The Raptors have shown us who they are, it’s time that we believe them
We know who the Raptors are, they’ve shown us all year. They’re an average team. Not bad, not great, but lost somewhere in the shuffle between the two. They usually beat tanking teams, they can win against middle-of-the-road teams, but against good teams? Forget about it. Every single game follows the exact same script.
Often, they start strong, giving hope that maybe this time will be different. Maybe this time they will beat a good team! Sometimes they rip off a 15-5 start, like they did last night. Brandon Ingram will splash middies and get and-ones in transition. Jakob Poeltl will throw in his signature short range push shot. Scottie Barnes will maybe even hit a three and RJ Barrett will run out on the break. Things will look great for a moment. You’ll watch and think “This is it. They’ve finally figured it out.” But no they haven’t. After that initial push, Barnes and co. will need a break, and the bench will start flowing in and out of the game. There once was a time where the bench provided a spark, re-taking leads or growing ones that previously existed. But that bench is long gone, and lately they’ve been replaced by a listless, empty husk of their previous selves.
So then the opponent, in this case the Minnesota Timberwolves, will begin their own run. Last night it was to no one’s surprise, Anthony Edwards who undid the Raptors. He hit a pull up jumper, and then after getting Poeltl on a switch he smacked a step-back three. A couple minutes later he drilled yet another three, cutting the Raptors lead down to 2.
Sandro Mamukelashvili responded with a three of his own, showing some sign of life after throwing down a dunk off a roll from the aptly named ‘dunker’s spot’. Jonathan Mogbo got some of his first non-garbage time minutes in a long while, and quickly blocked a Bones Hyland corner three. Barnes came back and hit his second three of the night, but then the Wolves closed with a 9-0 run to take a 4-point lead into the second.
Side note: The Raptors challenged an out of bounds call late in the first quarter that was not overturned due to ‘inconclusive evidence.’ Why they choose to challenge such low leverage plays is beyond my comprehension, especially when they’ve had success saving them for big moments in the past, but that’s a story for another day.
On a positive note, Barrett had one of his best games since his return from injury, scoring 25 points and grabbing 6 boards. He willed the Raptors back early in the second, getting to the free throw line before muscling through the paint and kicking to Ja’Kobe Walter in the corner who was fouled on the shot. After Randle whaled Barnes in the face with the basketball, the Raptors fought back, going on a run fueled by their defense. Barrett threw in a triple, then Mamukelashvili stole the ball from Edwards, and Barnes took it all the way for a no-look layup. Walter then stripped Reid and it was Mamukelashvili who had the honour of finishing this time. Yet again, a run that made you think the Raptors may have had a chance.
The rest of the half was fairly close, with the two sides exchanging buckets until the final minutes when Minnesota pulled ahead after some uncharacteristically bad play from Jamal Shead. After Randle hit a little hesi move to slip past Poeltl on a drive, Shead turned the ball over with a bad low pass. Randle then tied the game with a monster fastbreak dunk after another turnover, this time from Poeltl, and Shead responded with a missed three. When all was said and done, the Raptors somehow trailed by just one at the half.
The back and forth continued for the first few minutes of the third, that is, until Edwards unleashed one of his absurd, jaw-dropping poster dunks over Barrett, flexing on him the entire way back down the court. That was the game-changing moment, the TSN turning point if you will. The dunk put the Timberwolves up by 7, and after that they quickly rattled off a 15-7 run to take a double-digit lead into the fourth. A beautiful reminder of the mediocrity that this team oozes.
In the fourth the Raptors made their last fake comeback attempt. Barrett hit his signature pivot and fade jumper and then Immanuel Quickley took Kyle Anderson off the bounce for an and-one at the rim. Quickley’s been making strong decisions and getting deeper on drives lately, a symptom of Poeltl’s return but also an improvement in his individual ability. Unfortunately the effort was for naught, as a couple of crucial turnovers led to a three for Jaden McDaniels and some defensive miscues led to a couple of wide open dunks for Gobert.
Even the usually optimistic Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic saw the writing on the wall, and pulled the starters with four minutes remaining. I can’t blame him. Ingram’s shot wasn’t falling, the team couldn’t defend without Barnes on the court, Shead had one of the worst games of his career, and even if the team had played at their best, the chances of winning were slim. The identity of these Raptors is set, we’ve known for a long time who they are. Every game against good teams is like watching a tragic movie you’ve already seen. You still hope that somehow things are going to turn out alright, you bite at every glimmer of hope, but in the end you already knows how it ends. We all do.
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