GAME #1 : Toronto Raptors 94 - Houston Rockets 83

[GOLDBLUM]

Stanley Johnson..how does this guy still have nba job,my god..Dude,this will be your last year!!!

Pretty sure we smartly locked him up for 2 years so prepare for plenty more Stanley Johnson to come.

[Gonzz]

Pretty sure we smartly locked him up for 2 years so prepare for plenty more Stanley Johnson to come.

Think they will eat the salary for a prospect next year.

[Rudy Bargnani]

Think they will eat the salary for a prospect next year.

Gotta pick the Brazilian Stanley Johnson in the 2nd round

[GLF]

Terence Davis is soooooo much better than McCaw and fits with the bench lineup so much better than McCaw. I will never understand why Nurse plays that guy. And I know him not playing tonight was not because Terence is the 8th man. It's because he's getting a rest day like Marc. Which makes me think even more than McCaw is the 8th man. I feel Nurse is gonna keep 1 or 2 players from the top 8 out every game of the scrimmages.

[golden]

No Gasol, McCaw or Dewan

McCaw was load managing. Gotta keep him fresh for the playoffs.

[MixxAOR]

New thread will be up tmrw morning guys. Busy Saturday.

[planetmars]

Pretty fun scrimmage. Harden and Russ were really good. Russ is so good around the rim, and Harden is such a good playmaker/scorer. I know they both get a bad rap, but they'll be a tough out in the playoffs. They just have some pretty crappy depth pieces and that's how the Raptors were able to win handily in the end.

It's tough to really analyze a scrimmage.. but will try anyway.

Siakam struggled to hit the 3 off the dribble. Hope he settles into that, as that's a big half court weapon we need. Wasn't great defensively, but used his biggest strength which is his speed. Ran like a gazelle. Was super lethal in transition which he usually is.

I thought Serge was awesome. He had elevated his game in March before the break and he still has it. Hit some nice looking 3's. Really controlled the paint area. A little easier for him without a true big man in his way.. but was still good to see. He defended well. Best Raptor last night.

Fred looked out of sorts. He hit a 3 which was nice. Nothing around the rim which was the usual for him. But again hard to really take too much from a 1 game sample from a scrimmage game no less.

Kyle looked like he was playing hard. Loved the 3 to finish the first half. I think he upped his intensity because of Russ. He looks like he's really in shape. Going to love to see a couple of KLOE games sometime soon. He took a charge in a scrimmage game.. love that.

TD was fantastic. Kept the offense moving. Some great defensive moments to. Forget who lost the ball on an inbound, but TD recovered with a great defensive play. Smooth 3pt stroke. Driving to the rim for a put back. Just overall great stuff. Him and Norm is a pretty awesome back court pairing for our bench.

Norm had some old Norm moments where he would drive into traffic, and throw the ball away. But for the most part he was really good.

OG had some really good defensive sequences. Good defense on Harden. He seemed a bit stiff on offense. Missed a bad wide open 3. But made another one later on. He got called on a stupid offensive foul but that's easy to call because he plays like a robot at times.

RHJ was a lot of fun. Looking like he's more comfortable driving with the ball. Really solid defense.

Matt was pretty bad defensively early on. Had to foul to keep a guy from blowing by him. And was shy offensively until the 4th. Just wish he was a little more aggressive with his shots. He would be a super star if he had a guy like Lebron, Harden or Giannis passing him the ball. Maybe one day he'll develop into more than just a catch and shoot guy. Probably wishful thinking.

Boucher was meh. Still getting beaten up despite gaining those 15 pounds. SJ was a walking turnover but defended well. Oshae didn't do anything but hardly played.

Overall it was a good game. I thought Matt/Jack did a decent job talking about the game from a remote location. So I guess Jack is considered an essential worker? Or is he in Toronto permanently now?

Weird to see the bench all social distancing when they huddle during timeouts and still sweat on each other during play. Plus everyone has tested negative.. so what's the point? The sneaker noise can get annoying. A little music in the arena would have been cool. Overall though, just happy to see basketball back, and looking forward to seeing Skinny Marc next game.

[G__Deane]

Nice birthday present for Nick Nurse

[Demographic Shift]

Pretty fun scrimmage. Harden and Russ were really good. Russ is so good around the rim, and Harden is such a good playmaker/scorer. I know they both get a bad rap, but they'll be a tough out in the playoffs. They just have some pretty crappy depth pieces and that's how the Raptors were able to win handily in the end.

It's tough to really analyze a scrimmage.. but will try anyway.

Siakam struggled to hit the 3 off the dribble. Hope he settles into that, as that's a big half court weapon we need. Wasn't great defensively, but used his biggest strength which is his speed. Ran like a gazelle. Was super lethal in transition which he usually is.

I thought Serge was awesome. He had elevated his game in March before the break and he still has it. Hit some nice looking 3's. Really controlled the paint area. A little easier for him without a true big man in his way.. but was still good to see. He defended well. Best Raptor last night.

