Raptor of the Night: Kyle Lowry
Kyle Lowry (7.5)
33 MIN, 21 PTS, 4 REB, 8 AST, 0 STL, 7-10 FG, 3-6 3FG, 4-5 FT, 0 BLK, 4 TO, -18 +/-
Fast, aggressive, and smart to begin the ball game. Attacked the paint to worry the Cavs bigs of their fouls then hit from outside. This was Kyle from 3 years ago trying to take over a game but with more fitness and more team awareness. Didn’t get enough support. Let’s not talk about that block-charge.
DeMar Derozan (6.0)
35 MIN, 24 PTS, 0 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 11-23 FG, 0-5 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 0 +/-
The Cavs have zoned in on how to make life difficult for Derozan and its by making things difficult for himself. Another inefficient shooting night and all the Cavs did was not jump on pump-fakes.
OG Anunoby (6.0)
23 MIN, 5 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1-3 FG, 1-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -10 +/-
Can’t ask much from OG, but today we saw some hesitance in his shot preparation and not as much activity off the ball. Need the little things from OG, we don’t ask for much, but be solid and steady.
Serge Ibaka (4.0)
12 MIN, 2 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 0-5 FG, 0-1 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -10 +/-
$65m USD until 2020.
Jonas Valanciunas (6.0)
26 MIN, 16 PTS, 12 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 8-11 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, -11 +/-
We can talk all day about what should happen on offence to play through him, but if he doesn’t establish early deep post position that opportunity is a wash. Biggest, strongest guy on the court and we need him to have more than 8 FGA by the third quarter. Played too tight on Love off the ball and got roasted on back-cuts.
Fred VanVleet (7.0)
23 MIN, 14 PTS, 0 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 5-10 FG, 4-7 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 2 +/-
Don’t let this kid go.
Delon Wright (5.5)
23 MIN, 5 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 2-4 FG, 1-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, -4 +/-
See what you can get.
Norman Powell (N/A)
3 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 4 +/-
Love ya, but probably goodbye.
CJ Miles (6.5)
20 MIN, 8 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 3-5 FG, 2-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -12 +/-
CJ is and always will be a threat on the offensive end. He’s fast enough to get to the bucket and his three is cash. Why Casey thought matching him up against Love was a good idea is beyond me. Pretty much keyed the Cavs third quarter run and it was too late when he got pulled.
Pascal Siakam (6.5)
18 MIN, 2 PTS, 6 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -1 +/-
Seeing LeBron get bothered by Pascal is fun. It’s even more fun to see the referees come to LeBron’s rescue over some pre-inbound antics. It’s not fun to see him get called for ticky-tack fouls more often than not. Is it bad defence when a fadeaway long two is successful?
Jakob Poeltl (5.5)
14 MIN, 8 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 3-3 FG, 0-0 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -7 +/-
Made himself more available today on the offensive end and was much more decisive. On the defensive side Yak it’s like he wakes up in a new world every play.
Lucas Nogueira (N/A)
2 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 0 +/-
Are you checking in on Bruno for us?
Lorenzo Brown (N/A)
2 MIN, 3 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 1-2 FG, 1-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 0 +/-
MVP! MVP! MVP!
Alfonzo McKinnie (INC)
Inactive
N/A
Malachi Richardson (INC)
Inactive
N/A
Thoughts:
- Despite a hot start from Lowry and company you saw from the beginning the Raptors weren’t going to what worked in Game 1. Valanciunas saw very few touches and was limited more by the Raptors offensive scheme than the Cavaliers defence.
- Dwane Casey should’ve never had CJ Miles guarding Kevin Love. He also should’ve pulled him or made a defensive adjustment about six post-ups earlier.
- Raptors are in the most Raptors-esque hole to start round 2. Granted when LeBron hits fadeaway post-ups over and over from steps inside three it’s his night. It didn’t have to be anyone elses.
- As a longtime writer and fan of the Raptors it is and always will be incredibly annoying to see how barren the stands are during the third. It helps teams key runs when the ACC is known to have one of the most influential crowds in the game. The whistle has gone, get in your seats!
Raptors – Cavaliers Game 3 is Saturday, April 5th at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Tip-Off 8:30pm.
