Raptors fall to Hornets in embarassing fashion

After a heart-breaking, yet historic loss against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night, the Raptors had their third matchup in two weeks with the Charlotte Hornets. The two previous games had both come down to the clutch, with each team winning one in a different fashion.

While I still find the schedule this season a bit strange — with multiple games against the same opponents early — it does provide the opportunity to see what adjustments a team can make against an opponent they’ve already faced. So far, after Toronto barely squeaked out a win in their first matchup, it’s been the Hornets that have made the necessary adjustments and the Raptors who have failed to respond.

This game started out with the defensive wrecking-ball, Scottie Barnes, taking the role of offensive powerhouse, as he opened the game with a mid-range pull up. Lamelo Ball, who was benched throughout the end of the fourth quarter and overtime in their last matchup, responded immediately, driving to the rim for a strong finish underneath.

Directly after that bucket, just 40 seconds into the game, the game was put on hold due to a disco party breaking out. Well, something like that, there was actually a strobe light malfunction in the arena that delayed the game for over 10 minutes. Either way, the delay didn’t seem to slow down Barnes as he immediately knocked down a three and then got deep into the paint for a turnaround jumper. The response? Once again Ball, this time with a beautiful give-and-go cut before dumping it off to Kalkbrenner for the easy under the basket hoop.

The first Raptor not named Scottie Barnes to score was Jakob Poeltl, off a push shot near the elbow. In this one Poeltl very much lost the battle of the bigs, as Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 8 of the Hornets first 10 points. Not to Poeltl’s fault, as most of the buckets came as the release valve on the weakside after Poeltl stepped up to help on drives. The secondary help a step slow and not arriving in time to stop Kalkbrenner.

Scoring runs often define basketball games. And as they tend to do, Toronto’s first run came when the bench subbed in. Upon Collin Murray-Boyles and Jamal Shead checking in, the Raptors went on a 9-0 run. It started with a Brandon Ingram turnaround jump shot over two defenders.

That jump shot was one of Ingram’s three total makes on the night, and it being over two defenders was one of the key adjustments that Charlotte had made. Without RJ Barrett, the Raptors are relying far too much on Ingram for offense. Charlotte recognized this in the last matchup and exploited it in this one, double and triple-teaming him every time he touched the ball.

The Raptors have to be able to score in those scenarios, double-teams mean that someone is open, so everyone has to make themselves available for the pass. But, more importantly Ingram has to make the pass. There were far too many instances where Ingram was rising to shoot over multiple defenders before bailing mid-air, not creating any advantage for the team due to the delayed decision.

After only a 13-point outing against the Lakers last night, Immanuel Quickley was the Raptors only source of offense against Charlotte. Early in the first quarter he had a nice string of possessions, on one he knifed his way to the rim on the break, following with a three-pointer on the next, and then muscling his way into a pair of free-throws.

The Raptors first quarter run ended when Kon Knueppel got the ball on the wing, and Ingram – knowing all too well what happens when you don’t get a hand up on the rookie – rushed out, flying by as Knueppel pumped, side stepped, and cashed the three-pointer.

The Raptors ended the quarter up 24-18, a slow start for both teams after the early delay.

In the second, the Raptors extended their lead after a quick 8-3 run, taking a 32-21 lead after Quickley drilled his 2nd three of the night. After that, things started to turn ugly. Raise your hand if you’ve seen this story play out before, the Raptors go scoreless for a long stretch and the Hornets, led by Miles Bridges go on a big run. Sound familiar?

That’s exactly how the Raptors lost the last game against Charlotte and it’s exactly how the Hornets went on a 17-0 run in the second quarter. The Raptors were so starved for offense that it was Quickley who scored the team’s 32nd point, sat for nearly three minutes and scored the next bucket for the Raptors to make it 34-38.

Heading into halftime the Raptors had scored their lowest point total at the half all season, scoring only 42 points and trailing Charlotte by 11.

Darko Rajakovic knew the team needed a jolt, and so he deployed the double point guard lineup that has been dominant to start the second half. The adjustment certainly worked for those two, as they combined to score 19 of the Raptors’ 28 points in the third quarter, but did little to change the Raptors fortune. Even with Lamelo Ball being ruled out for the rest of the game, the other Hornets all contributed to keep things close and so heading into the fourth the Raptors were still down 8 after Jamison Battle hit a three to close the quarter.

Remember when I said that runs often define basketball games? Well, if the scoreless drought the Raptors went through early wasn’t enough to lose this one, the second one sure was. After Battle’s three late in the third, the Raptors once again went four-plus minutes scoreless and allowed Charlotte on another run culminating in a 17-point lead.

The run began with a fadeaway from Brandon Miller and ended with a flurry of threes from KJ Simpson and Knueppel, who were left wide-open on back-to-back-to-back possessions. It was clear that the Raptors, playing their fifth game in seven days was out of gas.

After a strong start from Barnes, he was fairly ineffective the rest of the night. In fact, the entire starting lineup outside of Quickley struggled mightily. Barnes, Poeltl, Ingram and Ja’Kobe Walter combined for 27 points, not enough to even think about winning a basketball game.

If not for Quickley’s hot night, the Raptors may have ended the game with 60 points. Quickley scored another couple of buckets midway through the fourth, trying to stop the Hornets final run and reaching 31 points on the night.

Unfortunately, Quickley’s heroic efforts were not enough, and we saw seven minutes of garbage time as the Raptors opted for extra rest over a late push. Probably a good choice given their schedule of late.

If you had any doubts before, this game clearly showcased why the Raptors need Barrett back ASAP. Toronto is scoring only 105.6 points per game since he’s gone down, good for 30th in the league.

Woof.