Game #78 - Toronto Raptors 87 - Atlanta Hawks 95

[Miekenstien]

Depends. Who do you want to play in the playoffs? DET or IND? DET in my opinion is a better matchup. So if i'm the Raps i'd play both DeRozan and Lowry tomorrow.

i agree with this. to close out the season this is pretty much our last chance to effect ourselves and if we do end up playing indiana in round one a good tough fought win or loss is good practice for the series.

[Miekenstien]

Somebody needs to create a thread-poll on who should start playoff threads.. Joey is obvious favorite, but I'm not sure he can handle the playoff game pressure.

who has the best record so far this year? i would hope we send out our best for game 1.

[slaw]

Yuck? Kind of hard to tell if Casey was coaching to win this one. Didn't play much in way of end of benchers, so yes?

We had two old problems this game. 11 minutes of the starting lineup, which obviously has been a problem all year long because Scola. And 8 minutes of a problem I thought had long since disappeared - units with neither Lowry nor DeMar. Both problems were predictably disastrous. -10 in those 11 minutes, then -5 in those 8 minutes.

Carroll looked really good. I guess that's good news.

They were clearly experimenting with some lineups and I wondered whether Carroll was out there without DD and Lowry to get him some more touches and just let him work out some rust.

Hawks are desperate for wins and they definitely didn't want to get swept by Toronto. Plus, ATL pissed away a win against the Lebrons last week at home, so everything was in their court in terms of motivation, something to prove, etc. Raps didn't play with much urgency except in a few spurts.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Yuck? Kind of hard to tell if Casey was coaching to win this one. Didn't play much in way of end of benchers, so yes?

We had two old problems this game. 11 minutes of the starting lineup, which obviously has been a problem all year long because Scola. And 8 minutes of a problem I thought had long since disappeared - units with neither Lowry nor DeMar. Both problems were predictably disastrous. -10 in those 11 minutes, then -5 in those 8 minutes.

Carroll looked really good. I guess that's good news.

Early in the 1st half I said out loud, to an empty room, that the Raptors didn't want to win this game. I can't put my finger on it, but they just didn't seem to be playing with the same intent or passion that they do when they're digging in. I couldn't help but wonder if the Raptors were trying to help Atlanta get the #3 seed, allowing Toronto to avoid Miami until the ECF?

Scola was his normal terrible self. Biyombo has looked lost out there the past few games. Ditto Joseph. DeRozan looked like 2014/2015 DeRozan, jacking up bad shots like they were going out of style. Lowry's elbow hurts when he extends it and he can't make free throws (yet he played 30+ minutes yet again). Powell looked like a rookie for most of the game. Late in the game, JV had 12 & 8, in just 21 minutes played. Bebe and Carroll were given some court time (yet Wright wasn't, and none of them got minutes at the expense of the heavy minutes players).

Just a weird game overall.

Rest against the Pacers, then come out and bury the Knicks.

[slaw]

Rest against the Pacers, then come out and bury the Knicks.

Except it's a home game tonight, so they'll play to win. I don't think they'll rest Derozan and Lowry at home cause you generally don't do that to your home fans who pay a lot of money to see your best guys. Would guess that they'll all sit against the Knicks which gives them Sat, Sun, Mon off - play against the 76ers in the last home game (where they definitely won't be sitting) and then back to the bench for the Nets.

[JimiCliff]

I noticed this during the game last night - pretty fascinating bench reaction to a sick Derozan dunk:

https://youtu.be/ZdDx7ZuSqe0?t=295

[The Great One]

I noticed this during the game last night - pretty fascinating bench reaction to a sick Derozan dunk:

https://youtu.be/ZdDx7ZuSqe0?t=295

Look at Korver! lmao

[The Great One]

So TSN moved this game to TSN4? smh. And people wonder why Raptors TV ratings are down? Sportsnet and TSN does a POOR job of marketing the team. First of all, there's no pre-game show, there's no post game show. The halftime show is absolute GARBAGE. Then they put the game on DIFFERENT channels every game.

I was watching the Blue Jays game the other day. The game was on ALL four Sportsnet Channels + Sportsnet One. Then they did a 2 hour post game show after the game lol. TWO. And every commercial on Sportsnet these days are about the Blue Jays. That's how you market team.

Blue Jays 3 hour pre-game show right now on Sportsnet lol. This is exactly what i'm saying.

[rocwell]

Blue Jays 3 hour pre-game show right now on Sportsnet lol. This is exactly what i'm saying.

MLSE don't give a fuck about us.

[jimmie]

Blue Jays 3 hour pre-game show right now on Sportsnet lol. This is exactly what i'm saying.

It's the Jays home opener after their best year since 1992, and the Raptors are sitting most of their starting lineup in a meaningless game against Indiana at the tail end of the year. Please...