Raptors Discussion: v72| ECQF | (1) Raptors vs (8) Wizards | Raptors win series 4-2 and advance to EC Semi-Finals

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Budsfan

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Game Preview: Raptors vs. Hornets | Toronto Raptors

Game Preview: Raptors vs. Hornets

Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com
Posted: Mar 04, 2018

Charlotte Hornets (28-35) @ Toronto Raptors (43-17)
When: Sunday, March 4, 6 P.M. ET
Where: Air Canada Centre
Broadcast info: TSN, SN590
LAST MEETING
The Raptors last faced the Hornets in Charlotte, where a 123-103 victory earned Dwane Casey his 300th win as Raptors head coach. DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points to lead the Raptors, while C.J. Miles added 24 and six players reached double figures for Toronto. The Raptors got off to a quick start in the game, and kept building, leading by four after the first quarter, seven at the half and 16 heading into the fourth thanks to an 18-2 run to start the second half. Toronto shot 56 percent from the floor and 47 percent from beyond the three-point line in the game. Kemba Walker scored 23 points to go with nine assists to lead the Hornets in the loss.
LEADING INTO TONIGHT'S GAME
Injury report:
OG Anunoby will be out of action for Toronto because of a right ankle sprain. Anunoby rolled the ankle in Toronto's victory against the Orlando Magic on Feb. 28. He did not play in Toronto's win in Washington on Friday. For the Hornets, Cody Zeller is day-to-day with left knee soreness. He did not play in Charlotte's loss to the Sixers on Friday.
Assist city: The Raptors had a franchise-high tying 16-game streak of recording at least 20 assists snapped in Friday's victory against the Washington Wizards. Toronto just missed out, recording 19 assists in the game. Despite the snapped streak, Toronto is 37-10 when recording 20+ assists this year, after having 34 games with 20+ assists last season.
Season series: This will be Toronto's final of four meetings against the Hornets this year. Charlotte comes to Toronto after dropping a 110-99 decision to the 76ers in Philadelphia on Friday and have lost two straight after the Celtics snapped a season-high five-game winning streak.The Raptors are 3-0 in the season series.
EXTRA ASSISTS
C.J. lets it fly:
With the Raptors in need of an offensive boost in Washington on Friday night, C.J. Miles answered the call. Again and again and again. Miles scored 20 points off the bench in 20 minutes against the Wizards. He shot 7-for-10 from the floor and 6-for-9 from beyond the arc. It was his highest-scoring game since he scored 24 points in Toronto's last victory against the Hornets in Charlotte on Feb. 11.
FVV hive: Friday's game in Washington was a rare off-night from the floor for Fred VanVleet, who shot just 2-for-9, including 1-for-6 from the three-point line. Still, VanVleet found a way to impact the game in Toronto's favor, as always, playing 29 minutes and posting a team-best +20 as he finished with 12 points, four rebounds, three assists a steal and a blocked shot.
Taking care of the ball: The Raptors defeated the Wizards by seven points on Friday. While there was plenty the team could have cleaned up (missing 12 free throws, getting out-rebounded 47-32, including 15-8 on the offensive glass), one area the Raptors ran circles around the Wizards was taking care of the ball. Toronto turned the ball over just seven times in the game, compared to Washington's 18 miscues. In a seven-point victory, this translated to a 27-5 advantage of points off turnovers.
 

Dominator13

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I’ll be looking at JV vs Howard for this game. JV continues to impress the heck out of me, dominating a lot of matchups with centres who are considered far superior to him. I thought it was given that the team would go with a Poetl/Nogueira tandem in 2018-2019, not so sure anymore.
 

Paladin2799

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I’ll be looking at JV vs Howard for this game. JV continues to impress the heck out of me, dominating a lot of matchups with centres who are considered far superior to him. I thought it was given that the team would go with a Poetl/Nogueira tandem in 2018-2019, not so sure anymore.

Honestly, JV adding a 3 pointer turned him from a bottom half center into a top half center.

Teams are defending him totally differently now and its opening up the space on the floor.

I really think JV has turned the page this year and is a top 15 center in the league.
 
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canuck89

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Prince George
I'm cautiously optimistic about the playoffs. Given the distance between the Raptors/Celtics and the rest of the East, we've essentially guaranteed ourselves a top-two seed. I would love to see this Raptors team make it all the way to the Finals.
 

