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Post Game Report Card: Raptors comeback falls short versus Mavericks

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Chris Young / Associated Press

Although the men in purple fought until the end like always, it just wasn’t meant to be in this one. In what was an ugly affair for most of the night, the Toronto Raptors made things interesting late against the Dallas Mavericks, but ultimately fell short— losing 106-102 in front of the home crowd. Sometimes, #WeTheFourth isn’t quite enough. The team now sits at 13-3 on the season (9-2 at home). There is work to be done, but there’s no need to push that panic button. Let’s take a look at how this all went down.

Offense: C

The late fourth quarter run almost earned the team a higher grade in this area, but when looking at this entirety of this game, anything higher than a “C” would have been a tad bit generous. Jack Armstrong was spot on when he compared the Raptors early play to that of the Cleveland Cavaliers in their matchup with Toronto this past weekend. Like Cleveland on Saturday night against the Raptors, Toronto started hot from the floor in this affair with Dallas, rushing out of the gates with a 10-0 run to begin the game. Then the road team settled down and locked in on defense. After digging themselves into a 10 point hole, the Mavs outscored the Raptors 48-33 for the remainder of the first half. Though they’re known as an offensive team (number one in the league), the Dallas defense was absolutely staggering. Outside of Amir Johnson (who finished with 20 points), none of the Raptors starters were able to find a groove. While the play of Lou Williams (16 points, 5/11 FGA) and some of the other rotation players was enough to keep the game in striking distance, Toronto was unable to establish any sort of flow on the offensive side of things. Kyle Lowry was in foul trouble, Terrence Ross wasn’t making the shots he usually drops, and Jonas Valanciunas was clearly bothered by the inside defensive presence of Tyson Chandler.

As if things weren’t bad enough already, DeMar DeRozan went down in the third quarter and didn’t return, succumbing to what was later confirmed to be a left groin injury. The night couldn’t have gone much worse for DeMar, as he went scoreless – 0 for 8 from the field with no free throw attempts – before heading to the locker room. At this point, it looked like the Mavs were going to pull away, but the resilient Raptors kept it close enough for the #WeTheFourth tweets to starts rolling in. However, the run never quite got the team over the hump. It’s safe to say that it made people refrain from changing the channel though. With just over a minute to go, Greivis Vasquez (14 points, six assists, 5/11 FGA) knocked down back-to-back threes to make things interesting— and then, by some miracle, the team was able to get the lead down to two points in the game’s waning moments  – despite six fourth quarter turnovers (17 in total for the game). Kyle Lowry (25 points, four assists on 9 of 22 shooting) was getting to the basket for layups quickly enough to keep hope alive. There just wasn’t enough time though. Devin Harris hit two free throws to ice it with six seconds remaining, and that was all she wrote.

Defense: B

Yes, the Mavericks finished with 106 points, but the Raptors defense was actually solid. Toronto looked quite sluggish on offensive tonight, but Dallas wasn’t very stellar either. The simple fact is that the Raptors were fighting an uphill battle and the offense wasn’t enough to get the team back into the lead. However, the defense gave the home team quite a few chances to do so. While ugly offense was the recurring theme in this one, defensive stops consistently kept the Raptors within striking distance. It was pretty solid throughout. Until Monta Ellis found his late-game mojo. In a game where Dirk Nowitzki‘s offensive impact was noticeably limited (15 points, hitting only 6 of 19 shots), Monta’s fourth quarter takeover was necessary. Ellis – who torched the Raptors for 30 points of 12 of 25 shooting  – was a monster late in this one, hitting shot after shot to put this one away (until the seemingly inevitable Raptors comeback effort). He didn’t do it by himself though— Chandler Parsons chipped in with 16 points, while Tyson Chandler and Al-Farouq Aminu contributed with 11 and 14 respectively.

Rebounding: A

Surprisingly, there were no rebounding woes for the Raptors tonight versus an imposing Mavericks frontcourt. Toronto demolished Dallas on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 55-37. The Mavs were only to pull down six offensive boards in comparison to Toronto’s 15. Second chance points were limited, and the Raptors were able to keep themselves in a game they could’ve possibly lost by 15 or more. JV and 2Pat were phenomenal on the glass, combining for 25 rebounds themselves. Amir was no slouch either, finishing with 9 boards to go along with his 20 points. Tyson Chandler led the way for the Mavs in this regard, pulling down 10 rebounds in the win.

Game Ball: Monta Ellis

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2 thoughts on “Post Game Report Card: Raptors comeback falls short versus Mavericks”

  1. I am concerned with how both T. Ross and J.V. are having cold starts, most nights. It is tough to stay with the top teams if you have two starters who too often are not contributing points…then to have DeRozan also go cold made the night a chase from behind.
    Looking ahead to possible trades… I think the game last night vs Mavericks showed the need for another big. Landry Fields has an expiring contract…likely gone at trade deadline?

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