.

7. Jamal Shead’s hustle leads to Raptors fast break

This play really reminded me of the Gradey Dick save that came in a comeback win at home against the Golden State Warriors, as Shead makes a great read on an incoming pass to Jamal Murray and throws a beautiful no-look pass to keep the ball in play. Mamu secures the pass, finds Immanuel Quickley, who had a great second quarter to keep the Raptors afloat when Denver almost ran away with it. The reason why Gradey’s play was ranked way higher last week was his pass travelled almost to the half-court line and was perfect, whereas this Shead pass is a bit off the mark, but it’s still put into a safe area where the Nuggets can’t pounce on it.

6. Dirk Nowitzki…Brandon Ingram hits a one-legged fade

This one was something we haven’t seen so far in the big bag of Brandon Ingram’s offensive arsenal. He was killing the Hawks with his mid-range game, which is typical, but in this game specifically, he was amazing in the post, and this Dirk-esque fade-away was just way too pretty to pass up. And would you know it? Brandon Ingram cooks yet another team for a tied team high of 29 points with RJ Barrett, while also having yet another strong rebounding game with 9 rebounds.

5. Brandon Ingram pretty much posters Zaccharie Risacher

I know we’ve got a ton of Brandon Ingram in this edition, but man, this guy is a highlight machine. This could’ve been higher in the list, but it feels like Ingram is pulling this off at least once per week. Posters are usually reserved for when a player dunks on their defender, but this is as close to one can get to a poster without a dunk as he’s got Risacher all over him, but he still finishes strong through the contact.

4. Brandon Ingram’s two-way play

Oh, brother, this guy again? I mean, what can you do when you’re completely balling out all week? This one is more impressive on the defensive end, as Coach Darko was recently talking about how good Ingram has been defensively this season, plus Jack Armstrong and Matt Devlin were also raving about how BI3 was never this locked in on the defensive end as a New Orleans Pelican. Toronto is rarely a desired destination for the players whether that be in free agency, the draft or trades, but so many of them fall in love with the city once they get here, and it feels like, with the way the Raptors are playing, plus how good the energy was from the fans in the homestand, that Toronto could yet again lure in another all-star player.

3. CMB’s miracle put back (no audio)

I’m going to go on a mini rant here, as I usually record these highlights off of the NBA YouTube page or Raptors Nation (shoutout to them for all these highlights so far), but this play I couldn’t find in any of their highlight packs for the most recent Raptors and Hawks game. This one came from ZH Highlights, which has an AI voice-over, so I decided to mute it, but shoutout to ZH yet again, as his channel mostly focuses on a specific player’s highlight pack in a game they performed well in. I mean, yes, this play did have luck involved, but man, I’ve never seen a tip end up going in like this, and I really liked the play. Now, let’s talk about CMB for a bit, as he recently took over in the starting lineup for the injured Jakob Poeltl and has been playing amazingly, and this game was no different. How about a nice 17 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and the best part? Anchoring a Raptors defence that only gave up 100 points to the Atlanta Hawks, who have been swept in the season series 4-0, with 3 steals and 2 blocks.

2. IQ sets up a Mamu corner three

This was a ridiculous assist from Immanuel Quickley as he blew by Vit Krejci, who was killing the Raptors in this one with his elite three-point shooting. Back to the play, Quickley goes airborne in the paint and throws a ridiculous double-clutch bounce pass to Sandro Mamukelashvili after drawing his defender, Asa Newell, into the paint with his blistering pace. Mamu completes the play, giving Quickley one heck of an assist. IQ’s season has been quite polarizing to Raptors fans, as he’s very hot and cold. However, one thing that has been consistent about his game is his playmaking, averaging a career-high 6.2 assists so far this season.

1. Dick goes airborne

Who would’ve thought that with the form that Gradey Dick has been on, he would come away with back-to-back top plays of the week for the Toronto Raptors? Speaking of polarizing, Gradey Dick has also been doing that to Raptors fans with his inconsistent shooting, but over the last two weeks, his intensity has really picked up, even though the minutes have dropped. He’s been bringing energy on the defensive end lately, and although Dick was brought in to snipe three pointers for Toronto, the game of basketball is much more than that, and if Gradey continues to play hard as he has been, he will be a successful rotation player in this league.

That’s it for another Top 10 Plays of the Week. Toronto now goes on the road after a four-and-one homestand to seek revenge on the Charlotte Hornets, who have their number right now with a two-to-one season series lead. Will we get more highlights in that one for our week six edition of Top 10 Plays? Time will tell.

The post Top 10 Raptors Plays of the Week: Brandon Ingram milliseconds away from an all-time play first appeared on Raptors Republic.