Back from their disappointing Houston/New Orleans road trip and in Toronto to face the Phoenix Suns on Friday, the Raptors had a lot of people to answer to. Their last game was a horrible loss against the Pelicans, made even worse by a late-game scuffle that drew a ton of online criticism.
The Raptors were called everything from fightless to directionless, and some of it has merit (especially the criticisms about the ceiling of this roster). They fell out of the top six in the standings, are clinging
to a play-in spot, and their chemistry is being questioned. What else could go wrong? A locker room illness, anyone?
Yeah, to top it all off, Scottie Barnes went into the Phoenix game Friday fighting an illness that’s been making its way through the locker room.
Despite all of this, Darko Rajakovic was in a pretty good mood on Friday afternoon. He’s always a glass half full kinda guy, but today, especially, the strategy in responding to the noise was to be incredibly optimistic. He not only said the Raptors were exactly where they needed to be, but he even went so far as to say he was happy about where they find themselves right now — seeing a bit of adversity.
The Raptors found themselves chasing the Suns for a lot of tonight’s game. Barnes had a quiet night, his illness obviously slowing him down a bit, but Brandon Ingram was able to pick up the slack. Unfortunately for the Raptors, outside of their starting lineup, no one was really able to give them anything. Fortunately for the Raptors, their starters did enough to keep them in it late in the game. Amid Barnes being ill, Ingram and RJ Barrett led the team, and Quickley was solid.
In the end, the Raptors figured out how to close a tight game on the winning side, something they haven’t seemed to be able to do in recent weeks. A mix of strong action on the defensive glass, clutch shooting from Ingram and Barrett, and some of the grit they were missing on the road came into play as the Raptors were able to win their game, 122-115, over the Phoenix Suns. It was more of a sigh of relief than a huge celebration, and knowing this Raptors team, they will quickly shift focus into bringing whatever good energy they created today into their next game.
Ingram, in particular, was phenomenal. He scored 36 points on 13-20 shooting from the field. A few of those shots came in the clutch, when the Raptors needed him most. After the game, Darko mentioned Ingram was being exceptionally communicative with his teammates, stepping up to lead the team.
“This is what Brandon expects from himself, and what we expect from Brandon,” Darko said of Ingram’s 36-point showing tonight.
Barrett was also key in the clutch in this win. “It felt good to win in the way that we want to,” Barrett said after he scored 22 points on 9-16 from the field.
I feel like this season has come in phases. There was the shiny and new phase — seeing Ingram integrated into the team. There was the wild hype phase — when they went on that wild winning streak. Then came the adjusting expectations phase — realizing this team was playing ahead of their true current capabilities and adjusting accordingly. Some might call this current phase a slump, but I think it’s more of a time to start thinking about what’s next and what needs to be changed so that we continue to see improvement next season. When you stop catastrophizing and realize how far the Raptors have come this year alone, it’s easier to swallow a slump month… but that can’t last too long. In order for people to maintain patience with this rebuild, next season needs to continue to progress.
As we head into the final weeks of the NBA season, some glaring problems arise with this Raptors team. Their lack of bench offence and the Poeltl problem stood out tonight, to me. You’re getting nothing from guys like Gradey Dick and Jamison Battle, who are supposed to be off-the-bench shooters. Things would be better if Murray-Boyles were playing, but he’s hurt. Ja’Kobe has been great, but his 10 points can’t carry the bench.
In the starting lineup, Ingram is undeniably a star, as is Scottie Barnes — even if he didn’t have the best “flu game” tonight. To me, the last piece of the core trio is Barrett, who is solid when he needs to be and when he is healthy. He can get you 20 points a night pretty effortlessly, is efficient, and fits well on the court with Barnes and Ingram. Quickley has been pretty good as of late, but there is still the question of whether a more dynamic point guard would boost this team into actually being good enough to be mainstays in a playoff conversation. When he gives you 15 points, though, you can’t complain too much.
It’s Jakob Poeltl who seems to be the most glaring problem in the Toronto Raptors’ core. Your big man giving you 6 points in a game isn’t all that acceptable. Is the difference between this team being just big and them being great having a star center on the roster? Would a capable big man turn this team into a contender? Regardless, Poeltl’s lack of oomf is a glaring eyesore on an otherwise decent performance from the Raptors starters Friday night.
With 16 games left in the regular season, the Raptors need every win they can get. They’ll have another chance to improve from the slump of the beginning of March when they play a Sunday matinee game against the Detroit Pistons.
