NO WAY This Just Happened…

NO WAY This Just Happened…

I don’t care folks. The curse is over. Yes, the Toronto Raptors just lost a heartbreaking game, but we witnessed a masterclass from Scotty Barnes and swatted the heck out of LeBron James to end his over,000game streak of 10 plus points. But this game was an absolute whirlwind. And even despite the result, these are exactly the type of games you want to see the Toronto Raptors play in, fight in, and compete in. And while of course there’s no Luca Donic, no RJ Barrett and Yaka Purle on our side, this was an absolute just insane performance for both teams out here in this game. Lots of crazy storylines. I’m treating it as a win because we saw Scotty Barnes go head-to-head with LeBron James and yes, LeBron is 40 plus years old. Yes, all those types of things. He was not phased and he had a generational moment for Raptors fans. Yes, I’m going to dive into this game. I’m going to talk about it all, but LeBron James in this one ended up having, you know, so he has like over a thousand straight games of 10 plus points and tonight ended with eight six and 11. Still a solid performance, but the Raptors defense had him fairly clamped down. Scotty Barnes is to uh, you know, be appreciated for a lot of that defense. But at the end of the game, LeBron James, you could tell, was forcing a little bit a couple possessions here or there. Tried to drive in, do one of those LeBronto fades over Scotty Bars, and Scotty was having none of it. One of the most disrespectful blocks in NBA history. And ended that thousandgame streak. And it’s poetic. It’s deserving. That streak needed to end in Toronto. It needed to end after the years of just heartbreak that this guy caused. Forget to our fan to me. To me, I felt some redemption. I felt some rejoice out there watching the screen. Now, we lost the game. Ru Abora ripped my heart out after that. But after I saw that block, I was uh I was feeling fairly fairly good. But Scotty Barts deserves a ton of praise for his performance in tonight’s game against the LA Lakers because the Raptors lost this one. If you didn’t, if you didn’t see, I’ll break down Scotty’s points and all that. But basically, the Toronto Raptors lost this game 120 to 123. And it was close. The Lakers had the kind of tie to this game very early on, but the Raptors, especially led by Scotty Barnes, were able to bring this thing back and you have to show some love out there to Scotty in this one because he was magnificent on both ends of the court. If we take a look at his stats, 23 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists, nearly a triple double, knocked down, five of six free throws, had three blocks in this game. Scotty Barnes is sneaky, one of the best shot blockers in the entire NBA. You can look at his overall season averages and he has just been magnificent, right? Like right now in terms of uh he’s 11th in the NBA in block shots per game, which is insane for someone that’s not playing the center position. You can see his efficiency, you can see his all-around scoring, basically everything. Scotty Barnes is in the green in the upper echelons out there in the entire NBA, which is just a testament to his development, a testament to him being an all-star caliber player this season. And my one criticism or well there’s a few criticism I’m going to bring up, but Dario has been on a coaching masterclass this entire year. Don’t get me wrong, I I thought he coached a fairly strong game out here in this one. We’ll talk about his adjustments and moves with Jameson Battle in the fourth quarter. Darko’s been put doing a lot of great stuff over the course of this season, especially without much depth at the center position. But one decision I would have liked in play calls and whoever makes these decision, I’m assuming it’s Starkco or whatever, but Scotty Barnes deserved the ball in his hands more down the stretch of this game. I know we have Brandon Ingram as a closer and early on in this game, Brandon Ingram was playing fairly well, but it was clear Scotty Barnes was more locked in, more ready to go, creating more plays when the ball was in his hands. Whether he was scoring or facilitating, Scotty Barnes had it going a lot more. So the last two, three possessions, four possessions of this game, it was really ran through Brandon Ingram, who didn’t have a horrific game by any stretch of the imagination. But one thing, so 20 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, sold stuff, 06 from the three-point line. One thing I did notice about Brandon Ingram, I’ve been noting this, noticing this a ton as of late since RJ Barrett’s gone down. I don’t know if it’s effort because he’s slashing, he’s being aggressive, and by no means seems to be like a locker room cancer. That’s not what I’m saying. But the energy just hasn’t been where it was two weeks ago out there for Brandon Digger on the offensive end and defensive end. I see him walking up the court a little bit more than, you know, running to your spot and be able to start offense because, you know, if you’re just wasting four or five seconds out there in the shot clock, it’s going to affect how things are going out there on the offensive end. Brandon Ingram is