Top 10 Raptors Plays of the Week: More defence and an impressive finish to the week
We’re back with a four-week game slate that kicked off with two road losses, one to Houston and then one to New Orleans, followed by two impressive home wins against winning teams, firstly the Phoenix Suns, then the Eastern Conference leaders, Detroit Pistons.
10. Scottie’s creative rebound
Starting off the list at home against Detroit, Scottie Barnes reels in a rebound over two Detroit Pistons of Jalen Duren and Duncan Robinson. The way he adjusts on the fly during this rebound was pretty cool as he just slams the ball against the glass and, against all odds, comes away with the rebound and an easy finish at the rim.
9. Poeltl’s and one
We stay in the Detroit game as Jakob Poeltl had a monstrous 21-point, 18-rebound double-double performance and also added 5 assists and a block in 36 minutes of action. If Poeltl can play around this level consistently, Toronto can be a dangerous team come postseason time. Also, when have you seen Poeltl run the floor this hard on a fast break?
8. Scottie’s powerful slam
Off to the tipoff game for the week in Houston as Scottie hammered home a strong slam. You can feel the power behind it by just listening to the audio. This was a good game from Barnes as he had 24 points and 5 rebounds along with 2 assists but unfortunatley the team ran out of gas in the fourth quarter like they have done multiple times this season.
7. Ingram’s circus shot
Brandon Ingram has been so consistent for Toronto, but during the two losses on the road, he was not looking like his reliable self. Luckily, Toronto had two home games to rebound, and Ingram really came to play as he started off the mini homestand with a 36-point, 7 rebound and 3 assist performance, including this insane circus shot at the end of the shot clock in a possession late in the second quarter.
6. Scottie slams again
Back to the win in Phoenix and back to another Scottie slam. This one is less powerful, but it comes over the 6-foot-11-inch center Oso Ighodaro. A decent performance from Barnes in this game with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and 2 blocks. Also, the fact that it comes in crunch time automatically makes it higher than the power slam earlier.
5. Ingram’s Siakam-like bucket
If this bucket looked familiar to you, it’s probably because you’ve gotten so used to watching Pascal Siakam and his signature spin move. Anyways Ingram’s spin helps him penetrate into the paint and finish over Duncan Robinson with a nice contact layup. Just like the game against Phoenix, Ingram came to play yet again with a 34-point performance.
4. Shead’s block
Jamal Shead had a very rough and embarrassing moment against the New Orleans Pelicans, which that game in genereal didn’t make the list at all, as the highlights in that one just weren’t good enough, and even before that he wasn’t on the best form, but since then, he could’ve just lain over and felt sorry for himself, but Shead has responded amazingly since the moment. On the box score, he only had 4 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and a block, but big plays like this are huge momentum shifters that just fire a team up.
3. Scottie slams AGAIN
Another Scottie slam, as this is now our third one for the top 10 plays. Also, this one comes over a defender just like the one against the Suns, and this one comes on Toronto’s favourite possession, a fast break. It’s also against a good defender in Tari Eason, a 6-foot-8 forward who averages 1.4 steals and 0.7 blocks over a 4-year career so far. This one is a better poster than the Phoenix one, so it ends up as his best slam for the week overall.
2. Mamukelashvili’s slam
Here’s Sandro’s first and only entry of the week, as it was yet again dominated by the two All-Stars of Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes, but at least Mamu brought quality over quantity in this one. Although Alperen Sengun isn’t the greatest defender out there, he still is a two-time All-Star who owns a size advantage over the Georgian, but Mamu’s explosiveness is just too much for Sengun.
1. Scottie’s Defensive Player of the Year-worthy block
Back to Scottie’s flu game, as Barnes was sick for this game, but still decided to suit up for a Raptors team that had just lost two games in a row, and some were hitting the panic button hard after that, but the team stayed calm and fought back. As we discussed earlier, Barnes wasn’t particularly amazing in this one, but he made big plays in the fourth quarter, and this was the biggest one of them all. A part of the credit should go to Jalen Green, as he had no reason to cock back his dunk attempt after leaving Scottie in the dust, but that’s not Scottie’s fault, and he makes one heck of a chase-down recovery block to seal the game and give Toronto a much-needed win against a winning team.
Another week in the books as a two-and-two week never felt so good after it started off terribly, but the last two wins have the expectations back right where they were, maybe even higher now that they beat the conference-leading Pistons.
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