It felt a little too familiar, a little too soon.
Two days after unravelling in the third quarter against the New York Knicks, the Toronto Raptors found themselves stumbling in the second half once again on Friday, en route to a 130-120 loss to the Orlando Magic.
The formula for the come-from-ahead defeat felt similar. A peer in the Eastern Conference’s meaty second tier turned the dial up in terms of physicality and defensive intensity, and the Raptors couldn’t match it. An opponent found their three-point stroke and the Raptors don’t often have one of their own to counter. And half a game with notable positives ended instead with earned disappointment.
It looked, briefly, as if the Raptors would answer Orlando’s push better than they did New York’s on Wednesday.
After a 10-point lead evaporated late in the third, Scottie Barnes returned to the game and sparked a big counter-push with his two-way play. He delivered blocks around the rim, offensive rebounds, and a key and-one. And while his best pass came to end the first half — a remarkable Trevor Lawrence-level fly route to Ja’Kobe Walter for a tough buzzer-beating finish — that passing has become a staple of a Barnes run. Despite the double-digit loss, the Raptors won his minutes by six, getting outscored by 16 in just the 12 minutes he sat.
Meanwhile, Brandon Ingram offered reprieve from shaky shooting, trouble with a small window against a rare Magic zone, and generally poor half-court offence. It’s the rock-fight type of game where Ingram’s ability to flatten out a defence and get into his bag stands out, and it was valuable in helping the Raptors build the lead back out to 14. He finished with 35 points on just 26 used possessions — on a normal night, maybe enough to float the rest of the group.
Barnes, the run-killer. Ingram, the drought-stopper.
But it takes more than two, and some common issues arose for the Raptors from there. Orlando chipped away when Barnes hit the bench again, picking up momentum that not even a Defensive Player of the Year candidate could stop. And the Magic, one of the league’s worst and lowest-volume three-point shooting teams, got red hot from outside, finishing the game 17-of-34. (The non-Ingram Raptors were 3-for-20.) Paolo Banchero worked effectively on both sides of the pick-and-roll, and he and Anthony Black paraded to the free-throw line regularly. More notably, a second opponent in a row added a layer of physicality that put the Raptors on their heels.
Some of this is personnel. Matt Bonner isn’t walking through that door to knock down threes. And while Jakob Poeltl’s absence of course looms and Collin Murray-Boyles had a bit of a tough one, it’s not as if the Magic hammered Toronto on the glass — they had three offensive rebounds, and the Raptors won the points in the paint battle. Should that nudge them to favour shooting over size if they only have one smaller deadline move in them? And what of the toughness element against these bigger, more physical teams? That’s something they’ll have to learn to navigate as a group, especially come April.
Some of this is also a highlight of the interplay between their strengths and weaknesses. When the Raptors look their best, they’re being aggressive and getting stops late in the shot clock, then getting out and running in transition. The data backs up that they’re elite or near-elite in those areas. Stop getting stops, though, and especially send teams to the line, and those opportunities aren’t there. Notably, the Raptors are one of the league’s best crunch-time defences and a pedestrian offence when the game slows down and transition play is harder to come by.
And some of this is Desmond Bane saying they expect one of us in the wreckage, brother, going on a personal heater (32 points, 7-of-10 on threes), and giving the Magic a heck of a shot in the arm to come back and then pull away. The Magic have underperformed this year — and have only played four of their last 35 games with both Banchero and Franz Wagner healthy — but they have the upside of a top-four team in the conference.
That shouldn’t make the flight home any easier. After knocking off the defending champs, the Raptors have coughed up consecutive strong starts against teams they are measuring themselves against. A much-needed homestand begins Sunday, leading through the trade deadline and into the All-Star break, with a couple of good tests ahead, a few of which they’ll need to pass to quiet the idea they haven’t played their best against strong teams.
Here are some more takeaways from Friday’s game.
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• All-Star reserves will be announced Sunday evening, as voted by coaches.
Based on a loose canvassing of hypothetical media ballots and informal conversations with people around the league, Barnes should be something close to a lock for his second All-Star nod.
Ingram would seem to be a bit more on the bubble, with his inclusion coming down to how coaches weighed great players on poor teams (e.g. Pascal Siakam) or split votes between players on the same team (e.g. Norman Powell and Bam Adebayo). Ingram’s reputation as a nightmare to guard is salient to those who have to gameplan for him. Votes were also due before the Raptors’ recent loss to the Knicks, when the conversation around the team was at its most positive, which helps.
There’s always a chance for inclusion as an injury replacement, too, with Giannis Antetokounmpo likely the first injured player to withdraw and open up a spot.
• Ochai Agbaji got hit with a fairly weak technical foul in the second quarter. Bane committed a flagrant foul on Immanuel Quickley, sending him to the ground in transition. Bane has made a bit of a habit of plays like that, and Agbaji got in his face in defence of Quickley. Letting an opponent know they crossed a line with a teammate doesn’t cross the threshold for a tech, in my opinion. I’m sure the Raptors are just fine with the technical free throw surrendered in that instance.
• It was a tough night for the team’s depth. With RJ Barrett still finding his footing in return from injury and Quickley losing some of his west-coast heat, lineups without Barnes and Ingram (and especially Barnes) struggled; the usual staggering patterns rendered ineffective.
The rotation was also nearly reduced to just eight, as Gradey Dick had a very poor eight-minute stint and Agbaji only saw a quick cameo.
Walter was really the only reserve who popped, with his transition offence remaining a big positive (and well ahead of his half-court offensive value).
• Murray-Boyles is doing so much good as a rookie, especially on the defensive end, and he’s still clearly labouring with his thumb issue, so take this criticism in that context: He has to be more aggressive looking to score in close. Passing inside-out is a good way to generate threes for teammates, but the Raptors generally aren’t great at hitting them, and a field-goal attempt at the rim is the most high-yield shot on the floor. He’s had a few aggressive takes over the last few weeks, and the Raptors need more of that, as right now he’s looking to make the one-too-many pass just a bit too often.
Given how advanced his processing is defensively and with some of his passing reads, he’ll find that balance sooner than later.
• Goga Bitadze didn’t play for the Magic as they look to balance minutes for Wendell Carter Jr., Jonathan Isaac, Noah Penda, and Mo Wagner. Teams in need of a reserve big who doesn’t make big money and has another year left on his deal could do worse, especially if the asset cost is lower to help with the Magic’s tax bill.
• The NBA trade deadline is Thursday at 3 p.m. ET
Michael Grange had a good piece catching you up on where the Raptors stand with Antetokounmpo, the biggest piece on the market.
I’ll have my annual trade deadline primer out Monday, looking at all of the relevant rules, restrictions, exceptions, and so on. The names mentioned in that piece will be significantly less exciting than Antetokounmpo, albeit still worthwhile for the season.
The Raptors Show will have extended hours on deadline day, with our usual 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. slot and a 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. special. Lock in! (All times ET)
