Raptors out done in the clutch in loss to the Nuggets
Principles and reads are really what drive basketball outside of the talent. It’s something the Raptors have been working very hard on adhering to in their open and interpretive play. They do quite well in their set actions. The practiced, orderly stuff has been efficient and worthwhile for them. They came into tonight’s game against Denver ranked as the 13th best half court offense in the NBA despite their clear lack of shooting and even a lack of punch off of put backs holding them back. They succeed in these areas by using their #1 attribute: strength, to carve out routes to the rim when possible, and their #2 attribute: mid-range shooting as a counter when things clog up.
They’re probably, mostly, happy with how they’ve done in the half court so far this season. The thing they really need to clean up, and what they actually struggled to take advantage of in the first quarter against the Nuggets – was the fast stuff. Who fills which corner? Who is best suited to drive the rim? Run towards it? Who does the defense respect or respond to?
It’s no secret that the Raptors are one of the worst offenses in the NBA (2nd worst) after getting a steal. They want to play fast, they need to, and Nikola Jokic’s presence on the offensive glass put them in a much slower spot. They’re typically quite good at advancing the ball into transition after rebounds — and even score decently well in these situations — but that slowed to a crawl while dealing with the Nuggets MVP candidate. It meant that in the early game when the Raptors were out and running, they weren’t able to score well enough to create a nice, healthy lead. Even with a tremendous run of play from Ja’Kobe Walter who brought the ruckus on defense — pressure, pressure, pick up, pick up — and a good bit of shot making (11 points on 3 shots).
The Nuggets would eventually find their stride from downtown in the second quarter — after an early brick fest — and without too much climbing to do against the Raptors, and with the Raptors going through a shooting slump of their own, they found their way into the lead by the time halftime came around. They had found ways to slow the Jokic led offense, they just needed to sort out their own to do the damn thing and steal one in Denver.
It started with the soloist stylings of RJ Barrett, Brandon Ingram, and Immanuel Quickley that shot the Raptors out of a cannon to start the third quarter as they made 10 out of their first 12 shots en route to 24-10 run. It wasn’t entirely surprising to see this, as the Raptors are the NBA’s 3rd best offensive rating in 3rd quarters, but it was very welcome regardless. At every half time break, the Raptors coaching staff seems to come back out with a new wrinkle or line of attack after seeing 24 minutes of their opponents. More initiation from Barnes up top was one of the looks the Raptors gave more credence to.
As the Raptors started to rack up buckets, that meant they got to set their defense, and in doing so, were far better prepared to thwart Jokic. In thwarting Jokic, they started to get more run outs after rebounds, and they found more pay dirt. It was great, balanced basketball from the Raptors and they had no intention of slowing down as they ran roughshod through the first 8 minutes of the third. Jakob Poeltl, ever the target man, was sitting with 19 points on 12 shots to lead the Raptors in scoring. Still though, the Raptors had to survive Jokic-led minutes with a transitional lineup. No easy feat.
Poeltl though, was… powerful… impactful, and game changing in what he brought from the center position to keep the Raptors out front. He was the efficient and necessary shot making punch on the inside, but his defensive playmaking and size was imperative to everything the Raptors wanted to do. It helped the Raptors keep the Nuggets at bay with Barnes and co. on the bench. When Poeltl finally checked out, he comfortably made way for Barnes, who blocked a Jokic drop step and muscled his way for layup on the other side to close out the third quarter up 94-85. The stage was set.
The Raptors were not prepared for the Jamal Murray inferno to start the fourth quarter. He authored an 8-0 sprint, purely borne out of shot making, and a continued stretch after that to snatch the lead away. The Raptors had fallen squarely into a dog fight. After a couple great shots from Quickley and one big launch from Hardaway Jr. the game was tied at 101. Jokic checked in, Barnes checked out, Poeltl replaced him. The first aerial battle between the two European bigs went to Poeltl who brought down the rebound. The game worked its way to under two minutes, 111-110 for the Nuggets, and with both teams sluggishly throwing haymakers. Slumped shoulders, heavy breathing, but shot making all the same. A Gordon cut, and and-1, a rebound on a missed free throw that Jokic outwrestled Poeltl for, and 2 free throws after that put the Nuggets up by 5.
The Raptors opted to keep the ball in the hands of Barnes, who attacked his man, and towards Jokic. He got to a bucket of his own, and dished off to Poeltl for an and-1 to tie the game up. Down the stretch the Nuggets would have the vaunted and famous Murray/Jokic 2-man actions to go to. The Raptors didn’t have its equal. They didn’t even get a chance to search for it as the Nuggets fouled Poeltl to send him to the line, where he went 0/2. The game slipped from their grasp.
It’s not like there’s a lot of teams that are capable of late game execution like the Nuggets are, but the Raptors were simply outdone down the stretch. It’s often been the case that the Raptors need to improve at the fast play through the bulk of the game, and equally so of the slow, late game stuff. In this one, their offense was mostly good enough, but their league best clutch defense couldn’t hold the Nuggets down.
A good game though, regardless of it all.
Have a blessed day.
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