just kind of slowly moving to a spot. I know elite scores, they can be slow, methodical, and all that, but that’s not what we were seeing from Brandon Ingram just two weeks ago. I think it’s affecting his game again. not super efficient game for him tonight. Missing a lot of his three-point shots. Again, I’m not sure if that’s playing a factor, but also at the defensive end. Last few games, there’s just been moments where, you know, it’s he’s swiping at balls rather than moving his feet and getting his chest in front. There was a couple times where he missed the box out and then guys like Jake Lorravia came in and, you know, got those moments. Brandon Ingram put on some muscle. It looked like, well, he still looks in phenomenal shape this season compared to where he was in previous years. you know, he’s never been fat or anything like that or but he’s or two too skinny, but you know, the slim frame of Brandon Ingram’s got some muscle on it and just two weeks ago, three weeks ago, the Raptors are rolling. Brandon Ingram just felt like there was a little bit more ump to his game. So, looking for that a little bit. Again, I’m not coming out here criticizing a guy that put up 27 and seven. But, you know, for a dude that especially supposed to be, you know, your top two guys, Brandon Ingram, I think, can be playing a little bit better because that’s what we’ve seen previous years. again that previous games with RJ Barrett out, it’s more pressure. More of the defense is going to be focused in and locked in on you than other players. So, I get that. I get how that can be tiring, frustrating, whatever it might be. But Brandon Ingram, not saying it, you know, putting the loss on him by any stretch of the imagination, but something to really look at. If we want to throw the loss on someone, it’s not someone on the Toronto Raptors at this game. It is a guy in the LA Lakers who in Austin Reeves, 44 points, five rebounds, 11 assists. And to be honest, the Raptors played some good defense. The refereeing was just so aggravating because yes, those little touch fouls could be called fouls and the Raptors are jumping at stuff, but it is so aggravating to watch someone play basketball like that. But I mean, you have it is a skill to play fast and get people to bite on pump fakes. We saw it with Demar De Rozan for years at this point. So again, Austin Reeves put on a masterclass in that area, but I’ve always said I’ll never complain about it after watching Dybar do it to other teams for years, but I don’t know, it was just uh he was ripping our hearts out every single possession. Austin Reeves was, and give credit where credit’s due to, you know, he had a phenomenal game. It was uh it was tough to watch as a Raptors fan, but that is what it is. One interesting coaching adjustment as well regarding Dark Rayovich, which I think, you know, again, it’s going to sound crazy coming from me because of course I’m the biggest Jamal Shed fan there is. I don’t think he had a horrible game by any stretch of the imagination, but the refereeing, you have to adjust with what’s going on. And Jamal Shed in this one was getting called for a lot of those fouls cuz he plays very aggressive defense, right? So that is something that you do have to understand. and you do have to, you know, take a look at and he got the match up especially during closing time out there on Austin Reefs got picked up with a couple fouls and then, you know, had to play off him a little bit. I thought Jacobe Walter and, you know, shed had four points, two rebounds, six assists. Wasn’t a bad game by shed. I don’t mind the decision him playing down the stretch, but Jacobe Walter had a fantastic game in this one. You know, 17 points, three rebounds, two assists for Jacobe. Only played 25 minutes. I thought he played a very, very strong game out there. again as strong as you can for a guy in Austin Reeves that’s averaged like 30 points per game in his own right but I thought Jacobe did a very good job out there in this game you know playing defense getting to his shots you know he’s a bit more size than Jamal Shed so you could finish in the lane I thought Jacobe Walter probably could have been the guy to close this game over Jamal Shed even though I know those Jamal Shed Emanuel Quickley lineups do add an extra dimension in terms of playmaking and other stuff out there on the court so that’s one thing just looking at you know Dark Royovich I think could have been tweaked could have been adjusted did again. I think he did a really good job and to give him praise. You know, there was a stretch cuz uh I I’ve been calling for this. I want Jameson Battle to get some extra run, get some extra minutes and stuff with what he’s able to provide. And there was a few minutes where Jameson Bell was out there on the court, didn’t do anything wrong. He was hustling on defense, but didn’t do anything right. And even in my head, I was like, “Okay, no, I like Jameson Bell’s out there, but you probably get one of those one of the other guys back in.” And you know, Darko, there’s a timeout called, and I assumed he’d get subbed out. Battlewood, but Battle’s back out there on the court and then really dominated the fourth quarter, so to speak. Like 10 