Have yourself a game WALKER KESSLER. 8/8/6 blocks at the half (most blocks by anybody in the league in a quarter with 6), finished with 17/14/7 blocks. He finished with the same amount ofoffensive rebounds as defenseive rebounds and only fouled twice! He has a monster that opening quarter, and had a really good stretch in the middle of the fourth as well. Toronto pushed inside all game, and Kessler was trying his hardest to keep them out. He was running the floor well, and was generally right place right time. We were really hoping he’d finish with that coveted triple double lol
Perimeter defense, turnovers, and allowing so many offensive rebounds made this game a lot closer than it needed to be. 6 turnovers in the first quarter alone kept the Raptors in it, and from there they matched us punch for punch. They also had 25 offensive rebounds which is unacceptable. They do have a lot of length with Barnes, Siakim, Koloko, Boucher, and Achiuwa, but man even when we had Kessler and Markkanen down low they were still finding ways to get oreb’s. We did clean up our turnovers a bit the second half, but by halftime we had 11 turnovers which led to 15 points off turnovers for the Raptors. It was a big reason why they clawed back in the end of the first and the end of the second quarters after we started hot.
We started the first two quarters really hot, even going up by 14 points in the second quarter after shooting 10-12 with 6-6 from the line the first 8 min of the second quarter, but we quickly lost it due to turnovers and poor shooting. The Raptors had 10 steals + 15 Offensive rebounds in the first half alone.
Mike Conley was insanely good today. Hit big shots, had that impressive Rondo-esque layup and 1 with 3 min left to put us up 7. He finished with 19 points 8 assists and 2 blocks lol. He did have 3 turnovers, but I’m excusing it because he was a perfect 5-5 inside the arc and shot 9-9 from the free throw line. Just a cool, calm vet who helps us so much. He was also BRIEFLY credited with his first ever Technical Foul in the first half before it was clarified to Olynyk. History was almost made tonight!
Markkanen did his usual thing tonight. It feels like nearly every game recently he has like 25 & 11, and tonight he finished with 28/13/1/1/1. Team high 4 turnovers, that’s credited to the length of the Raptors who made it tough when he put the ball on the floor, plus the Raptors are the best team in the league at getting fast break points.
Olynyk played just 20 minutes tonight, and shot 1-5, but had a great first quarter where he was doing it all. He still finished with 2/4/4/1 block. It feels like we are starting him like we started Favors alongside Gobert. Starting him just as a courtesy, when he is generally the first one off the floor.
Clarkson started off slow, 6 points on 6 shots by halftime, but kupped his total to 23 on 17 shots. He also had 5 assists, which I absolutely love whenever Clarkson passes a lot. I feel like his second half was one of the better halves we’ve seen of Clarkson so far. I also think that this season has been an adjustment to him because for the first time ever he is the sole guy we go to if we need a bucket late. He has risen to the challenge so far this year, even in games where he is playing terribly he is our best shot creator and has given us a bucket when needed. I know Markkanen is also a bucket getter, but it seems Hardy and the Jazz give it to JC 9/10 times.
Sexton just comes in and immediately makes an impact. His speed opens us up and the slightest numbers advantage turns into points because of how fast Sexton capitalizes. He did have 3 turnovers, 2 of those off of him losing the ball on drives, but he finished with 12/3/4 on 4-7 shooting. He is just so electric to watch.
Beasley shot pretty good tonight compared to his last month. 4-11 from 3, 14 points all coming from the first half. I’ve started keeping track of how many times he drives and passes it, and tonight he passed it twice out of drives compared to 3 shots. The majority of his drives end up in bad layup attempts, I want to see him pass out of drives more. He did have a good dump pass to Vando for a dunk, but that’s about it. Still need to see more from him besides streaky shooting. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is traded at the deadline. I’d personally play Agbaji in the Beasley role while also getting an additional FRP, but that’s just me. Beasley missed defensive rotations, fell asleep at times, and made bad shooting decisions. I will credit him shooting 4-11 from 3, it is much better than his January average of 32.1%.
Vando looked good off the bench, but shows that he is definitely not a good backup C, but that’s what he is playing as. I wish we’d play him and Olynyk more together off the bench in those minutes just to try it out. Those early season lineups with Olynyk and Vando looked good, and we haven’t gone to it since Olynyk’s injury.
Rudy Gay was Rudy Gay. I will say he had 3 assists in 11 minutes, which is good. But that’s it.
Agbaji was in our closing lineup over Beasley, and I love the change. He can be the spot up shooter Beasley is, just with more discipline with shots and better defense. I do want to see him as a point of attack defender, especially against somebody like VanVleet who killed us tonight with 34/12/10.
Kessler is the only player in the league to have multiple 7+ block games this season wtf.
The offensive rebounds and turnovers really killed us man. The Raptors shot 110 times tonight off of 25 offensive rebounds compared to Utah shooting 83 times and just 13 offensive rebounds.
Here’s to finally getting above .500 and to Laluri being named an all star reserve tomorrow!
