RAPTORS BLOG: Loss in Atlanta will sting more than most despite all the obstacles

0

Article content

The NBA season is long. There are going to be a number of euphoric victories and some soul-crushing defeats sprinkled amongst the 82 games. Saturday’s Raptors loss in Atlanta was one of those soul-sucking variations. Two inexplicable moments ruined what could have otherwise been one of those memorable, stirring wins.

Advertisement 2

Article content

Scottie Barnes will likely be thinking about his missed layup to end regulation for a long time. A bunch of Raptors, including Barnes, will be trying to figure out what the hell happened at the end of overtime to allow A.J. Griffin to score a wide open bucket to win it in a scene that looked like something out of a bad pickup basketball run (cherry pickers are never pickup league favourites).

Article content

Article content

Losing in normal fashion after the Barnes miss would have been a bitter enough pill to swallow. To fall the way they did though in the end … man, that’s rough.

Nobody guarded the inbounder, which makes sense in that case, but nobody guarded Griffin either. Brutal. Give credit for Trae Young (who got away with a pushoff to start the play) for splitting four Raptors in a split second.

Advertisement 3

Article content

Our pal Eric Koreen put it well: The Raptors had no business winning that game (given all the absences and the terrible shooting). But the Raptors also had no business losing that game.

What a weird one.

Advertisement 4

Article content

Some more thoughts:

The officiating might have been the worst we’ve seen all season. That’s all we’ll say about that.

Malachi Flynn has done what he had to with all of the injuries giving him some consistent minutes. He’s played well and seems to be making better decisions.

Weird stat of the day: Barnes has hit 9 threes against Atlanta on 17 attempts this season. Against everyone else he’s 7-for-33.

Advertisement 5

Article content

Atlanta knows how to draft. Yes, trading Luka Doncic was dumb, even for Trae Young, and you’ll never convince me otherwise, but they grabbed John Collins and Kevin Huerter 19th, Griffin 16th. That’s fine work (letting Huerter go for peanuts? Not so fine).

Toronto has now gotten through the first 20% of the regular season and a schedule that was more gruelling than the one faced by just about any other team. The calendar will now be a lot more friendly and Pascal Siakam (and others) are making their way back to the lineup.

Advertisement 6

Article content

1/5th of the way through, the East’s biggest positive surprises have been Indiana, Atlanta and Washington. The major disappointments have been Chicago, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Miami. Looking out West, by far the biggest stunner so far has been Utah, followed by Portland (though Damian Lillard just got hurt again). Minnesota, Golden State and the Los Angeles Lakers have been epic fails so far. To make matters worse for the Wolves and Lakers, New Orleans can swap first-round picks with Los Angeles in a draft that has Victor Wembenyama. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s first-round pick goes to Utah from the Rudy Gobert trade. Oops.

The injuries seem to be mounting around the NBA. Toronto has definitely had its share, but Philadelphia is now missing James Harden, Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris. Milwaukee’s still waiting on all-star Khris Middleton. Memphis and Miami have been ravaged by injuries and we are probably forgetting a bunch.

Anunoby tied Norman Powell for 16th on Toronto’s all-time scoring choice.

THREE STARS:

1 Trae Young

2 O.G. Anunoby

3 A.J. Griffin

Honourable Mentions: Thad Young, Malachi Flynn, Scottie Barnes, Clint Capela, Christian Koloko

Advertisement 1

Comments

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our  Twitter, & Facebook

We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.

For all the latest Basketball News Click Here 

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! Rapidtelecast.com is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
Leave a comment