10 things I saw from Raptors-Rockets (8–1–2017)
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2 min readJan 9, 2017
- Defensive breakdown: Houston bricked 15 of 17 threes from deep in the first half but the Raptors only built a 2-point lead because they were too soft on the interior. Then when their jumpers started to fall, the Raptors couldn’t stop them from anywhere.
- MVP performance: James Harden is impossible. There’s just nothing you can do against this dude. The Raptors contained him in their first matchup by applying lots of on-ball pressure (leading to 12 turnovers) but Harden this time around was perfect. He had 40–10–11 while delivering some stops in the fourth.
- Mental mistakes: You can live with the threes, but you won’t survive sloppy passing and a total lack of interior defense. Houston feasted on transition points and a steady diet of Montrezl Harrell finishing and-1s against a late-rotating defense in the paint.
- Rebound performance: DeMarre Carroll capped off that eye-gouging performance against Chicago with his best showing of the season. Carroll was drilling threes like Klay Thompson, playing solid defense on James Harden, and even took it to the hole for a few of his painfully awkward finishes.
- Missing star: The Raptors won’t win unless Kyle Lowry dominates and he couldn’t score consistently. Houston trapped him plenty and either he was too tired, or he just didn’t have the will to consistently beat the trap and get to the rim. Can’t blame Lowry for being gassed on a back-to-back after the load he has carried this season.
- #NBAVOTE: At least DeMar DeRozan kept his stamina. He scored pretty much whenever he wanted, and for a short while in the fourth quarter, it looked like DeRozan was going to win this game on his own.
- Moreyball: Layups and threes — this is where the NBA is headed for the foreseeable future. Pick-and-roll on every play with at least four shooters surrounding one roll. Any hint of space and the three is going up. No need for overly intricate sets, just shoot the J and push the pace.
- Dying breed: In this type of game it’s hard to imagine any bigs seeing time. It’s an impossible ask to have a plodder like Jonas Valanciunas or Nene to stalk the perimeter. Neither had a role to play in this game, even though both players generally played well.
- Patman returns: Patrick Patterson returned but the Raptors were cautious with his minutes. He looked a step slow on defense but drilled both his threes.
- Go. Get. Millsap: The Raptors could really use another two-way big who is both mobile and physical in the paint. Millsap is that guy. Go get him.
