Quick Reaction: Rockets 114, Raptors 110

Had the Raptors first 14 points of the game! Canned his first four 3-point attempts – one from the corner and three from the wing. Also loved his aggression driving the ball early. Was blocked by Jabari Smith and immediately took it to the hoop again, drawing free throws against Alperen Sengun. Stayed aggressive getting to the cup throughout and had a nice scoop finish. The Rockets also inexplicably left him wide open on the wing later in the game, where he cashed to break his previous career-high.

Was attentive on defence, stuck with his man on a cut, and got in front of the pass from Sengun for a steal. Ate off his usual diet of easy finishes on cuts and in transition, scoring eight in the first quarter. And I don’t call his shot profile easy to disparage Agbaji. The Raptors need players like him to both create the potential for easy shot attempts (by running in transition, making good cuts, spacing to the corner) and execute them. He did a great job doing exactly that, as he has all season. That being said he did blow a couple open layups on the roll – one in the first quarter on a feed from Barnes and another in the third from Olynyk.

Mogbo was quiet on the offensive end, but his defence continues to impress. His ability to both time his help and recovery to Sengun kept the star big-man under control early. Mogbo’s physicality against a much larger opponent came as a surprise and also helped mitigate Sengun’s effectiveness. His silence in the scoring department ended when he blew by his man and threw down a two-handed slam later in the second quarter. Then the next defensive possession he picked up his man early and got into him, forcing negative dribbles and nearly causing a turnover. Raptors ended up favouring Olynyk down the stretch.

Drove on a great defender in Amen Thompson, spun, and finished with a pretty finger roll – a staple in Dick’s extensive finishing package this season. Later he drove a close out baseline and hit Agbaji on the wing for triple. Dick did a great job keeping the ball moving and maintaining the advantages created by both his shooting gravity and driving. Got a sweet reverse to go down the stretch when the Raptors were trying to come back. One gripe is I would’ve liked him to take more 3s.

Missed his first six FGA, all of which were triples. One was late clock and in the flow of the offence, but two were kick outs after long offensive rebounds that he maybe could have done more with, and another was a pull up in transition. I’m not saying he shouldn’t take any of those shots, just that in some cases driving the basket may have created a better look for him or a teammate. Finished with zero first half points. He did do a great job communicating on defence and his ability to deter drives and close off lanes remains elite. Had what at first appeared to be a huge block on Jalen Green early in the second half. It was counted as a basket and Barnes was given a tech because his right hand grabbed the net (it appeared to be incidental). He scored his first basket with a turnaround on a post-up midway through the third. His defence salvaged a C here.

Hit his first triple of the game and another nice side-step 3 later. His passing, feel for the game, and ability to space make him a great fit in the Raptors offence. The defence is untenable though. He was really up against it in his minutes against Sengun. Dillion Brooks casually walked around him to basket on one play, and then on the next Olynyk tried to take a charge on Sengun but it was a no call and easy dunk for the Rockets centre. Olynyk also had a couple brutal turnovers, including one where he passed it directly out of bounds and another where he telegraphed the corner pass to Dick and it was easily picked off by Brooks. He also had a bunch of fouls, because it was really his only option to stop Sengun and Rockets’ drives.

Like a few other Raptors, he hit his first three of the game. Also made a great lay-down to Agbaji in the lane for an easy push-shot finish. Late in the third Boucher had one of his classic bursts of energy and scoring, and had three straight makes within a span of 66 seconds. First a transition 3 off a Barnes steal, then a dunk on a baseline cut, and finally a slashing drive to the hoop on the break for an and-one layup.

Shead threaded the needle to Battle on a back-cut early. Then he perfectly executed a pick n’ pop with Olynyk. Sengun dropped, Thompson stuck with Shead, and Olynyk was left wide open to cash the triple. Then, to start the second, he picked off a pass from Reed Sheppard and took it the other way for a layup. In the second quarter it was Shead who made a savvy back-cut, receiving the pass from Walter for the finish. He had a couple really strong takes to the hoop, made a wide-open 3 from the wing, and the defence has been better. Sheadheads are so back.

Got behind the defence on a well-timed back-cut where Shead found him for his first bucket of the game. Also just keeps making his triples, his shot is beautiful. Battle leads all rookies in 3-point percentage at 43.2 percent (minimum 25 attempts). There were some rookie mistakes to nitpick. A bad pass here, a missed rotation there. All forgivable when taking into account the things he does well and how well he does them. Had a fantastic contest on Cam Whitmore in transition in the fourth.

Went with Barnes, Dick, Walter, Agbaji, and Mogbo to start. The same lineup that had some really intriguing minutes against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday. The Raptors really picked it up after a very early timeout. Can’t critique his rotations too much considering the personnel he has available. Although he did keep it to nine today and it seemed like Rajakovic really wanted to snap the losing streak tonight. The Raptors were successful at generating clean looks with cuts and some successful pick n’ roll play, however I would’ve liked to see them run more sets.