Bench Closes Out The Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets entering this game were coming off of a back-to-back after losing bad to the Philadelphia 76ers a night ago. The Toronto Raptors are still trying to find that defensive identity that the Raptors displayed for the majority of the season. Toronto are in the midst of a slump and are not consistently playing 48 minutes of good defense. This is the second game where the Raptors face a Western Conference opponent who are trying to make it the playoffs. Denver is desperate and needs every win possible to squeeze into the playoffs. This was going to be a tough one and good test for the Raptors.

Both teams were aggressive early and were creating good looks on offense, but both teams could not knock down their shots. Prior to this game, Serge Ibaka was seen practicing 45 minutes after all the other Raptors had left the gym. He was working on his jump shooting which has been bad lately. Serge Ibaka did not start this game well offensively but was playing well defensively. Paul Millsap, who has returned from injury recently, scored 6 straight points on Ibaka at one time in the quarter. Jokic was quietly doing damage as well and JV had a tough time guarding the agile big man who has great touch from everywhere on the court. The score was 22-23 before Delon Wright hits a half-court buzzer beater for the Toronto Raptors to give them a 2-point lead and momentum going into the second quarter.

Serge Ibaka and Paul Millsap went back and forth all game long. Both power forwards were the top two prospects for the Raptors a year ago.

VanVleet and Jokic went blow for blow at the start of the second quarter. VV hit back-to-back threes and Jokic scored 7 straight points before VV drew a charge on Jokic. Great back and forth battle between these two teams. CJ Miles struggling from the field and missed his first 4 shots before putting his head down and driving to the rim for an one-handed slam. Jakob Poeltl going into this game led the Raptors with the most accumulated fouls out of all the players on the roster. He picked up 4 fouls in less than 10 minutes and sat down until the fourth quarter. Nogueira was in and was effective with his length once again, but too many defensive breakdowns and poor defensive rebounding allowed the Nuggets to go on a 10-0 run. Jonas was aggressive in the second quarter and was wreaking havoc on the inside. Both Lowry and DeRozan were dishing the ball excellently and found their teammates for easy looks. The Raptors were still trailing and could not get over the hump. Insert Norman Powell and instant energy. He forces the turnover which leads to a DeMar slam and a three ball from Norm at the end of the shot clock. Both huge plays which helped the Raptors reclaim the momentum. Serge finally got some rhythm by hitting two baskets before the end of the half with a score of 58-58. Great response. Jokic with an early double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, he scored 13 in the second quarter.

DeRozan was creating high percentage shots for his teammates and ended the game with 8 assists.

The starters came out in the third quarter but were getting exposed on their mismatches. Denver ran the pick-and-roll and were able to use the mismatches to get high percentage looks on the offensive end. Casey tried to go with Ibaka on Jokic and JV on Millsap, but the Nuggets went to Millsap who was able to use his quickness to go around JV easily. The Raptors managed to stick around in this game due to their interior defense. Raptors had 16 blocks in the game and key contributors were Ibaka, JV, Poeltl, and Kyle Lowry! Lowry had 4 blocks on the night. The Raptors created good looks but were not able to knock them down. Both Lowry and DeRozan were not scoring but were play-making for the rest of their teammates. The defence led to easy baskets for the Raptors in transition, but neither team could separate from the other. Toronto was not able to close the quarter off strong as another offensive rebound leads to a Denver basket. The halftime score was 82-85 for the Denver Nuggets. After a slow start to the game, both teams pushed the pace and made it a more flowing offensive play style.

In that third quarter, the Raptors allowed 19 second chance points as a result of the poor defensive rebounding. The Bench Mob started the fourth quarter and had a tall task of competing against the Denver starters. Mike Malone, the Denver Head Coach, played only 9 players compared to the Raptors who played 12. On a back-to-back, this is where the Raptors had to take advantage. The bench played gritty and pushed the pace where Siakam ran out for powerful dunks. They were able to knock down some outside shots and defended without fouling. Jakob Poeltl had a great second half and made his presence felt on the defensive end.

Casey elected to go with the hot hand which he usually does and kept the bench on the court except for CJ Miles who he substituted for Kyle Lowry. Lowry, VanVleet, Wright, Siakam, and Poeltl to close out the game. The pace favored the Raptors as they were able to get inside for easy looks. Jakob Poeltl threw down the vicious slam on Paul Millsap in the fourth erupting the sold-out crowd at the ACC. He was so high in the sky that he threw the ball in the net without touching the rim. Denver was not rattled and made big plays down the stretch to keep this game close. The Nuggets started to knock down a barrage of 3s in the final minutes of the game. However, the Raptors iced the game with free throws as the bench’s pace and multiple rotations on defense led this team to the 4-point win.

The bench was stingy and active in the fourth winning the quarter 32-25 to pick up an important win.

Toronto Raptors Denver Nuggets

114 110

Player of the Game

Pascal Siakam

23 minutes, 12 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover, 5/10 shooting, 0/2 3PT, 2/2 FT

Pascal’s versatility and quickness has been a great sight to see. Every game that goes by makes me realize how important of a player Siakam is to this roster. When facing big men who are quicker and more finesse, a player like Siakam with his length and quickness is perfect. When facing stronger, physical and taller opponents, JV and Ibaka can handle those a lot better. The depth is great for this team and allows them to match up very well. Siakam’s impact was not only in his highlight reel dunks on the break but the baskets he made to stop Denver’s runs was massive. He is becoming more confident on the offensive side of the basketball. His ball-handling skills, passing and quickness allows Siakam to create and get to the rack easily. A solid game from the New Mexico State product.

Things To Take Away From This Game

1. Defense

• This team’s defensive potential is there and was on full-display in the fourth quarter. They made multiple rotations and swarmed the Denver Nuggets. The score does not do the game justice. This game was over midway through the fourth quarter, but Denver’s ability to shoot the ball brought this game a lot closer. The Denver Nuggets started to hit a bunch of contested threes and showed their fight, but the Raptors had all the momentum down the stretch. Every player on the floor in the fourth made either a diving save, multiple rotational help, blocking from the weak side, or forced their opponent into a shot-clock violation. It was spectacular to watch and hinted the Raptors coming back into form.

2. Starters

• The starters have yet to play consistent defense throughout this stretch. The offense provided from the starters has always been great, but they are unable to close out to shooters without having them having a straight line drive towards the rim. This team has good size at every position except the point guard position but Lowry plays stingy defense so he may be one of our better defenders. DeRozan’s closeouts are not good enough, OG lacks the quickness and instinct, Ibaka over commits, and JV is indecisive on his pick-and-roll defense. Tons of things to work on in the last few weeks of the season.

Pictures courtesy of:

http://www.nba.com/raptors/gallery/rapsnuggets-032718