27-26 BITCHES! WALKER KESSLER GAME FRFR
tmo01
WALKER KESSLER IS A MAN AMONG BOYS
lopodo777
Yeah Lauri and Walker had a dominant game. But my mvp has to go to Conley. Without him we are losing this game no doubt
CBNDSGN
Jazz 5-0 when scoring 60+ and allowing 60+ at half but leading.
SkyWalker is an unhidden gem.
lemmegetauhhhhhhhhhh
walker kessler is going to be really really good
thehelpfulcamel
I know a lot of the talk will be about Walker tonight, but Mike had one of his best games of the season. We don’t win this one without him holding us steady down the stretch.
I am so torn about what’s best regarding Mike and the trade deadline… I love the dude, he’s still probably our 2nd best player, and he is a fantastic vet presence and mentor to our young guards. But on the other hand, he’s 35 and it might be worthwhile to sell high on him and improve our pick in the process. Thank god we have Ainge and Zanik behind the scenes to make the right decision either way.
Rayces
I’m not 100% sure, but I have a strong feeling one or two Timberwolves fans somewhere simply keel over and die every time Kessler has a game like that.
FERFreak731
Walker Kessler and FINNISHER is better than KAT and Gobert
RLeb10
Will Hardy gotta run his team suicides and the amount of laps they need to do is the amount of offensive rebounds they’ve given up in this game
Alive-Ad-4164
Lauri is something else
-Valtava-
Another great nailbiter. Its amazing how the hell toronto swing those skinny arms and almost never commits foul?!
ChouPigu
How in the hell do you shoot 27 less FGAs than your opponent and still get the win?
SunsetCity45
stressful ending but good win
Bobblefighterman
Ainge: “can we trade Gobert for Gobert, a few players, and all of your picks?”
Conneley: “Yeah sounds fair to me.”
rc_cola34
The big 3 of Conley Kessler, and Markkanen really sealed this.
All we’re extremely efficient and just helped beat a team with almost 30 more shots than us.
2 of the 3 are large parts of the future were in very good hands
Wakandaforever456
Kessler is better than Mobley. Brook Lopez 2.0
TheCapableFox
Called it when Kessler got here I said this dude gonna slide into Gobert’s role flawlessly (and with better hands!). I’m so proud of him. I followed him in college and witnessed his dominance there. I’m happy to see he’s transitioning well in the big league.
Also shout out to Iron Mike Conley showing that veteran leadership and composure to push us to victory late.
Xsy
Have the Raptors always been this whiny?
I feel like I don’t remember them being this whiny.
Even after the most blatant and obvious calls, there’d be like, four dudes in red with their arms up, acting like nothing happened lmao.
18 Comments
GAME NOTES:
Have yourself a game WALKER KESSLER. 8/8/6 blocks at the half (most blocks by anybody in the league in a quarter with 6), finished with 17/14/7 blocks. He finished with the same amount ofoffensive rebounds as defenseive rebounds and only fouled twice! He has a monster that opening quarter, and had a really good stretch in the middle of the fourth as well. Toronto pushed inside all game, and Kessler was trying his hardest to keep them out. He was running the floor well, and was generally right place right time. We were really hoping he’d finish with that coveted triple double lol
Perimeter defense, turnovers, and allowing so many offensive rebounds made this game a lot closer than it needed to be. 6 turnovers in the first quarter alone kept the Raptors in it, and from there they matched us punch for punch. They also had 25 offensive rebounds which is unacceptable. They do have a lot of length with Barnes, Siakim, Koloko, Boucher, and Achiuwa, but man even when we had Kessler and Markkanen down low they were still finding ways to get oreb’s. We did clean up our turnovers a bit the second half, but by halftime we had 11 turnovers which led to 15 points off turnovers for the Raptors. It was a big reason why they clawed back in the end of the first and the end of the second quarters after we started hot.
We started the first two quarters really hot, even going up by 14 points in the second quarter after shooting 10-12 with 6-6 from the line the first 8 min of the second quarter, but we quickly lost it due to turnovers and poor shooting. The Raptors had 10 steals + 15 Offensive rebounds in the first half alone.
Mike Conley was insanely good today. Hit big shots, had that impressive Rondo-esque layup and 1 with 3 min left to put us up 7. He finished with 19 points 8 assists and 2 blocks lol. He did have 3 turnovers, but I’m excusing it because he was a perfect 5-5 inside the arc and shot 9-9 from the free throw line. Just a cool, calm vet who helps us so much. He was also BRIEFLY credited with his first ever Technical Foul in the first half before it was clarified to Olynyk. History was almost made tonight!
Markkanen did his usual thing tonight. It feels like nearly every game recently he has like 25 & 11, and tonight he finished with 28/13/1/1/1. Team high 4 turnovers, that’s credited to the length of the Raptors who made it tough when he put the ball on the floor, plus the Raptors are the best team in the league at getting fast break points.
