Post Game Report Card: Raptors Eke Out a Win Against the Depleted Nuggets

Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images

In what turned out to be a slog through the second half, the Toronto Raptors were able to find a way to beat the Denver Nuggets in overtime, 112-107. It was the Raptors’ first home victory in overtime since 2009. Kyle Lowry struggled but still managed to record a double-double. The Raptors are now 3-2 without DeMar DeRozan this season. Frankly, the Raptors won’t be able to take the second half of the back-to-back against the Cleveland Cavaliers tomorrow night if they played like they did tonight against an injury ravaged Nuggets team.

Offense: B

The offence was fantastic in the first half, and then struggled in the second half. Lou Williams was a spark plug off the bench, contributing 26 points to the effort. Jonas Valanciunas showed off some solid post moves and was effective in the pick-n-roll. He had 18 points and 12 rebounds to notch the double-double. Terrence Ross struggled from deep, but he kept himself relevant by putting the ball on the floor and finishing with some pull up jumpers, even hitting a floater. He finished with 16. The Raptors were able to get open looks pretty consistently, but the shots weren’t dropping in that second half. This happened throughout the Cavaliers game. As elite as the Raptors have been on this side of the court this season, they’ll live and die by their defense during the most critical stretches of the season.

Defense: D

The Raptors’ perimeter defense is easily the most frustrating aspect of this team’s performance up to this point in the season. Too often are the opposition’s guards allowed to penetrate the paint, resulting in close looks at the rim and wide open perimeter shots due to scrambling rotations by the defence. Ty Lawson was marvelous , racking up 22 points and 12 assists. He routinely exploited the Raptors defense, only slowing down during the latter stages of the fourth quarter, and in overtime. Remember, the Nuggets were without four key rotation players tonight, and they had just played a game in Atlanta the night before. Aside from the displays of incompetence, the most frustrating thing about this team is that they show flashes of being the top 10 defensive team from last season. The Nuggets couldn’t do anything for most of the second quarter, and that defensive sequence at the end of the fourth that resulted in a 24 second violation was brilliant; the rotations were on point and the Nuggets couldn’t get into the lane. It just hasn’t been there for the Raptors on a consistent basis. Dwane Casey, who’s been stressing the need for improved defense, should strongly consider replacing Greivis Vasquez with James Johnson in the starting lineup. As great as the Venezuelan Vasquez is offensively when he gets going, he’s too slow defensively and allows too much penetration.

Rebounding: C-

The Nuggets were able to dominate the offensive glass down the stretch. They had 19 in total, including seven from Timofey Mozgov. Darrell Arthur had eight in just 24 minutes of action. On the flip side, many of Valanciunas’ boards were contested and he did a solid job of being physical tonight.

Game Ball: Patrick Patterson 

Tom Szczerbowski- USA TODAY Sports

2pat was clutch. When it mattered most, the Nuggets couldn’t see Patrick Patterson. He nailed a three to send the game into OT, and was a huge reason why the Raptors were able to climb to 16-5. Patterson had 19 points and eight rebounds, shooting 5-7 from downtown. The rest of the team only managed to go 4-26 from beyond the arc. On the one year anniversary of the Rudy Gay trade, Patterson showed why he’s been such a huge part of the Raptors success since that franchise altering move.