Raptors battle human nature against the Wizards

The Raptors faced a starting lineup of Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington, Bilal Coulibaly, Kyshawn Goerge, and Tristan Vukcevic. Excuse me, but who!? Canadian rookie Will Riley and former Raptor Justin Champagnie came off the bench.

The first quarter was simply horrendous. The Wizards made seven of their 13 3-pointers (54%) against the Raptors in the first quarter. The Raptors won the second quarter by five, and then the third by nine points. As Jack Armstrong alluded to at the end of the third quarter, things were “trending in the right direction.”

The Raptors, however, would have to continue defying human nature. Raptors assistant coach coach James Wade told Kayla Grey at halftime, “We’re not taking this game as seriously as we need to be taking it.” 

Here was a great summary of the game by Louis Zatzman:

“The Raptors have proved this season that, sure, they can’t beat the best. But they certainly can lose to the worst. Sure, they figured it out. They shouldn’t have had to claw back into the game against a team like the Wizards. If they play even a modicum of their own game out of the gate, this isn’t even a contest. Frustrating start.”

The Raptors turned it on when they were forced to.

The biggest positive takeaway was IQ’s incredible 27-point, 11-assist performance despite hitting only two 3s. His pass to Shead in the corner for a triple forced a fourth quarter timeout that became the nail in the Wizards’ coffin.

Poeltl was a steadying presence throughout the game. He was getting his way when he got downhill. “Finally, the Raptors got to be the big team against the small team,” wrote Samson Folk. 

RJ Barrett helped the Raptors regain and maintain their lead when he finished with a strong take to put his team up 12 at the end of the third quarter. He then hit a triple to give the Raptors a 13-point lead. 

Scottie Barnes was pretty quiet offensively in the first half, but he turned it on towards the end of the third quarter and into the fourth. He scored down low, posting up smaller guards – including a silky-smooth fadeaway jumper over his former teammate Justin Champagnie. Barnes had 16 points in the second half, which was a huge improvement from his two-point first-half performance.

All five Raptors starters – Quickley, Barrett, Ingram, Barnes, and Poeltl – scored in double digits last night. It was a type of half-hearted performance that won’t be sufficient to beat the New York Knicks, but the Raptors climbed out of a hole they shouldn’t have been in to begin with.