Poeltl, Quickley & Ingram lead Raptors to professional win
The Raptors have built themselves into a collective defensive stopper through effort and attention to detail. They’re generally pretty good at picking up on and defending other teams pet actions. Scripted plays to start games get blown up. Things like that. When the Raptors are close to a team or better, in terms of talent, they typically carve out a game plan that allows them to come out on the other side with a win. Typically.
Of course, this team did lose to the lowly Wizards earlier in the season, but it’s fair to label that one as an aberration. An NBA season is long enough and wending enough to allow for such things. You can only let it happen once, though. The Raptors had to make sure of that.
They have lots of paths to minor improvements. Don’t hit a near league worst percentage on your open three-point shots. Don’t convert a near league worst rate in transition after steals. Hit shots after offensive rebounds. All these things have been poor and could get better and it’s incredibly important that they buzzsaw through mediocre and weak teams while they sort this stuff out. It’s kept them afloat all year despite their destitute record vs. the best of the best – 4-15 vs. top 10 teams, 1-11 vs. top 6 teams. Early on in this one the Wizards obliterated the Raptors from behind the 3-point line. A big, nasty, 15-point disparity after only 12 minutes.
They hung in, ever so slightly, due to their ability to force the young Wizards into turnovers. Trying to hold serve until the shooting outcomes normalized. That is, mostly, how the Raptors win games. Coach Darko, eager to even out the shooting prowess between the teams, put Battle in the game. A pitch play to Immanuel Quickley heading downhill collapsed the defense, and Battle cashed from the corner pocket. Unfortunately for the Raptors, the Wizards kept cashing from downtown. In terms of 3-point percentage, these two teams are 20th (Wiz) and 24th (Raptors), but it looked a lot different early on.
Getting back into the game (nearly all the way back) before halftime required a new approach for the Raptors. One they haven’t had access to very often this year: bludgeon away with Jakob Poeltl’s size and his finesse. Tristan Vukcevic and Anthony Gill aren’t very stalwart defensive front court players and they had basically no answer for Poeltl when he was moving downhill with momentum – whether that was after the catch or pursuing the glass. 12 points on 4 shots. 100% from the field and from the line. Finally, the Raptors got to be the big team against the small team.
Poeltl steadied the Raptors offensive approach while getting his hands on a few different balls to disrupt things on the defensive end. He was supplied on the glamorous end by Quickley, who was comfortably out foxing the defense of the Wizards young guards. A few strong reads in the pick n’ roll, composure as a shot maker – things the Raptors definitely need. On top of that, Ingram never really fails in terms of volume, and he converted efficiently on his way to 13 points on 8 shots.
They didn’t get back to even, but they got close enough that they could come out of halftime expecting to mostly play their game without too much work ahead of themselves. What was a bit worrisome though, was the lack of presence Scottie Barnes had on the first half. He’s always providing a certain level of elite defense, and he did have a few assists, but 4 points on 6 shots isn’t going to cut it. He came into this game only topping 20 points two times in his past 12 games. Averaging roughly 16 points per game and shooting worse than 15-percent from downtown. It has to be better than that.
“We’re not taking this game as seriously as we need to be taking it. We’re not coming to the floor with discipline, particularly on defense and that is where our principles lie. We need to get more focused and pick things up for the second half and play together as a team.” – James Wade to Kayla Grey at halftime.
It was 75-74 when the Raptors finally wrestled the lead back from the Wizards. The first time they’d had it since the score was 6-5. A long time in between, and that still didn’t necessarily kick the Raptors into a higher gear. They relinquished the lead shortly afterwards. Still unable to put a lid on the Wizards 3-point shooting, simply at the whim of it all, they couldn’t help but allow a run or two. Halfway through the third quarter the Raptors deficit from downtown had ballooned all the way up to 27 points.
Believe it or not, it was the turnovers and run outs that brought the Raptors back up ahead once again, and this time for good. They closed out the third quarter with a 6-point lead, and for those who were shaking their fists about Darko’s rotation choices at the start of the fourth quarter in the Spurs game? There were 4 starters on the floor to start this one. Although, I suspect it’s because he was anticipating a healthy lead and an emptied bench down the stretch.
As for Barnes’ offensive usage? The left block was rather kind to him as he quietly inhaled a few possessions there and bolstered his box score line. Barrett was also rewarded for his resiliency as a driver as he made 7 shots inside the arc in a single game for the first time since the beginning of January. The game opened up and the Raptors as a whole walked comfortably in the wake of it all to close it out. Quickley boogied his way out of there, though. A guile and pacing in the middle of the floor that is usually beyond him, was a huge feature of his creation. An incredibly impressive 27 & 11 stat line on only 15 shots and 1 turnover. Top, top notch.
The Raptors were the better team. They had to be. Keep doing the things you’re meant to. Believe that you can improve and see where that lands you.
Have a blessed day.
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