points, four or five shooting from the field. Uh two, one of two from the three-point line. One of them was a very, very close three, which again would have been a nice one to go down. But Jameus Battle is trying out there on the defensive end. He looks strong. He’s making some beautiful back cuts out there in these games. And he’s just such a threat from behind the three-point line. There’s a reason why the Raptors are positive plus minus out there with him on the basketball court. And I was just impressed with his stretch during the most important stretch of this game. You know, subbed out with like three two three minutes to go in the fourth quarter. But I liked that uh they utilized Jameson Bow during that stretch. Probably would have had, you know, Jacobe Walter out there on the court or ran some more of Manuel Quickley and then Jacobe Walter out there in the game. But I don’t know, it’s it’s tough to manage rotations. You got so many pieces, so many guys out there on your team. It is what it is. But overall, the Raptors just played a really phenomenal performance in this one. Honestly, like given looking at the this entire Raptors team, it’s very few guys he could criticize in terms of their overall performance. I mean, Mamu, you know, missed a few shots, still had 13, eight and five, some beautiful passes, a couple weird turnovers, you know, missed a rebound at the Ed, but that is what it is. Colmary Boils in just 16 minutes of action, had 12 points, uh, two rebounds, three assists. the guys, the the shifty players out there on the basketball court for uh for the LA Lakers. They were kind of getting the best of the rook at times because we know Colin Murray Boils is elite out there on the defensive end, but it’s uh you know, sometimes you get those shifty pump fakes and stuff. They’ll draw into fouls. They’ll draw you into those you know, crafty moves that other players uh can run. But uh you know, he was solid out there. Emanuel Quickley had a very good game. He’s been playing very, very well as of late as well. You know, five and nine shooting from the field. Not the craziest of box score games, but knocked down two three-point shots and didn’t do anything over the top. Didn’t do anything bad. Like I think he played a lot better game than the box score would kind of indicate out here now at this point. And even got some jaw on the mobo in this one, which was uh you know some interesting run. He was hustling. He was giving effort out there. Didn’t do anything crazy, but I didn’t think he was a negative when he was out there on the basketball court. And uh Great Dick also got a limited run out there in this game. 16 minutes, eight points, you know, knocked down two three-point shots. Uh was struggling attacking. He got bailed out on at least one of those drives where he was going in a bit out of control but then got to the free throw line. I don’t know. Grady Dick, it’s going to be interesting to see these developments because Jacobe Walter once again overtook him out here. It uh terms of performance and impact out there in this game. But the last thing that I will bring up out there in this one is of course is uh AJ Lawson. He was called up. He was on the roster. Didn’t get any opportunity. Didn’t get any run. I mean lots of the wings were playing well. So I guess it makes sense. But, you know, we’ll still have to wait for AJ Lawson to uh get his opportunity to get his run. Now, the Toronto Raptors, again, the Eastern Conference is absolutely jam-packed. We fall back to the third seed or tied for the third seed out there in the Eastern Conference. Back with the New York Knicks. You still have a half game up there on the Miami Heat. The Boston Celtics are doing making a little bit of a run out there in the East as well. So, we’ll see how those things play out. The Sixers won a tough one against the Warriors tonight. There’s uh, you know, and the Cavs surprisingly have fallen right to the eighth seed. So again, the Raptors cannot get comfortable. They cannot, you know, take this loss easily and be like, happy golucky. We’ve lost uh three of our last four games. I don’t think we’ve played horrible down that stretch. The Knicks game was pretty bad, but other than that, the Raptors have been very, very good. But now you got to get revenge against the Hornets tomorrow night. That is very, very important. You play the Celtics out there on Sunday, the Bucks, the Celtics, you know, the Bucks, the Nets, those Wizards should be getable games. You want to be able to get a little streak going to in order to stay a top the Eastern Conference. That’s what you need. You don’t want to fall into the playing picture. You want to create separation amongst those other teams out there in the East. But let me know what you guys think about all this in the comment section down below. You guys the best to make it this far. Subscribe to the channel if you guys haven’t already. Anyways, I’m signing out. Cheers.

The Toronto Raptors just had a heartbreaking loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and there are a ton of takeaways from this game. Ben Rogers breaks down the game and how this impacts the Raptors moving forward.

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