Quick Reaction: Raptors 94, Clippers 119
RJ Barrett: RJ was extremely cold from behind the arc tonight, although the Clippers let him get off some good looks from there. He had a hot stretch in the second quarter where he scored 7 out of his 12 points, and this was the best he looked all night. He drove the ball well during this stretch, finishing through contact even getting an and-one runner to drop. Outside of this brief stretch RJ was not very impactful, the Clippers defense collapsing in the paint really impeded his scoring as a whole. Grade: D+
Sandro Mamukelashvilli: Mamu hit back-to-back triples in the third quarter to get the deficit down somewhat and give Toronto a bit of hope to come back into this game. Ultimately it wound up being moot, but he was spot on as a shooter tonight and his overall effort level was high as well, grabbing 3 offensive rebounds. He was constantly moving, trying to figure a way to break this Clippers defense with said movement. Grade:B
Jamal Shead: Shead’s shooting looked better than usual tonight, as he knocked down 2-3 looks from downtown. His defense was pretty brutal tonight, he was not able to stick with his man through screens, and his size really held him back more often than not tonight. He did have a great X-Out possession late in the game where he was able to block a three pointer, but outside of that he did not have a good defensive showing. Grade: C+
Scottie Barnes: Scottie’s scoring was very poor tonight, the Clippers had the size to bother his jumpers, and he just flat out missed some rim looks as well. The Clippers were not content to leave him without nail or gap help most of the time, which surely impacted his scoring process, but he couldn’t even get his transition looks like he usually does. As a playmaker he was good, and he sprayed the ball all over the court, whether it be dishing it to CMB with a seal, or swinging it to Battle for a triple. Grade: D
Jakob Poeltl: The bulk of Poeltl’s scoring came in the first quarter, where he was a consistent presence under the rim, battling on the glass and rolling to the rim to finish as well. Grade:C+
Collin Murray-Boyles: CMB had some really strong defensive moments in this game, his help defense was especially solid, and there were plenty of times he slid over to contest just in time to help a teammate. There were times where he sagged off his man and it burned him as a result of this help, but he definitely made impact plays still. He seemed a bit aggressive tonight when it came to hunting his own shot, and he was pretty efficient as well. He showed off his good touch around the basket, and he had a nice post finish over Brook Lopez late in the game. Grade:B
Markelle Fultz: Fultz played 9 minutes and didn’t record much in the stat department outside of 2 assists to Sandro Mamukelshvilli in the third quarter which were both triples. He only took one shot in the entire game, which was a missed 14 footer. Fultz couldn’t penetrate against LA’s defense and when he tried to he was just forced to pick up his dribble and reset. Grade:D+
Brandon Ingram: Ingram was forced to take plenty of tough shots tonight as a result of the suffocating defense from the Clippers, and he was also looked to to create something out of nothing plenty of times when Toronto’s offensive possessions would falter. With his go-to area being clogged, Ingram was pretty inefficient as a whole tonight, and he did not pass the ball well at all, given how much LA was shading him on his on-ball possessions. Grade:C+
Ja’Kobe Walter: Walter was pretty overextended defensively tonight, he was doing his best to scramble all over the court and make the proper rotations, but he was often muscled out of the way and led to fouls. He had 3 fouls early so he was forced to the bench, which limited his playing time as a whole naturally. Grade: C-
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