Raptors had some bright spots in Game 2 loss

A five-point margin can seem pretty close. 

But when Cleveland’s backcourt makes impossibly difficult shots look easy – and Ingram has an off game –  it was very difficult to break that buffer.

The Raptors trailed by less than five points, twice, in the second quarter, but never broke through that buffer as the Cavs cemented their lead in the second half. 

For the Raptors, when things went well, somehow, things got worse. It was a classic case of two steps forward and three steps back. This play was a microcosm.

“Scottie Barnes’ spidey senses are tingling. He peels away from the middle of the floor early and reaches a hand up to contest Jarrett Allen under the rim, holding the ball firm in the air as Allen squirms, trying to muscle it past him. Allen is unable to. The ball falls to Evan Mobley, and it is Collin Murray-Boyles’ turn to don the mask. He reaches around Mobley’s step-through and swats the ball away from the larger man. But the ball squirts around the floor and eventually falls into the hands of James Harden. He calmly strides into the lane and hits a floater.”
-via Louis Zatzman

Though it was a wire-to-wire Cavs win, it didn’t always seem that way. The Raptors had nine fast break points in the first half, and CMB, as well as Ja’Kobe Walter and Mamu, made the Cavs look fallible in the second quarter. The Raps had two solid back-to-back defensive possessions.

Darko Rajakovic made the right decision to sit Jakob Poeltl in the second half and put more responsibility on the rookie’s shoulders.

But the third quarter exposed the lack of Raptors’ half-court offense as Ingram continued to struggle. As Sam Mitchell alluded to in the broadcast, the Raptors were struggling to score in the half-court against a Cavs’ defence, not known to be a defensive juggernaut. They have been 18th in defence since James Harden became a Cav. 

In the third quarter, RJ Barrett kept relentless attacking the basket as he had done last game. Not much else happened offensively, though Ja’Kobe hit a corner 3 on a 10-3 Raptors’ run, but that momentum was quickly fizzled out. 

“It got to a point where Barrett was basically the only capable and dependable creator in the halfcourt for the Raptors. He was resilient, clever, and tough. He produced. The Raptors were getting nothing like that from their two All-Stars, unfortunately.”
-via Samson Folk

The fifth candidate for DPoY kept pushing the pace, CMB was excellent as well as Mamu and Walter. Barrett had a much better performance.

There were many bright spots to Game 2 even though two starters, Poeltl and Ingram, continued to struggle and IQ sat on sidelines.

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