Fred looked out of sorts. He hit a 3 which was nice. Nothing around the rim which was the usual for him. But again hard to really take too much from a 1 game sample from a scrimmage game no less.

Kyle looked like he was playing hard. Loved the 3 to finish the first half. I think he upped his intensity because of Russ. He looks like he's really in shape. Going to love to see a couple of KLOE games sometime soon. He took a charge in a scrimmage game.. love that.

TD was fantastic. Kept the offense moving. Some great defensive moments to. Forget who lost the ball on an inbound, but TD recovered with a great defensive play. Smooth 3pt stroke. Driving to the rim for a put back. Just overall great stuff. Him and Norm is a pretty awesome back court pairing for our bench.

Norm had some old Norm moments where he would drive into traffic, and throw the ball away. But for the most part he was really good.

OG had some really good defensive sequences. Good defense on Harden. He seemed a bit stiff on offense. Missed a bad wide open 3. But made another one later on. He got called on a stupid offensive foul but that's easy to call because he plays like a robot at times.

RHJ was a lot of fun. Looking like he's more comfortable driving with the ball. Really solid defense.

Matt was pretty bad defensively early on. Had to foul to keep a guy from blowing by him. And was shy offensively until the 4th. Just wish he was a little more aggressive with his shots. He would be a super star if he had a guy like Lebron, Harden or Giannis passing him the ball. Maybe one day he'll develop into more than just a catch and shoot guy. Probably wishful thinking.

Boucher was meh. Still getting beaten up despite gaining those 15 pounds. SJ was a walking turnover but defended well. Oshae didn't do anything but hardly played.

Overall it was a good game. I thought Matt/Jack did a decent job talking about the game from a remote location. So I guess Jack is considered an essential worker? Or is he in Toronto permanently now?

Weird to see the bench all social distancing when they huddle during timeouts and still sweat on each other during play. Plus everyone has tested negative.. so what's the point? The sneaker noise can get annoying. A little music in the arena would have been cool. Overall though, just happy to see basketball back, and looking forward to seeing Skinny Marc next game.

Great synopsis...

To me that had the feel of a summer league game... The talent was way way way way better but still the sound and feel of LV summer league game.

I think Serge is going to get paid... hell we might even do it if he can deliver that kind of game for another couple years.. He is 29 or 30 or something else if you go back to the conspiracy theorists.

Agree Norm had a lot more good moments than not.... but its the first game of what is a brand new season after 4 months off. Still Norm looks supremely confident.

One through eight... this looks to be a team that no one wants to play.

[golden]

The 3-pt shooting is going to take awhile to shake off the rust and also adjust to the weird new environment. Just looking around the league, 3P% is down in the first scrimmages. So you can kind of see who the natural shooters.... guys who can get out of bed at 3AM and start draining 3's. Guys like Norm, who've had to work hard to develop a 3-pt shot are going to need time to get into a shooting rhythm.

[Shredder]

I found the court's sidelines a little weird. I'm surprised they didn't black them out. A couple times I had a double take on which line was the out of bounds and the edge of the court. Definitely had a Summer League/ YMCA pick up game vibe to it. But thank god for some raptors basketball. I didn't realize how much I missed it (I'm in a industry that has boomed with COVID, I haven't had a break since March) It was nice to focus on something else.

[DanH]

Serge couldn't miss. Which obviously helps. But overall I wasn't super impressed with the rest of his game. Did make a nice pass or two, which I appreciate. But can't wait to watch Marc orchestrate the offence.

I certainly hope the Raps don't give Serge term.

[S.R.]

Why were Marc and McCaw sitting?

[DogeLover1234]

Why were Marc and McCaw sitting?

Just spitballing, but maybe Nurse doesnt wannt to play any of the key guys big minutes and also wants to see extended run with certain lineups. Plus hard to get any rhythm when you go 13 deep. Itll be telling who sits out next game for McCaw, assuming it wasnt simple tightness or something.

Tbh if im an LA team im positioning myself to avoid Houston early. Love that they just acknowledged they arent asgood as the elite and basically shoved it with ace-10 suited

[Demographic Shift]

Just spitballing, but maybe Nurse doesnt wannt to play any of the key guys big minutes and also wants to see extended run with certain lineups. Plus hard to get any rhythm when you go 13 deep. Itll be telling who sits out next game for McCaw, assuming it wasnt simple tightness or something.

Tbh if im an LA team im positioning myself to avoid Houston early. Love that they just acknowledged they arent asgood as the elite and basically shoved it with ace-10 suited

Houston .. for better or worse... is THE team no one wants to see. They are the knuckleballers of the NBA.

If they are on and the shots are dropping from guys like House and McLemore all night long along with Harden lighting it up .......even god can't help you.
If the are cold.. and its in their DNA to put up an 0 for 27 skid mark.....and Russ goes hero ball....then if you can get to 100 you got 'em.

But you never know from night to night.