Raptors Discussion: v71|RIP Bruno era (2014-2017)

[Mitchy]

Terrible, terrible loss. Such a winnable game ugh. Boston lost against the Bulls too which makes it all that worse.

 

[MJ65]

I am pretty disappointed with last night's loss

 

[donghabs98]

The bright spot yesterday: JV hit another three

The bad spot: The raps couldn't had two separate sequences where they couldn't get any shot to go.

 

[Glenn Isildur Healy]

That Raptors game reminds me of what this team looks like in the playoffs

 

[Dominator13]

I just got my tickets for January 13th against Golden State. I'm pumped!!

 

[Budsfan]

Game Preview: Raptors at Suns | Toronto Raptors

Game Preview: Raptors at Suns

Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com
Posted: Dec 13, 2017

Toronto Raptors (17-8) @ Phoenix Suns (9-19)
When: Wednesday, December 13, 9:00 P.M. ET.
Where: Talking Stick Resort Arena
Broadcast info: TSN, SN590
LAST MEETING
The Raptors recorded a 126-113 victory against the Phoenix Suns at the Air Canada Centre on Dec. 5 behind seven players reaching double figures. The Raptors jumped out to an early lead, scoring 36 points in the opening quarter and then exploding for a 42-point third quarter, to go into the fourth ahead by 18 points. Phoenix used an 11-2 run and a 34-point fourth quarter to get within 10 points midway through the quarter, but the outcome was never in doubt. DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry each scored 20 points, Serge Ibaka added 19 points and OG Anunoby tied a career-high with 16 points. The Suns were led by Devin Booker's 19 points, but he left the game with a strained adductor late in the fourth quarter.
LEADING INTO TONIGHT'S GAME
Injury report: Delon Wright (right shoulder) and Lucas Nogueira (right calf) will miss the game for the Raptors. The Suns will be without Devin Booker (left adductor strain), Brandon Knight (out for the season after ACL surgery), Davon Reed (left meniscus repair) and Alan Williams (right meniscus repair).
Back-to-back: Wednesday's match up against the Suns will be the final game in a four-game west-coast road trip for Toronto. After taking care of the first two games, the Raptors faltered in Los Angeles, falling 96-91 to the Clippers in an ugly game that no one wants to remember. Wednesday will be a back-to-back for the Suns, who played against the Kings in Sacramento on Tuesday.
Road warriors: With the completion of this four-game trip, the Raptors will return to Toronto having played the fewest home games in the league. The positive of this is that moving forward, the team will not travel beyond the Central Time Zone for the remainder of the season and will not have a road trip longer than three games the rest of the way through.
EXTRA ASSISTS
Assist club: Kyle Lowry is averaging 7.0 assists per game, eighth in the league. When he reaches double figures in assists, recording 10 or more, the Raptors are 5-0. Lowry is also averaging 16.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 0.9 steals in 25 games this season.
Looking forward: After Monday's disappointing loss against the Clippers, the Raptors are ready to leave the loss in Los Angeles and focus on finishing their road trip strong. "It happens," DeMar DeRozan said. "We're going to have nights like that where we miss shots. We made a lot of mistakes in the last couple of minutes of the game."
Battle on the boards: Though the Raptors held the Clippers under 40 percent shooting (37 percent), they were dominated on the boards. Los Angeles grabbed 57 rebounds, including 14 on the offensive glass, six offensive boards coming from DeAndre Jordan. Late in the game, they allowed the Clippers to control crucial offensive rebounds off of missed free throws. The Raptors as a team had 39 rebounds, and just three on the offensive glass. Against the Suns, and moving forward, regardless of the five-man lineup on the floor, Toronto will be looking to be quicker to the glass.

 

[sparxx87]

Unfortunately, I have a hard time seeing any team being interested in JV unless we attach an asset with him.

I prefer Ibaka/Poeltl in the starting lineup. Offensively, you can have Ibaka in the perimeter and/or on the wing and Poeltl down low or at the top of the key. Poeltl is versatile enough defensively that he could guard some PFs while Ibaka is the rim protector. We already see a lot of Ibaka/Poeltl towards the end of the game so why not start them together.

Siakam/Ibaka scares me a bit rebounding wise and don't like them together offensively. I prefer Siakam's defensive versatility in the 2nd unit because he's going to be paired with JV or Bebe. JV at least has a mid-range jumper so better than Siakam/Poeltl

I remember talk in the summer about moving JV for DeAndre Jordan... Not sure what they’d have to include to get it done, but I might like that deal.

