Morning Coffee - Mar. 3, 2025
Raptors avoid collapse | Quickly gets busy | There are better ways to soft tank
Quick Reaction: Raptors 104, Magic 102 - Raptors Republic
I. Quickley - A-
33 MIN, 24 PTS, 2 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 8-19 FG, 2-7 3FG, 6-6 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 2 +/-
His driving to the rim in this game started off as a mixed bag. Quickley was occasionally able to beat Anthony Black and get to the rim, finishing a couple right-handed scoops. But he was also turned away at times and had his dribble fizzle out. Then late in the third quarter he got into another gear, and was suddenly knifing into the lane repetitively, finishing a variety of floaters and two and-1s. Quickley scored 15 on a 23-3 Raptors run and assisted on four more. He also ran a slick little get action with Poeltl on a baseline out of bound play – Poeltl made a “blind pig” style feed back to Quickley off the inbound – and a canned step-back triple.
Raptors' Immanuel Quickley gives fans a glimpse of his best self in win over Magic - Sportsnet
It's how you manage a season filled with more games out with injury than games played or bounce back from fouling Chicago Bulls guard Coby White on a three-pointer with the Raptors leading by four with four seconds to play – a brain cramp that effectively cost Toronto a win on Friday night.
But if there ever happens to be a moment when Quickley does happen to doubt himself, he could do worse than rewatch his second half from Sunday. There was a lot be proud of.
There have signs of progress from Quickley – some nice shooting nights, a little more offensive pop, a little more apparent comfort in his role as a point guard on a team where a lot of offence runs through a point forward, Scottie Barnes, and has a centre who often serves as an offensive hub in Poeltl.
But Sunday night might have been the first time in this weird, disjointed season that Quickley looked the part of what the Raptors hope he can turn out to be: an elite NBA point guard.
“I think with every game, with every minute he plays, he’s getting more confidence, more conditioning, more rhythm,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “He missed a lot of time, and it’s hard for a player to find that rhythm in the middle of the season. (But) that stretch in the third (and fourth) quarter, he was our engine. He was getting us organized, he was touching the paint, he was scoring. He did a lot for us there and he was really efficient, everything came on the move, everything came with a minimum number of dribbles and when he plays that way, efficiently, it’s good for the whole team.”
The final bucket of his spurt put the Raptors up by 18 with 9:26 to play and when he subbed out early in the fourth quarter, it looked like he might be done for the night. The Raptors were leading by 17 with 4:31 to play, but then things unravelled to the point where Orlando had an excellent chance to tie the game and force overtime. Toronto turned it over twice after leading by four with 25 seconds left, but Magic forward Franz Wagner missed a good look at a lay-up just before the horn that he missed under pressure from Barnes.
But what was more significant – after all, wins and losses aren’t exactly how the Raptors are defining themselves these days as the draft lottery beckons – is that Quickley took charge and delivered against one of the NBA’s better and more physical defences. The game was a throwback, with the two teams combining for just 43 three-point attempts but 72 free throws, with most of those fouls hard-earned.
Quickley wasn’t fazed by the grindy, playoff-like pace, he seemed to thrive on it. He’ll get to back up his performance when the Raptors play Orlando again here on Tuesday.
"I knew they're a really physical team, and I'm sure the second game that we play them on Tuesday is gonna be the more physical,” said Quickley, with the locker-room empty, save for a few stragglers. “So it’s just really understanding, falling back on your training, what you've done to get here, and just staying aggressive.
Raptors shouldn’t rest Scottie Barnes, but they have levers to pull in a soft tank - The Athletic
Barnes can miss only three more games while still maintaining eligibility for an All-NBA spot, as unlikely as that is. He helps the Raptors play better, and they have an incredibly soft schedule down the stretch. The Raptors currently have the fifth-worst record in the league but could realistically pass a few teams with a good finish. The problem is that would hurt their lottery chances, and with the Raptors trying to compete next year, as evidenced by their trade for Brandon Ingram, there is even more pressure on the Raptors to hit on this year’s pick. They don’t plan on picking this high again for a while.
For the sake of illustration, here is a quick outline of what an All-NBA ballot could look like if the season were to end today. (Remember, ballots are now positionless; don’t bother arguing about who is where, because this was a very quick approximation.)
First Team: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Jalen Brunson
Second Team: Donovan Mitchell, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jaren Jackson Jr., Anthony Edwards, Cunningham
Third Team: Durant, Mobley, LeBron James, Darius Garland, Steph Curry
Even if some names fall off, there are still Devin Booker, De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Jaylen Brown, Jalen Williams, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Trae Young, Tyrese Maxey, Pascal Siakam, Tyrese Haliburton and others to consider. Barnes most likely isn’t getting a spot.
At the same time, the Raptors can’t stop him from trying; that would be unwise for the relationship between team and player. Barnes is dealing with a hip bruise that caused him to miss Wednesday’s game in Indiana, but the Raptors shouldn’t prevent him from attempting to get to 65 games if he can play without heightened risk of reinjury — even if not playing Barnes means giving the Raptors a better chance to lose some of the very winnable games for the rest of the season.