Dr.Funk

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Toronto is signing D League forward Nigel Hayes to a 10-day contract, league sources tell ESPN.
 

Budsfan

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Game Preview: Raptors vs. Hawks | Toronto Raptors

Game Preview: Raptors vs. Hawks

Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com
Posted: Mar 06, 2018

Atlanta Hawks (20-44) @ Toronto Raptors (45-17)
When: Tuesday, March 6th, 7 P.M. ET
Where: Air Canada Centre
Broadcast info: SN1, SN590
LAST MEETING
Toronto last saw the Hawks in Atlanta in late January, earning a 108-93 victory behind a 16-point, 13-rebound performance from Jonas Valanciunas. Fred VanVleet had 19 points off the bench and DeMar DeRozan scored 14 points as the Raptors connected on 14 three-pointers. Toronto jumped out to a 17-6 lead in the first quarter, led by 12 after the first 12 minutes and never looked back. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Raptors lead had stretched to 20 points. The Hawks were led by Dennis Schroder's 20 points in the loss, with Kent Bazemore adding 13 points.
LEADING INTO TONIGHT'S GAME
Injury report:
OG Anunoby will be out for the third consecutive game with a sprained right ankle. Atlanta's injury report is still to be decided.
And another one: DeMar DeRozan was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played Feb. 26-Mar. 4. This is the fourth time this season that DeRozan has earned the honour, and the ninth time in his career. The Raptors went 4-0 during the week, thanks to DeRozan's 20.8 points, 5.8 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game.
Season series: Tuesday's game gives Toronto an opportunity to sweep their season-series with the Hawks for just the second time in team history. The last time Toronto swept the season-series against Atlanta was during the 2001-02 season.
EXTRA ASSISTS
Busy week:
Tuesday's game will conclude a brief two-game homestand. Following the matchup against the Hawks, the team will travel to Detroit where they will face the Pistons in a back-to-back on Wednesday at 8 P.M. After Wednesday's game, the team will return once again to the Air Canada Centre to prepare for the Houston Rockets on Friday.
Poeltl power: Jakob Poeltl continues to impress teammates and coaches with his feel for the game. Despite not scoring a single point in Sunday's win against the Hornets, Poeltl made his presence felt around the rim, blocking three shots. The only rookie or sophomore to have more blocked shots this season then Poeltl (83) is Philadelphia's Joel Embiid (82), and Poeltl has blocked at least one shot in a career-high 12 games straight.
Block city: Serge Ibaka scored 17 points on Sunday, to go with eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Ibaka is averaging 1.37 blocks per game and has blocked multiple shots in a single game 21 times this season. In his last 10 games, he's averaging 13.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per contest. The ninth-year forward is 34 points away from reaching 8,000 for his career.
 

Clark4Ever

What we do in hockey echoes in eternity...
Oct 10, 2010
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The Raps just found another gear and smoked them in the 4th quarter.

If we stay healthy, we're the deepest club in the East going into the playoffs.
 
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La Masse

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May 5, 2016
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The Raps just found another gear and smoked them in the 4th quarter.

If we stay healthy, we're the deepest club in the East going into the playoffs.

The ability to run a deep bench and not miss much offensively and defensively will be huge. Plus our starters wont be too tired for the playoffs
 
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canuck89

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May 17, 2014
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This looks to be the best Raptors team ever assembled. I want to see a Finals appearance out of these guys (especially after the disappointment of the 2015 & 2016 Jays in the playoffs). My nightmare would probably being eliminated by the Celtics. All of Boston's sports teams (Celtics, Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins) have at least one championship within the past decade, and I'm getting sick and tired of all their winning.
 

