10 things I saw from Raptors-Suns (Jan. 17)
Published in
2 min readJan 18, 2019
- Ugly: The Raptors did the bare minimum to get the 111–109 win on the second night of a back-to-back. Phoenix paraded to the line in a sloppily officiated game, and nearly forced overtime if not for an unlikely hero.
- Clutch: Pascal Siakam drove in for a lefty layup at the final buzzer for the game winner. Raptors coach Nick Nurse drew up the final play for Siakam to attack in isolation from the top of the floor, and he blew past both Mikal Bridges at the point of attack and finished over Deandre Ayton at the rim for the incredibly difficult finish. Siakam also timed the move perfectly as he didn’t start his drive until there were only three seconds left on the clock, which left no chance for the Suns to respond.
- Hub: The Suns doubled Siakam for most of the game despite him finishing with just 10 points, which is a credit to Siakam’s improvements this season. Siakam leveraged the added attention into five assists, and was a factor on the boards.
- Audible: Kyle Lowry was initially ruled out as he was scheduled to rest the second end of the back-to-back along with Kawhi Leonard. However, Nick Nurse explained that Lowry was suiting up instead because he needed game reps to get his conditioning back, and to find his shot.
- Performance: Lowry was labored in his movements, but he was a positive contributor with 16 points, eight assists and nine rebounds. He worked magic with Serge Ibaka in the pick-and-pop, came up with a clutch defensive stop by forcing a turnover in the last minute of the game, and successfully lobbied the referees for cheap calls.
- Motivated: Delon Wright’s eyes light up when he faces his nemesis in Kelly Oubre. Wright immediately scored an and-one layup over Oubre when the two checked into the game, and he continuously tormented him throughout the night. This unlikely beef started when Oubre said Wright only performed well in home games during last year’s playoffs.
- Revived: C.J. Miles supplied 13 much-needed points off the bench as the rotation was extremely short with both Kawhi Leonard and OG Anunoby absent. Miles hit a leaning bank shot to start the game, and it seemed to inform his confidence for the rest of the night.
- Debut: Pat McCaw made his first appearance as a Raptor and was far from impressive. He only took one shot (which fell about 10 feet short of the basket) and got burned badly by Devin Booker on the end.
- Rare: The Raptors pulled off a seven-point possession in the fourth quarter. Chris Boucher was flagrantly fouled on a dunk, Josh Jackson picked up his second technical for arguing the previous possession, and Lowry drilled a three after getting the ball back after the Raptors converted their two bonus free throws on the play.
- Support: Kawhi Leonard typically watches from the back when he’s resting, but he made a rare bench appearance tonight. Leonard looked especially happy on the final bucket by Siakam.
