After losing to the Grizzlies, nurse questions Raptors’ identity
The Toronto Raptors lost 119-106 to the Memphis Grizzlies. This is the eighth loss in their last 10 games.
Yes, there’s “Vision 6-9.” But this reiteration of the Raptors didn’t have the size and girth to match up with the Grizzlies’ bigs — who punished them early with oftentimes multiple opportunities per possession — or the necessary wings to knock down shots from range to keep up with a blistering three-point performance.
The defensive intensity the Raptors used to honour themselves on in years past has also evaded the team’s fabric, as the Raptors now sit at 15-20 on the season, good enough for the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference.
‘That play doesn’t give me much optimism at all. It’s pretty unacceptable, the effort we gave,” said Nurse post-game.
Nurse stressed the amount of loose balls his squad didn’t take seriously, noting that “tipping balls away” and “being the first ones to the floor” is their “identity”. This effort is what kept the Raptors alive in last year’s playoffs.
“We’ve been lacking that certainly lately. We’ve been lacking, playing to our identity … we’re just a little bit disjointed right now. We’ve got to hang in there … they should get tired of this pretty soon.”
It was an energized effort from the Grizzlies, who came into Scotiabank Arena having lost two straight — a small slump that came on the heels of controversial and confident comments Ja Morant discusses Memphis’s position in relation to the rest.
Morant was the leader of the charge Thursday. He scored 19 points, had 17 assists (a career record), and made a few highlight slams.
“I was able to get in my sweet spot,” said Morant on how he was able to progress throughout the game, gaining confidence from his teammates making shots.
The Raptors didn’t have an answer for Morant, who early on was able to set the pace and get his teammates involved, from his big men to his marksmen. The Grizzlies scored an impressive 44% from deep.
When the Grizzlies missed, Steven Adams — among others — terrorized the Raptors on the boards. New Zealand native Steven Adams finished the game with a record 17 rebounds. Eight of those were offensive, as the Raptors gave up a total of 14 offensive rebounds in the first half and 17 for the game — the most for an opponent this season.
With Fred VanVleet out of the lineup, the Raptors started off with bigs Christian Koloko and Juancho Hernangomez, but they were no match for the Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr. and Adams.
Just four minutes into the game, Nurse counterattacked the Grizzlies’ size with a smaller lineup with more shooting, opting for Malachi Flynn and Gary Trent Jr. Although the Raptors were still in the game after the latter scored nine points in quarter one, the Grizzlies won the match.
To balance their big men, the Grizzlies got themselves in an early groove behind Morant’s playmaking, opening the first quarter going 5-for-8 from three.
One of the culprits behind the Grizzlies’ hot shooting was a familiar face in Dillon Brooks. The Mississauga native made his mark this time last year when the Grizzlies visited Toronto, proclaiming “this is my house!” in a decisive win.
Tonight was no different for Brooks, opening the game with a three, and finishing tied for a game-high 25 points (the Raptors’ Pascal Siakam also dropped a quarter-piece in the loss).
Brooks’ offence was matched by his defence, as he continued to take on the Raptors’ best player — this time in Pascal Siakam, who finished the game with 25 points on 42 percent shooting, before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
As the Raptors made their way back to offence, the guard continued his vocal presence and yelled at them. The fourth quarter was a boiling point after Siakam fouled, and Brooks retaliated pushing Brooks. Nurse received a technical for the Raptor.
“I’m trying to be stuck on them like a sticker,” said Brooks. “And then I talk a little smack too, and some guys don’t like it.”
Siakam was able to find his groove again in the second quarter. He scored seven quick points and the last three came in transition. After initially being intercepted by another alley-oop attempt, the Grizzlies attempted to make a third.
Memphis was able to contain Siakam to a certain extent. Siakam entered the matchup with a score of 35.8 points and a shooting average of.517 from his five previous games.
Around the eight-minute mark of the third quarter the Grizzlies took a 20-point lead. This frame also saw the Raptors give up an alley-oop between Ziaire Wilkins and Ja Morant after a made Raptors free throw.
“Several touchdown passes … it was about as bad as it could get,” said Nurse. “Plays like that can happen. They do happen once in seven years. Like seriously … we got to get focused, connected and get serious.”
After a few runs, the Raptors were able to reduce the lead to 14 in the third and to nine in the fourth. This was due to scrappy play that resulted in turnovers. This was the first time that Trent, Scottie, Malachi Flynn and Jeff Dowtin Jr. led that charge.
Nurse applauded Barnes’ effort in the second half, where he was able to use power moves to get his way around the bucket. Just like last season, it’s taking Barnes time to get into that rhythm, often opting for harder shots to start the game, Nurse said.
Barnes had a double-double, scoring 14 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and assisting with four assists during the discussion on his sophomore year. Asked at the end of the game, Morant kept it simple in regards to Barnes’ future, which remains a bright spot looking forward for the future of this Raptors team.
“Don’t worry y’all, he’ll be OK. Everyone’s time is different, he’ll be special.”
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