Budsfan

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Game Preview: Raptors at Pistons | Toronto Raptors

Game Preview: Raptors at Pistons

Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com
Posted: Mar 07, 2018

Toronto Raptors (46-17) @ Detroit Pistons (29-35)
When: Wednesday, Mar. 7th, 8 P.M. ET
Where: Little Caesars Arena
Broadcast info: TSN4/5, TSN1050
LAST MEETING
The Raptors defeated the Pistons 123-94 on the Air Canada Centre floor in their last meeting at the end of February. DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry each scored 20 points, Serge Ibaka added 19 points, and Pascal Siakam added 11 off the bench as the Raptors blew the game open in the second half. Toronto led 59-53 at the halftime break, but went on a 19-4 run to start the third quarter and never looked back. The Pistons were led by Andre Drummond's 18 points and 18 rebounds in the loss. Toronto made 17 three-pointers and recorded 31 assists in the game.
LEADING INTO TONIGHT'S GAME
Injury report:
The status of OG Anunoby (sprained right ankle) and Delon Wright (sprained big toe) are not known at this time. For the Pistons, Reggie Jackson (right ankle sprain) and Jon Leuer (left ankle surgery) are out.
Introducing Nigel: The Raptors announced on Tuesday that the team had signed Nigel Hayes from the NBA G League Westchester Knicks to a 10-day contract. The 6-foot-8,Hayes is averaging 16.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 35.6 minutes in 38 games with the Westchester Knicks this season.
Casey on Hayes: Raptors head coach Dwane Casey spoke about Hayes' addition prior to Toronto's victory against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night. "I know he's a tough kid," he said. "I watched him when he played in the NCAA Tournament at Wisconsin. "I looked at his [three-point shooting] numbers when he was at Westchester, and they've really improved. That's what we want to look at – here or with the 905 or whatever – make sure we evaluate him. That position in today's NBA is very valuable. If you can be a two-way guy at that position, a power three, a stretch four. Everybody is looking for those players."
EXTRA ASSISTS
Back-to-back:
Wednesday's contest against the Pistons will be a back-to-back for the Raptors who defeated the Atlanta Hawks 106-90 on Tuesday night. Toronto flew to Detroit immediately after Tuesday's game, to face the Pistons for the third time this season. Toronto is 2-0 in their previous meetings with Detroit with both wins coming at home.
From deep: C.J. Miles led the team in +/- in Tuesday's victory, with the Raptors being a +22 when he was on the floor. Miles played 27 minutes off the bench, scoring 14 points, including eight in the fourth quarter as he and the rest of the bench mob pulled away from the Hawks. He shot 5-for-11 from the floor and 4-for-9 from beyond the arc while adding seven rebounds and an assist.
Late-game defence: After hanging with the Hawks throughout the first three quarters, Toronto entered the fourth trailing by one on Tuesday night. For the final 12 minutes, they clamped down on defence and finally found their offence. The Raptors outscored Atlanta 30-13 in the final quarter, shooting 52 percent after shooting 34 percent in the first three quarters.. The bench scored 27 of the team's 30 points, with the reserves playing nearly the entire quarter.

 

The Best Leafs Ever

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Feb 28, 2017
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Lol what a dreadful draft that was? Selecting some unknown garbage all the way from Brazil. Thank god it's over now and hope Ujiri dont pull this kind of monkeys out of his a** next time.
 

Eyedea

The Legend Continues
Jan 29, 2012
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Lol what a dreadful draft that was? Selecting some unknown garbage all the way from Brazil. Thank god it's over now and hope Ujiri dont pull this kind of monkeys out of his a** next time.

A lot of the time it makes sense to swing for the fences with those late picks. It's not like he drafted Hasheem Thabeet 2nd overall. He has since followed up that selection with Wright, Poeltl, Siakam, and OG.
 

MorrisSmit89

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Mar 20, 2014
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A lot of the time it makes sense to swing for the fences with those late picks. It's not like he drafted Hasheem Thabeet 2nd overall. He has since followed up that selection with Wright, Poeltl, Siakam, and OG.

and signed an undrafted Freddy
 

The Nemesis

Semper Tyrannus
Apr 11, 2005
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Lol what a dreadful draft that was? Selecting some unknown garbage all the way from Brazil. Thank god it's over now and hope Ujiri dont pull this kind of monkeys out of his a** next time.

It's not like there were scads of better players picked afree Bruno. The nba draft has an incredible rate of drop-off in value once you even get out of the top 10. By the time you're past the lottery and into the 20s every selection is basically a giant gamble anyway. So you might as well gamble big. I don't fault him at all for going big on Bruno, even knowing with hindsight that it was a miss
 

stickty111

Registered User
Jan 23, 2017
26,557
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Raptors arent good enough to start thinking about future games. Terrible effort and game so far.
They just cant take games off if they want to go far in the playoffs.
 
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