If you are a fan of the NBA’s lottery, recent Raptors performances have been ideal. Close, entertaining losses have happened a fair bit. If you’re looking for actual victories though, chock Sunday’s double overtime defeat as one of the roughest outings yet. The Raptors had plenty of chances and blew the biggest lead by a Toronto team since 2014. Here’s the report card:
SCOTTIE BARNES B
Barnes played 48 minutes, which likely helps explain why he was not involved at all in the second overtime. Yes, he was too passive in that period, but that doesn’t cancel out how great Barnes was before then. His threes were falling, he was assertive and really doing everything but get to the free throw line. Barnes needs to relax with the complaining to the officials even if he has a legitimate case a lot of the time. He’s bigger and stronger than most opponents and should be getting more free throw attempts, but challenging the referees won’t change anything.
JAKOB POELTL B-
Poeltl had a tough matchup in the excellent Chet Holmgren, but did what he could to negate it. Poeltl only missed one of his nine shots, and matched a lot of Holmgren’s production. Foul trouble was again an issue a game after Poeltl fouled up against the wizardry of Alperen Sengun.
GARY TRENT JR. B-
Trent continues to sizzle from beyond the arc. He went 4-for-8 and has now hit half of his threes over the previous 20 games. That’s a huge turnaround from Trent’s tough start to the year. He continues to raise his value, either to the Raptors, or to teams looking to add at the Feb. 8 trade deadline.
DENNIS SCHRODER B-
Schroder logged 36 minutes and hit half of his three-point attempts, all of his six free throws and only turned the ball over one. He probably took too many shots (he went 2-for-10 on two-pointers), but the offence was pretty balanced and somebody had to take them.
RJ BARRETT C+
Barrett’s stats deserve a better grade, but the missed three-pointer that could have won it and the unfortunate turnover late in regulation drop it a bit, as do the four turnovers. Still, Barrett gave the Raptors a major lift in his return to the lineup.
IMMANUEL QUICKLEY C
Quickley’s 2-for-9 outside shooting looks rough, but he did make some crucial plays and handed out 11 assists against only a single turnover. Quickley also was productive later in the game when most of his teammates fell off. He needs to keep launching shots even when they aren’t falling and not be discouraged.
INC: GRADEY DICK, BRUCE BROWN, THAD YOUNG
THREE STARS
1 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
2 Lu Dort
3 Scottie Barnes
HM: Chet Holmgren, Gary Trent Jr, Cason Wallace, Josh Giddey, RJ Barrett, Jakob Poeltl