The Raptors benefitted from the fracturing of a relationship between a team and a player that started right around this time in the player’s career. Kawhi Leonard resented that the San Antonio Spurs did not offer him a maximum-level extension after his third season to maximize their future cap space. They gave him the same deal when he was technically a restricted free agent, using the cap space to court LaMarcus Aldridge. Still, the timing didn’t go over well with Leonard.
The Raptors plan on having Barnes around for a long time. Plans change, but in the interim, the Raptors have got to let him try to get to 65 games, even if it is not likely to matter in the end.
However, they do have some other levers to pull if they want to stop short of trying to win every game.
Raptors show no signs of tanking in opener of Orlando doubleheader - Toronto Star
Quickley was the difference maker. When Orlando took a lead late in the third quarter, he went on an 11-point run in the final two minutes for a nine-point lead. He finished with 24 points, one short of his season high, and four assists. RJ Barrett added 22 and Jakob Poeltl, in his third game back from injury, contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Barnes — who had a big hand in holding Orlando star Paolo Banchero to 17 points — wound up with just 10 points, but more importantly foiled Orlando’s last attempt to tie the game.
The Raptors are 2-1 against the Magic this season, and they’ll meet again in Orlando on Tuesday.
Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic once again pointed to the close finish as a learning experience.
“It puts us in a situation where we need to make those decisions on the spot. It’s not going to always be perfect, and it’s not always going to be what we agreed on … We’ve got to be smarter handling those situations at the end of the game.”
The Magic (29-33) have lost three straight home games and their bench was outscored 30-21. Orlando has played below expectations this season, in part because of injuries to key players such as Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs.
“I’m really impressed with their defence, how they’ve maintained their defence really high through the year with all the injuries they were dealing with,” Rajakovic said before the game, crediting Jamahl Mosley and his coaching staff for keeping the Magic in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt.
Raptors nearly blow it spectacularly again, but survive in Orlando - Toronto Sun
Toronto had just given up the largest fourth quarter comeback to an opponent of the season, 16 points. That was the advantage in the final quarter again Sunday. In the end, Toronto survived, improving to 19-42, including six road wins, breaking a tie with three other teams for fewest away victories.
The Magic has been the NBA’s second-best defensive team this season, but has been third-worst offensively. The game matched the NBA’s top two “throwback” teams, in that they simply don’t hit three-point shots. Orlando entered the night making 10.8 three-pointers a game, which ranked last, Toronto 11.5 per, good for 29th. To be fair, Toronto has actually been a far better outside shooting team than the Magic, making 34.9% of its three-point attempts (21st in the NBA), a lot better than Orlando’s ugly 30.5% mark, the worst by any team since Minnesota shot the same percentage in 2012-13.
Both teams managed only seven three-point makes, with Orlando taking until midway through the second quarter to make its first.
Gradey Dick was hit on the head during a collision late in the first half that left him bleeding from the mouth. He did not return and the Raptors said an update would be provided after the sophomore wing was assessed by medical staff.
Orlando’s season has been beset by injuries. Top players Wagner and Banchero have both missed large chunks of the season and a report surfaced Sunday that point guard Jalen Suggs would be out long-term because he needs to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Suggs was selected one pick after Barnes in 2021. Orlando is 20-15 with Suggs in the lineup, 9-18 without him, and has slipped to eighth in the Eastern Conference. You get an indication of the value of Suggs when considering the team is just 10-18 with Banchero, its former No. 1 overall selection in the lineup.
Oddly, Banchero, who scored 51 points in an October game and 41 in a game last week, barely took any shots until his fourth-quarter flurry.
Toronto had lost five of its past six games, and nine of 11.
The road trip wraps up with another game in Orlando on Tuesday, before Toronto returns home for a rarity — four games it will be favoured to win (against Utah, Washington twice and the crumbling Philadelphia 76ers).
One challenge stands out for the Raptors in the NBA season’s final quarter - Toronto Star
But one thing that is paramount to this whole process of long-term growth and improvement has been missing too often: They don’t know how to close games.
Friday’s abomination in Chicago — and that’s about the only way to describe the final quarter and overtime of a 125-115 loss to the Bulls — was just the latest example of a team full of promise but unable to seal the deal.
And it’s everywhere. It’s defence, it’s offence, it’s simple awareness of the situation and it’s coaching.
Examine Friday, for example. They committed six turnovers in the fourth quarter alone, frittered away a 13-point lead with 8:13 left and were outscored 29-20 in the quarter.
And as much as Quickley’s egregious foul to set up the game-tying four-point play with four seconds left was to blame, it wouldn’t have mattered had Dick iced the game by making two free throws instead of one with 6.2 seconds left. And it might not have mattered had the Raptors got a better look than a 16-foot baseline fade miss from Barnes at the buzzer.
