Post Game Report Card: Swaggy P And Lakers Stomp On Raptors

I just don’t know what to say about this team. The Toronto Raptors led by as many as 19 over a pretty bad Los Angeles Lakers team, but ended up losing 112-106.

This one was embarrassing to say the least. The refs did make a few awfully bad calls (which lead to 28 Laker free throws vs 11 for the Raptors), but for the most part it was the Raptors that let the Lakers storm back and put themselves in the position to lose. Dwane Casey has gotten a better grasp of his team, but still makes some mind boggling decisions I cannot support. 23 minutes for Chuck Hayes with 14 for Jonas Valanciunas? No Patrick Patterson down the stretch? I simply cannot commend Casey as a high caliber coach when he can’t adjust to ‘D’Antoni ball’.

And why was Julyan Stone playing? Anyone?

Another point I would like to make is the fact that DeMar DeRozan is not clutch whatsoever. The man is my favorite player in the NBA, however he should not be touching the ball in the 4th quarter whatsoever. The shot selection was atrocious from him at times, and there’s a reason he finished 10-24.

Let’s get to the report card.

Offense – C

After the first quarter, the Raptors were shooting around 74% from the field. The second quarter was more of the same. The ball was moving, and they did finish with 30 assists overall. To put things in perspective, they finished the game shooting nearly 49%

Kyle Lowry was great once again, dropping 21 points and 9 assists while shooting a stellar 8-13.  If this man isn’t an all-star, something is seriously wrong. Patterson finished with 17 points and was solid throughout the game, but didn’t get any burn when it mattered the most.

It was nice to see a solid game from Greivis Vasquez as well, as he finished with 11 and 8.

Amir Johnson took 4 threes too many tonight, and I don’t know who gave this team the green light to shoot 30 threes. It was ridiculous.

Defense – F 

I don’t care who you are, if you are letting Ryan Kelly drop 17 points on 7 shots, something is wrong. Nick “Swaggy P” Young was on fire as well, finishing with 29. The overall defensive intensity was just not there whatsoever, and it translated to poor offense and a loss at the end of it. The Raps seemed to coast after they got their lead, and stopped actually doing the things that got them the lead in the first place.

Rebounding – A+ 

This was the only thing that kept the Raps going, as they outrebounded the Lakers 47-31. Valanciunas and Patterson led the way with 7, but it was a nicely distributed 47 rebounds with everyone grabbing at least 2.

Game Ball – Nick Young

I’m not going to talk much about Nick Young. He scored 29 points, and hit some ridiculous shots. On to the next.

Disgusting loss once again, with shades of the Boston stinker last week flashing back. Tomorrow’s 2PM game vs the Charlotte Bobcats appears to be a must win right now. Let’s see if the Raps bring the intensity they need to get it done.