RAPTORS REPORT CARD: A lot of bad scores, despite Siakam and Barnes’ strong performance against the Knicks.
Once more, the team took two positive steps (against Phoenix on Wednesday) and one negative step (losing 119-106 at home to the New York Knicks on Friday). The Knicks dominated the Raptors in this game with a scorching 44.4% three-point shooting percentage, while the Raptors missed 26 of their 32 attempts for a mere 18.8% accuracy rate. A 30-point lead that comes from three-point shooting is difficult to overcome.
In its nine victories this season, Toronto has shot 36.5% from three, compared to just 31% in its 11 defeats. In every game against the Raptors, opponents have shot 36.5 percent on average from beyond the arc.
Although this was by no means Toronto’s worst game of the season, it’s unfortunate that the shooting was so awful against the Knicks. This is the grade card:
A SCOTTIE BARNES
This one cannot be placed on Barnes. He dominated both offense and defense, making him the best player on the floor. When Barnes was close to the ball, no pass was safe because he was such a threat in the open court. Barnes’ offensive output was likewise very aggressive, as he took 19 shots, one less than his season average. In the past few weeks, Barnes has had three shots total of 19. He’s clearly taking this team by storm and is stepping it up.
A- PASCAL SIAKAM
Siakam, who has played virtually the entire season, took 16 shots on his own and collaborated offensively with Barnes. When Julius Randle, a player he had fought with for All-NBA team recognition, guarded him, his eyes seemed to light up (it still says here that Siakam had the better season the year before, but lost in the voting because New York was so much better than Toronto). Even though most of his attempts don’t appear particularly bad, Siakam still struggles to make outside shots. His mid-range attempts, however, consistently go through.
A- JAKOB POELTL
Poeltl was reliable. He outperformed his talented opponent Mitchell Robinson, grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds and blocking a couple of shots. Poeltl had a difficult spell earlier in November, but he recovered and has since played admirably in almost all of the games. Poeltl has been a part of most of Toronto’s positive (plus-net rating) four-man lineups, and this one was no exception. When Poeltl was substituted in, Toronto went from leading by three to trailing by one. The game was tied at the end of his subsequent stint, and the Raptors had lost by ten points before he returned the next time Precious Achiuwa took his place.
C+ CHARLES BOUCHER
Boucher continued to show that he is a better choice for Darko Rajakovic than Precious Achiuwa, going a team-best +8. The inconsistent Achiuwa is being given priority by the team for whatever reason, maybe due to his age and much greater potential. However, you can’t complain about what Boucher offers most of the time. Any team could benefit from having a reserve like Boucher, and there’s a good chance that someone will move up to acquire him, providing some much-needed second round picks to a team lacking picks.
C. Dennis Schröder
In terms of shooting, Schroder keeps falling back to his career averages. Although he began his Raptors career on fire, he has only shot 30% from three-point range in his last three games and 26% from three in his last five. With nine assists in this game, Schroder continued to be a very good setter for his teammates, averaging close to eight assists to just one turnover over the previous five games. He and Barnes seem to get along well. He assisted Barnes five times. Schroder is much less lethal, though, without the gun threat.
That evening wasn’t Anunoby’s. With a few notable exceptions, he was significantly off on offense and not his usual self on defense. It occurs. Anunoby, who displayed a commanding two-way display, was the best player in the victory over Phoenix. By requesting that Anunoby lead a unit with four reserves, Rajakovic did Anunoby no favors. That was a dumb move. He will have some time off to recover because the team won’t play until Wednesday.
