It’s another one of those games for Toronto, as they’ve scored over 120 points in the last 5 games they’ve played in tying a franchise record set in 2018. This puts them atop the NBA for longest streak this season, tying an earlier 5-game run by the Milwaukee Bucks. It’s hard to believe, but a franchise that has prided itself in playing defense and winning the 2019 title for those very reasons is now an offensive-driven team. They no longer play hard-nose defense for 48 minutes a night, but I’m honestly fine with that. Toronto beat the Wizards 137-115 in a game where it was close down to the last few minutes before Toronto blew it open. The difference – Toronto turned on their defense at the end of this game, whereas the Wizards don’t have a switch. They continue to allow the Raptors to rain down buckets without any real resistance. A lot of this credit goes to Toronto’s ability to play winning basketball, from sharing the ball to making high IQ plays. It was the 3 ball that saved Toronto in this game, hitting 19-32 attempts. Despite Westbrook hitting 3 of his 6 attempts, the Wizards shot only 12-41 (29%) from three and the Raptors held Beal to just 24 points on 8-20 shooting and 1-6 from three. Here are my Raptor grades on the night.
Pascal Siakam and Norman Powell: A
These two guys have been phenomenal lately for the Raptors. Siakam has had over 25 points in 5 of his last 7 games, and Powell has become more than just “first quarter Powell” averaging scoring 20 or more points in 7 of his last 8 games. The one game he was under 20, he had 19 on the night. There’s no question that his confidence is at an all-time high right now after struggling to start the season. He was also a big player in trying to slow down Beal, along with Lowry.
Kyle Lowry and Chris Boucher: A-
Toronto didn’t just get contributions by Siakam and Powell, there were levels of contributions against the Wizards. Boucher had 17 points and 16 rebounds in 25 minutes of play. He should be player 30+ minutes a game, just saying. Against a small interior team like the Wizards, Boucher dominated on the glass and in the paint, adding on 3 offensive boards and 2 blocks in this game. As for Lowry, he had 21 points and hit the dagger in this game with the pull-up 3 on the wing that was just the icing on the cake to close this game out. As long as the Raptors continue to pile on wins, the trade rumors seem less and less likely. Lowry added on 5 assists with only 1 turnover on the night, manning the point very well along with his backcourt buddy.
Bembry, Davis, and Baynes: B+
The bar is lower for these guys, no doubt about it. As it stands, Nick Nurse gives them minimal rope in most games and sometimes doesn’t play them at all. In 24 minutes, Bembry put up 10 points on 80% shooting, as well as 3 rebounds and 3 assists. TD2 had one of his best games of the season, scoring 13 off then bench and was a +12 in 19 minutes. Baynes had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists against his old teammate Len. Both of them ended up dunking on each other at one point in this game which was fun to see. They both played exactly 21 minutes, and Len had 11 points and 5 rebounds. You can decide who won that head-to-head matchup.
Fred VanVleet: B
Freddy had a very solid night, scoring 14 points on 50% shooting, and also having 7 assists on the night. He definitely was taking a backseat to Lowry, Siakam, and Powell in this game, and didn’t get much opportunity to takeover. Despite that, he was a +27 on the night and was hitting timely buckets for Toronto when they needed it.
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