Only two baskets in overtime, one an unlikely corner three from Orlando Robinson, was just another example of not taking advantage of a chance presented to them.
Even if those physical mistakes can be forgiven — sometimes shots don’t fall, sometimes the opponent is too hot — the way the Raptors fail is alarming too often.
Coach Darko Rajakovic is not blameless. Having Barnes on the bench for the middle segment of the fourth (out with eight minutes left and Toronto up 13, back when the lead was shaved to three with about five minutes left) was a lost gamble.
And, yes, Poeltl’s on a minutes restriction coming back from injury, but he played two minutes less on Friday than he did on Wednesday and there might have been a better way to manage that.
Barnes going away from the basket instead of toward it, and a possible foul-causing collision, at the end of the game could very well have been a busted play, but it didn’t seem that way watching it unfold.
Friday was one game, and it won’t make or break the season. But if this season is about skills development, it also has to be about learning to manage games and the Raptors, especially at winning time in each close game, are lacking far too much.
Raptors 905 continue to skid losing heartbreaker to Wisconsin Herd - Raptors Republic
For the second straight evening, the 905 were downed by the Herd at Oshkosh Arena, after losing 118-104 on Friday night. This time, however, it was in a more heartbreaking fashion, with Herd forward Henry Ellenson putting up a layup after collecting an offensive rebound with 0.6 seconds left, winning the game.
The loss marked the 905’s fifth straight, as the team has now lost seven of their last eight games.
To start the second half of the back-to-back, two players shined early: James Akinjo for the Herd and Eugene Omoruyi for the 905. Akinjo’s seven points on 3-for-3 shooting would get Wisconsin out and leading early, but four quick Omoruyi points would bring the Mississauga squad within two at the first timeout. The rest of the quarter would be back-and-forth, with the 905 alternating between zone and man defence, while former Wisconsin Badger Frank Kaminsky kept them afloat on offence. Ultimately, the Herd would maintain their lead to end the quarter 31-29.
Omoruyi would get things cooking early in the second, nailing a 3-pointer on the first offensive possession to give the 905 their first lead of the game. It would be the start of a fantastic quarter for the junior Raps, outscoring the Herd 36-17 in the frame to jump out to a 65-48 lead, largely thanks to contributions from Jared Rhoden and Charlie Brown Jr. At the half, the 905 would be shooting a whopping 51.0 percent from the field and 42.9 percent distance.
The third quarter started how the second quarter began, with an Omoruyi bucket. Only this time, it would be the Toronto, Ontario-raised forward getting to the basket. It would be Wisconsin dominating the start of the second half, however, cutting the lead to 10 behind an 11-4 run. The Herd wouldn’t stop there, turning that into a 22-6 run, cutting the lead to one with just over three minutes to go. Overall it was a pitiful offensive quarter from the junior Dinos, only scoring seven points with three minutes to go and only 16 points overall as the 905 would hold a small lead 83-81 after three.
The final frame would be closely contested and back-and-forth, with Rhoden and Akinjo trading buckets. The Wisconsin ball legends Ellenson and Kaminsky would also be super effective in the fourth quarter. Two back-to-back big 3-pointers by former 905er Justise Winslow would give the Herd a two point lead with under a minute to go, before another Omoruyi finish around the basket would tie things up at 102 with just seconds left. But on the next trip down, Ellenson would collect an offensive rebound and put it back up for the win.
NBA Sets Hearing Date to Settle Knicks-Raptors Dispute - Sports Illustrated
At the center of the dispute is former Knicks employee Ike Azotam, who worked for New York from 2020 to 2023 before joining the Raptors. The Knicks claim that Azotam, after being recruited by Toronto in the summer of 2023, shared a trove of confidential team files that included play frequency reports, scouting analysis, and prep materials for the 2022-23 season. In their legal complaint, the Knicks alleged that the Raptors instructed Azotam to transfer the data to help structure their coaching and video operations staff.
The lawsuit names Azotam, Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković, player development coach Noah Lewis, and multiple unidentified Raptors staffers as defendants.
The Raptors have strongly denied the allegations, calling the lawsuit an attempt to stir public controversy rather than a legitimate claim. In an October 2023 court filing, Toronto dismissed the Knicks' accusations as “baseless” and a “public relations stunt”, arguing that the data in question was largely compiled from publicly available sources accessible to all NBA teams.
Toronto has insisted that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver should resolve the matter rather than the courts. However, the Knicks have questioned Silver’s ability to remain impartial due to his close ties with Raptors governor Larry Tanenbaum, who serves as chairman of the NBA’s board of governors. The Knicks expressed concern that Silver, given his working relationship with Tanenbaum, could not fairly adjudicate the case.
Despite the Knicks’ objections, a judge ruled in June 2024 that Silver should oversee the arbitration process. The league has now scheduled a hearing for this summer, setting the stage for a resolution nearly two years after the lawsuit was first filed.