GAME THREAD: RAPTORS @ BLAZERS - FEB. 1st, 2014, SATURDAY, 7:00 PM, CSNNW

[illmatic99]

And that shot was a floater with the game on the line. Probably the weakest shot in his arsenal. Talk about clutch.

 

[speeds]

I think it was DeRozan inbounding the ball. Does Casey really think the Blazers won't notice it's a hand-off play? Matthews was on him like a wet blanket.

 

[Strenuus]

Jesus, this team just does not like to win big games. Seems that no matter what happens it goes down to the wire. Dodged a bullet tonight, this would have been a new low point of the season.

I was thinking this same exact thing. But, Toronto was hitting EVERYTHING in the 2nd half.

 

[illmatic99]

Yep. Way too much time. Lillard likes to do that.

No that was the call by Stotts, and it's a good one. When you're tied or up, get the last shot possible. But when you're down, you want to go early so that you can get another look if he misses.

 

[Strenuus]

I can imagine. See you in the Finals

The finals? That's awfully kind to them with the heat and Pacers there (and everyone we have in the West)

 

[MadeFromDust]

I was thinking this same exact thing. But, Toronto was hitting EVERYTHING in the 2nd half.

We also helped by going for like 5 straight minutes in the 4th without scoring though, didn't we? Definitely not playing our best ball at the moment and we're lucky we held onto that.

 

[Strenuus]

We also helped by going for like 5 straight minutes in the 4th though without scoring, didn't we? Definitely not playing our best ball at the moment and we're lucky we held onto that.

Still, they had to hit everything in order to do it... it took both of our "efforts" to make it happen.

Eh, we get another win with 3 pts or less... it looks good when it's all combined later in the season.

 

[speeds]

I was a little surprised with the Blazers' shot selection late in the game. You don't think you can score down low on Hayes and 2Pat?

 

[speeds]

I read some people doubting Lillard's All-Star status this week. Silliness.

 

[illmatic99]

I was a little surprised with the Blazers' shot selection late in the game. You don't think you can score down low on Hayes and 2Pat?

You must not know Aldridge's history with Hayes.

Clearly Stotts didn't either because he kept going to that matchup. I figured he'd do the same in that last possession too... luckily he came to his senses.

 

[Pinwheel1]

I was a little surprised with the Blazers' shot selection late in the game. You don't think you can score down low on Hayes and 2Pat?

Apparently not because they tried twice and LMA missed. My issue was that both times they ran an ISO and kept Lopez away from the basket with no chance to get the Off rebound. That was stupid IMO

 

[KingSpeed]

So does anyone think Toronto can challenge Miami or Indiana in the second round? It could be a fun series either way.

 

[Sinobas]

I think Portland force feeds LA into those mid-range turn around shots. They are low percentage, I don't know why they don't get back to the ball movement, 3pt shooting....

 

[Natebishop3]

We still have no bench.

11 points tonight from the bench.

 

[speeds]

You must not know Aldridge's history with Hayes.

No, I don't. What is it?

 

[speeds]

So does anyone think Toronto can challenge Miami or Indiana in the second round? It could be a fun series either way.

We beat Indy this year but to answer your question--no, no chance. Miami would sweep us and Indy might, too.

 

[KingSpeed]

We still have no bench.

11 points tonight from the bench.

Ugh. McCollum played well. Freeland and TRob grabbed some big rebounds. Mo was in foul trouble. One game of only 11 points doesn't immediately mean we have no bench. We are fine. Sigh.

 

[KingSpeed]

I mean, when our bench scores 30+, do we still have no bench? Some teams have starters who don't score (OKC) and thus NEED more scoring from bench.

 

[KingSpeed]

You didn't watch the game if you think our bench didn't play well. Looking at box score to support this, Free, TRob, and CJ were all +s. Free and TRob combined for 4 offensive rebounds.

 

[speeds]

To be fair to Hayes if Lowry hadn't rustled Lillard's jimmies first Hayes had that charge call pretty clear-cut.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

I read some people doubting Lillard's All-Star status this week. Silliness.

I had to rep you for that.

 

[KingSpeed]

We beat Indy this year but to answer your question--no, no chance. Miami would sweep us and Indy might, too.

That would suck. Everyone in the world will want Toronto to at least make it close.

 

[Natebishop3]

Ugh. McCollum played well. Freeland and TRob grabbed some big rebounds. Mo was in foul trouble. One game of only 11 points doesn't immediately mean we have no bench. We are fine. Sigh.

I mean, when our bench scores 30+, do we still have no bench? Some teams have starters who don't score (OKC) and thus NEED more scoring from bench.

You didn't watch the game if you think our bench didn't play well. Looking at box score to support this, Free, TRob, and CJ were all +s. Free and TRob combined for 4 offensive rebounds.

The low scoring nights from the bench still vastly outnumber the 30+ point nights. I don't expect much from our bench, but they've GOT to score more than 11 points. We essentially had to have four starters around 20 points to win the game.

 

[KingSpeed]

The low scoring nights from the bench still vastly outnumber the 30+ point nights. I don't expect much from our bench, but they've GOT to score more than 11 points. We essentially had to have four starters around 20 points to win the game.

It's not all about scoring. We scored 106 points! Scoring was not an issue. They grabbed big rebounds, gave us big minutes when Lopez was in foul trouble, played good D, and didn't lose the lead while in the game. What exactly did they do wrong?

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Guys, we're not stupid. We know you two are just making up this bench argument in order to boost the number of posts in the game thread.

Denny thanks you.

 

[KingSpeed]

There are points some of our starters scored because of our bench rebounding. There are always starters in the game so the bench players are hardly ever the number one option. They played great tonight. I assume you didn't watch,Nate. And if you're only looking at the box score, look at the WHOLE box score. Not just points. With the offensive firepower we have in our starting lineup, we don't need our bench to score big like a team like OKC does.

 

[Natebishop3]

It's not all about scoring. We scored 106 points! Scoring was not an issue. They grabbed big rebounds, gave us big minutes when Lopez was in foul trouble, played good D, and didn't lose the lead while in the game. What exactly did they do wrong?

You're right Eric, it's not ALL about scoring, but our starters can't score 95 every night. That's just absurd scoring production from our starting unit. We need at last around 15-20 from our bench. When Mo has a good night, he can usually put that up by himself, but when he doesn't have a good night we usually struggle to find scoring on our second unit.

 

[KingSpeed]

You're right Eric, it's not ALL about scoring, but our starters can't score 95 every night. That's just absurd scoring production from our starting unit. We need at last around 15-20 from our bench. When Mo has a good night, he can usually put that up by himself, but when he doesn't have a good night we usually struggle to find scoring on our second unit.

Sure but the bottom line is our bench played VERY WELL tonight and you dismissEd the, because (we have no bench) because they only scored 11. In a WIN. In a game where Mo was in foul trouble. It's like you didn't watch the game which I assume you didn't.

 

[KingSpeed]

Also, we don't have a "second unit.". There are always starters on the floor and those guys are always the number one option. We don't throw 5 bench players out there and then they blow the lead. Freeland's job is to defend and rebound. He did that. TRob's job is to defend and rebound. He did that. CJ's job is to score which he did well given his opportunities. And Mo was in foul trouble. Saying we have no bench based on tonight's game is just ignorance.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Eric has a good point; we lost the lead with the starters in. If the starters hold their end of the bargain (and I do get your point about their unusually high offensive load tonight) in the fourth, we win going away. Just trading baskets would have been fine. But, I can see they were maybe tired from scoring 90% of the points up to that point already.