Quick Reaction: Raptors 97, Hornets 96

Bounced Hornets out of the paint and vacuumed up boards with his “god given” hands. Murray-Boyles is Magneto, but Sir Ian McKellen was never beefed up like this. Feels like he could move a bus. The in-between passing is there too. He’s a capable passer and reads the floor well from the meaty middle. The aggression, driving and finishing still needs to come around – it wasn’t there against the Hornets. But CMB has a bright future.

Uncharacteristically missed a read at the outset. And his usually elite passing was a little off all-around. But he was aggressive, repeatedly pounding the paint. Had to settle for a couple eight-foot hook shots with mixed results, but it eventually paid off, as he got all the way to the rim and spun into a nice finish. Got Liam McNeely on a switch and put him in the rim. Barnes led all scorers with eight points after the first. He slowed down a little throughout but still had moments of forcefulness. Gave a scare in the fourth when he exited to get his right knee looked at but re-entered with just under two minutes left.

Hit the winner, so disregard any complaints below … They ran Samson’s unstoppable SLOB, of course resulting in Quickley banging a triple off the pin down for his first bucket. In the first half he managed to get to the rim and finish a few times but also missed a few 3s – bizzarro Quickley. Had drives that looked good, including a knife to the rim off the catch, but also still picked up his dribble early and ground the offence to a halt at times, as he’s been known to do. A mixed bag. After an extended down stretch, including some poor defence, he drilled a three then pumped and got to the rim yet again for five quick points. And he banged the buzzer beater. Great moment.

Bricked a couple open 3s early. But then he cashed off a pin down and ripped an iso jumper to help erase an early deficit. Drove and kicked to set up an open corner 3. Used his spindly arms to affect a couple shots too, first blocking a Kon Knueppel 3 then making a great effort to help and disrupt a Collin Sexton drive. Exited at midway point of the second quarter and was eventually ruled out for the game with a right thumb sprain. Kayla Grey said on the broadcast that x-rays came back negative.

Faced heavy resistance but willed his way to the paint and the ball into the basket for his first field goal to start the second quarter. Hand down man down on a Sexton 3. Wasn’t in his usual flow in the first half and couldn’t buy a bucket but was putting in effort on the glass to just do something. Scored on three straight possessions in the third, churning to the hoop, getting lost by the Charlotte D slipping to the rim and getting out in transition. Got all the way to the rim off the Raptors favourite play, 77 shallow, then drilled a triple. And then an and-1. And another. He seized the moment and stepped up with Ingram and Barnes out.

Had a mostly open lane, with Miles Bridges closing from the weak side, but turned down the rim to pass to an Ja’Kobe Walter open in the corner, who then also turned down the 3. He provides such little punch on the glass and protecting the rim, so when the offence isn’t clicking it gets rough fast. Had a couple putbacks and 3s to get right in the third.

Swooped in for a big chase-down block that was called goaltending – it was hard to tell if the ball touched glass first or not. Ran the floor in transition, as always, and made good decisions with the ball. Initially kept the point of attack under wraps on defence but allowed some blow bys to LaMelo Ball eventually. Also provided zero scoring punch.

Got replaced by Battle for the second unit’s second shift after an uninspired first seven minutes where he posted the Tony Snell meme stat line. Wasn’t much better during a shorter stint in the second half. Much like the Raptors season, it’s been a rollercoaster for Dick of late. At least there’s been improvement and good games mixed in, but this wasn’t one of them.

Death, taxes and Shead drawing offensive fouls. Drew two in his first five minutes on the floor. Also was called for a couple fouls of his own, but they were of the excusable variety. Pressured to force another turnover in the third. He isn’t threatening enough with his dribble to draw big reactions from the defence but does a lot with the openings he gets.

Banged his first shot – an open 3 from the corner. Proceeded to miss his next few. His usually sticky on-ball defence was also off at times in this game. The wing rotation was all over the place as Darko Rajaković searched for impact and the carousel of Walter, Dick, Agbaji and Battle resulted in a whole lot of nothing. Walter wins out the minutes battle on nights like this though because of his defence.

Played only seven minutes, but got a feed from Mamu on a well-timed baseline cut for a dunk. Has only hit three of his last 11 triples. Guess he wasn’t going to shoot 60 percent all season.

The unstoppable SLOB play hit. Also won a challenge on an out-of-bounds call, the team’s third straight! Then they lost the streak on another out-of-bounds challenge. Had to get creative with his transitionary lineups with Ingram out, leaning on Scottie+bench. He drew up the winning set to that spiked the grade.