Olynyk played just 20 minutes tonight, and shot 1-5, but had a great first quarter where he was doing it all. He still finished with 2/4/4/1 block. It feels like we are starting him like we started Favors alongside Gobert. Starting him just as a courtesy, when he is generally the first one off the floor.
Clarkson started off slow, 6 points on 6 shots by halftime, but kupped his total to 23 on 17 shots. He also had 5 assists, which I absolutely love whenever Clarkson passes a lot. I feel like his second half was one of the better halves we’ve seen of Clarkson so far. I also think that this season has been an adjustment to him because for the first time ever he is the sole guy we go to if we need a bucket late. He has risen to the challenge so far this year, even in games where he is playing terribly he is our best shot creator and has given us a bucket when needed. I know Markkanen is also a bucket getter, but it seems Hardy and the Jazz give it to JC 9/10 times.
Sexton just comes in and immediately makes an impact. His speed opens us up and the slightest numbers advantage turns into points because of how fast Sexton capitalizes. He did have 3 turnovers, 2 of those off of him losing the ball on drives, but he finished with 12/3/4 on 4-7 shooting. He is just so electric to watch.
Beasley shot pretty good tonight compared to his last month. 4-11 from 3, 14 points all coming from the first half. I’ve started keeping track of how many times he drives and passes it, and tonight he passed it twice out of drives compared to 3 shots. The majority of his drives end up in bad layup attempts, I want to see him pass out of drives more. He did have a good dump pass to Vando for a dunk, but that’s about it. Still need to see more from him besides streaky shooting. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is traded at the deadline. I’d personally play Agbaji in the Beasley role while also getting an additional FRP, but that’s just me. Beasley missed defensive rotations, fell asleep at times, and made bad shooting decisions. I will credit him shooting 4-11 from 3, it is much better than his January average of 32.1%.
Vando looked good off the bench, but shows that he is definitely not a good backup C, but that’s what he is playing as. I wish we’d play him and Olynyk more together off the bench in those minutes just to try it out. Those early season lineups with Olynyk and Vando looked good, and we haven’t gone to it since Olynyk’s injury.
Rudy Gay was Rudy Gay. I will say he had 3 assists in 11 minutes, which is good. But that’s it.
Agbaji was in our closing lineup over Beasley, and I love the change. He can be the spot up shooter Beasley is, just with more discipline with shots and better defense. I do want to see him as a point of attack defender, especially against somebody like VanVleet who killed us tonight with 34/12/10.
Kessler is the only player in the league to have multiple 7+ block games this season wtf.
The offensive rebounds and turnovers really killed us man. The Raptors shot 110 times tonight off of 25 offensive rebounds compared to Utah shooting 83 times and just 13 offensive rebounds.
Here’s to finally getting above .500 and to Laluri being named an all star reserve tomorrow!
27-26 BITCHES! WALKER KESSLER GAME FRFR
WALKER KESSLER IS A MAN AMONG BOYS
Yeah Lauri and Walker had a dominant game. But my mvp has to go to Conley. Without him we are losing this game no doubt
Jazz 5-0 when scoring 60+ and allowing 60+ at half but leading.
SkyWalker is an unhidden gem.
walker kessler is going to be really really good
I know a lot of the talk will be about Walker tonight, but Mike had one of his best games of the season. We don’t win this one without him holding us steady down the stretch.
I am so torn about what’s best regarding Mike and the trade deadline… I love the dude, he’s still probably our 2nd best player, and he is a fantastic vet presence and mentor to our young guards. But on the other hand, he’s 35 and it might be worthwhile to sell high on him and improve our pick in the process. Thank god we have Ainge and Zanik behind the scenes to make the right decision either way.
I’m not 100% sure, but I have a strong feeling one or two Timberwolves fans somewhere simply keel over and die every time Kessler has a game like that.
Walker Kessler and FINNISHER is better than KAT and Gobert
Will Hardy gotta run his team suicides and the amount of laps they need to do is the amount of offensive rebounds they’ve given up in this game
Lauri is something else
Another great nailbiter. Its amazing how the hell toronto swing those skinny arms and almost never commits foul?!
How in the hell do you shoot 27 less FGAs than your opponent and still get the win?
stressful ending but good win
Ainge: “can we trade Gobert for Gobert, a few players, and all of your picks?”
Conneley: “Yeah sounds fair to me.”
The big 3 of Conley Kessler, and Markkanen really sealed this.
All we’re extremely efficient and just helped beat a team with almost 30 more shots than us.
2 of the 3 are large parts of the future were in very good hands
Kessler is better than Mobley. Brook Lopez 2.0
Called it when Kessler got here I said this dude gonna slide into Gobert’s role flawlessly (and with better hands!). I’m so proud of him. I followed him in college and witnessed his dominance there. I’m happy to see he’s transitioning well in the big league.
Also shout out to Iron Mike Conley showing that veteran leadership and composure to push us to victory late.
Have the Raptors always been this whiny?
I feel like I don’t remember them being this whiny.
Even after the most blatant and obvious calls, there’d be like, four dudes in red with their arms up, acting like nothing happened lmao.