 

[Budsfan]

 

[MJ65]

Another win and now they are 18 - 8 for the season but still 4 games behind Boston - DeRozan with another solid game

 

[stickty111]

Almost let them comeback but found a way.

 

[Dominator13]

Another win and now they are 18 - 8 for the season but still 4 games behind Boston - DeRozan with another solid game

I don't think we have a chance in hell to catch up to Boston, not that it's a bad thing with their record start of the season.

The JV-Ibaka combo played amazing yesterday. Flaws aside, JV is a damn good shooter for a 5.

Powell on the other hand, had a cringe worthy performance. He looks like the next T-Ross to me, you never know what to expect. I don't see starting player material in him at all.

 

[inthe6ix]

18-8 beating teams we should beat and losing to most of the elite ones.

Same script, different year.

 

[stickty111]

I don't think we have a chance in hell to catch up to Boston, not that it's a bad thing with their record start of the season.

The JV-Ibaka combo played amazing yesterday. Flaws aside, JV is a damn good shooter for a 5.

Powell on the other hand, had a cringe worthy performance. He looks like the next T-Ross to me, you never know what to expect. I don't see starting player material in him at all.

Well at least Ross could at times hit a 3.
Powell is just useless right now.

 

[The Nemesis]

I love how quickly everyone's turned on Powell. We go from "OMG HE WAS SUCH A STEAL!!!!!" after last season, to dancing in the streets on a fair market value contract extension in october, to acting like he's worthless and unplayable and should be fired into the sun right now.

 

[Budsfan]

Game Preview: Raptors vs. Nets | Toronto Raptors

Game Preview: Raptors vs. Nets

Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com
Posted: Dec 15, 2017

Brooklyn Nets (11-16) @ Toronto Raptors (18-8)
When: Friday, December 15, 7:30 P.M. ET.
Where: Air Canada Centre
Broadcast info: TSN, TSN1050
LAST MEETING
The Raptors defeated the Nets 103-95 in Brooklyn in the last meeting between these two teams in February of last year. Kyle Lowry had a 15-point, 11-rebound, 11-assist triple-double as the Raptors played without DeMar DeRozan and ended a two-game losing streak. Jonas Valanciunas scored 22 points to lead the Raptors in scoring and former Raptor Terrence Ross added 17 points. The Nets, who were led by Brook Lopez's 20 points, trailed by 17 points before cutting the deficit to four midway through the fourth. With the game in doubt, Lowry went into action, setting up his teammates and knocking down free throws to secure the victory.
LEADING INTO TONIGHT'S GAME
Injury report: Delon Wright (right shoulder) and Lucas Nogueira (right calf) will miss the game for the Raptors. For the Nets, D'Angelo Russell (left knee surgery) and Jeremy Lin (ruptured patella tendon right knee) are out.
Recent history: The Raptors come into Friday's game having won their previous eight meetings with the Nets. Toronto has swept the season series the past two seasons, winning those games by an average margin of +11.3 points. Of course, this year's Nets team has a different look, with long-time Net Brook Lopez now a Los Angeles Laker, and Jeremy Lin and D'Angelo Russell both sidelined with injury.
DeRozan rolling: In Toronto's 115-109 victory against the Phoenix Suns to close out their four-game road trip 3-1, DeMar DeRozan tied a season-high with 37 points. He scored 18 points in the third quarter and finished 12-for-24 from the floor and 13-for-15 from the free throw line. DeRozan is averaging 23.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 34.5 minutes per game.
EXTRA ASSISTS
Double-double: Jonas Valanciunas recorded a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double against the Suns on Wednesday. This was the 110th career double-double for Valanciunas, moving him into a tie with Antonio Davis for second all-time in Raptors history. The all-time franchise leader is Chris Bosh with 239 double-doubles.
Familiar faces: Former Raptors player DeMarre Carroll will make his return to the Air Canada Centre after being traded to the Nets over the offseason. Carroll is having a solid season in Brooklyn, averaging single-season highs of 13.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. While this will be Carroll's first return to the ACC, Nets forward Quincy Acy is also a former Raptors player, having been drafted by Toronto with the 37th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.
Back-to-back: Fridays game will be Toronto's first home game following a four-game west-coast road trip. It will be the second game in a back-to-back for the Nets, who lost to the New York Knicks on Thursday before flying to Toronto for Friday's matchup against the Raptors.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[Dr.Funk]

Delon Wright is returning to the line-up tonight.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[MJ65]

Huge win for the Raptors tonight - keep it up

 

[Byron Bitz]

Hey guys, don't post here often but all v gotta say is 11th career triple double is a big deal. Kyle Lowrys the faking man

 

[Glenn Isildur Healy]

The starting lineup is beasting right now
No complains. I think the key is Ibaka stepping up his game offensively and defensively. Feel like he's opened up things for JV in specific.

