Raptors film room: Are they good again?

The Raptors pulled off perhaps their best win of the season against the number one team in the Eastern Conference. Jakob Poeltl had his best game of the season and he was the conduit to everything.

Full recap:

Here’s Samson Folk on the game:

The Raptors opened the 4th quarter with a continuation of their smash mouth basketball. Basically every question lobbied at Bickerstaff before the game from media was concerning the Pistons physicality, and the Raptors had met and exceeded it in many ways in this one. As we approached the 5 minute mark of the final quarter the Raptors had won by some measure in terms of the offensive glass, the free throw battle, and has mostly equalized the shot making. A foul on a 3-point shot allowed the Pistons within 9 to set the stage, 104-95.

For the second game in a row, Ingram brought his clutch time toolkit. The Raptors had several defensive breakdowns, but Ingram hit a couple massive shots to keep the Pistons at bay. Howevery, it wasn’t done as the sole offensive operator. Barrett had opportunities to create, and so did Barnes. Both rumbled to the paint to create for others. Cunningham was a maelstrom of driving chaos, steamrolling the Raptors down the stretch. It wasn’t easy to stay out front, but the Raptors did manage it. Their best win of the season.

I had to think back to what Coach Darko told me a couple weeks ago.

“I feel awesome about it. I think that’s a great opportunity for us. I think that we as an organization have made significant strides this season and for us the next big step is that.” Coach Darko told me of the Raptors poor record vs. the best teams in the league. “Playing a high level against the best teams in the league. We’ve had games where we were very competitive, some of those games went our way some of them did not, but all of those games are just amazing for us. I’m so excited to play against the best teams in the league because I think there is always learning for us, and there is always that competitive spirit that we want to bring and we want to find a way to win those games.”

I’m sure they’ll find a couple learning opportunities from tonight, despite the win.

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