This one is going to sting. The Toronto Raptors dropped a game to the Sacramento Kings to kick off their tough road trip on the wrong foot. The Raptors controlled the majority of the game, but a late push down the stretch led the Kings to a 107-101 victory.
Tonight’s loss was inexcusable. They were up by double digits in the fourth quarter to a Kings team that was 3-7 before tonight. Mind you, they are much better than their record, and have won 3 straight. Regardless, Dwane Casey‘s coaching failures once again led to this loss. For some reason, Bismack Biyombo played down the stretch – leaving the Raps playing 5 on 4 offensively, with no inside presence to initiate ball movement. There was isolation heavy play down the stretch which created a stagnant offense. Terrible shot selection, bad rotation management, late timeout calling, poor adjustments on both ends. This is a scary case of deja vu. Let’s just get to the report card.
Offense: B
101 points is great, but if you can’t score when it counts it means squat. 19 points in the fourth quarter isn’t going to cut it when you are getting annihilated by DeMarcus Cousins.
DeMar DeRozan led with 24, Kyle Lowry scored 22, and Cory Joseph and DeMarre Carroll chipped in 17 each. With 5 guys contributing the glut of the offense, at an inefficient rate (aside from Joseph), it’s not necessarily a great sign even though point volumes were high. The Raps combined for just 18 assists.
Defense: C
Not good. Jonas Valanciunas had a hard time containing Cousins. Casey’s alternative, Bismack Biyombo was literally just as bad. DMC finished the game with 36 points. Rudy Gay also had his way, scoring 27 points.
Rebounding: B
Rebounding wasn’t great. The most boards on the team was from Biyombo, with 6. The Raps were outrebounded 42-36 – definitely a factor that turned the game in their favor.
Game Ball: DeMarcus Cousins
What a terror. This guy can hit three-pointers now, which in my opinion makes him as the best big man in the NBA. 36 points, 10 rebounds like it was nothing.
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