Siakam needs to stop shooting. His shot is always seemingly far left or far right. My prediction is that he'll be irrelevant once the playoffs come because he's an offensive liability in a half court set.

 

[stickty111]

First the bench was great, and starters were not. Now its the opposite.
Even's out.

 

[The Nemesis]

Siakam's problem remains that he continues to hopelessly jack up 3s even though he sucks at it. If he could just stop that, he'd be fine.

And even if his whole shot goes in the tank, he'll likely have some utility as no worse than the 11th/12th man on the bench who can come in as an energy/defensive player vs bigs.

 

[Budsfan]

Game Preview: Raptors vs. Kings | Toronto Raptors

Game Preview: Raptors vs. Kings

Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com
Posted: Dec 16, 2017

Sacramento Kings (9-19) @ Toronto Raptors (19-8)
When: Sunday, December 17, 3:30 P.M. ET.
Where: Air Canada Centre
Broadcast info: TSN, SN590
LAST MEETING
The Raptors defeated the Kings 102-87 a week ago, in Sacramento, in the first of two meetings between these teams this season. Though Toronto jumped out to an early 17-2 lead to start, the Kings hung around until late in the third when DeMar DeRozan scored 13 of his 25 points to help the Raptors pull away. DeRozan's high-scoring night in Sacramento pushed him past 12,000 career points, making him the first player in franchise history to accomplish the feat. Kyle Lowry had a 15-point, 12-rebound, double-double and Serge Ibaka added 20 points for Toronto. The Kings were led by Zach Randolph's 19 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
LEADING INTO TONIGHT'S GAME
Injury report: Lucas Nogueira is out with a right calf injury and C.J. Miles is questionable with a sore left shoulder. For the Kings, Sacramento beat reporter Jason Jones reported that rookie De'Aaron Fox is doubtful with a right quad contusion and Malachi Richardson is questionable because of a left ankle injury.
Triple-double Lowry: Kyle Lowry recorded his 11th career triple-double, and ninth as a Raptor, in Friday's victory against the Nets. He had a 10-point, 12-assist, 10-rebound statline, placing even more distance between himself and the other Raptors players who have multiple triple-doubles: The next closest Raptors player is Damon Stoudamire, with three triple-doubles, followed by Jose Calderon and Marcus Camby who both have two triple-doubles as members of the Raptors.
Eight straight: The Raptors enter Sunday's game having won eight straight contests at home. They also own an NBA-best 10-1 record on their home floor. The ACC has been packed during this stretch, with the arena in the midst of the longest sellout streak in franchise history of 148 consecutive games.
EXTRA ASSISTS
Wright back: Delon Wright made his return to the court in Friday's victory against the Nets after a 12-game absence with a right shoulder injury. Despite the layoff, the reserve point guard showed little rust in his return, logging nearly 16 minutes and scoring seven points (3-for-8 field goals) to go with two assist and a steal.
Taking care of the ball: In the previous meeting between these two teams, the Raptors helped force the Kings into 21 turnovers leading to 27 points scored by Toronto. In comparison, the Raptors had 13 miscues, giving up 15 points to the Kings off those mistakes. Look for Toronto to aim for a repeat on Sunday.
Making it look easy: DeMar DeRozan's scoring spree continues as he scored 20 of his 31 points in the first half against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday. This was the sixth time this season that DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in a half. The Raptors are undefeated in those games. On the season, DeRozan is averaging 24 points and a career-high 5.0 assists per game.

 

[MapleLeafistan]

This could be Vince Carter's final game in Toronto.

I hope somehow he comes back next season and signs a 1 year deal with the Raptors and then magically leads them through the playoffs and to an NBA championship. What a story that would be...left on bad terms, hopped from team to team like a nomad and then comes back at 42 years old and wins a championship with the team that drafted him.

All ill will towards him would disappear...instant legend status would ensue.

I know it's stretch, but it deserves to happen like that.