Restart Game #3: Toronto Raptors vs Orlando Magic - August 5, 2020 - 8:00 PM ET

[A.I]

Celtics are next. Raptors better be prepared for that game.

[S.R.]

Never in doubt. Let up a bit on a bad team, did enough to win without too much effort.

[The Great One]

Lowry's been their best player since the restart, Fred's a close second, their third best player has been OG.

[Jclaw]

Not impressed by today's performance. Hopefully it's laziness because it's Orlando

Part laziness and part Nurse letting Rondae run the point for much of the fourth quarter. I think he just didn’t want to show anything.

[Jclaw]

And then there was 1

[slaw]

Part laziness and part Nurse letting Rondae run the point for much of the fourth quarter. I think he just didn’t want to show anything.

They are also trying to get everyone involved and comfortable, which means they aren’t always playing Raptors offence. They forced it with Gasol early, Ibaka and Norm as well. Lowry wasn’t even looking to shoot for most of the first quarter. When everyone let loose in the second they blew Orlando off the floor.

I expect one of these games we are going to get a heavy dose of Pascal, which we really haven’t seen yet.

[planetmars]

That felt like a practice game. RHJ was playing the point for a whole quarter it seemed. We tried to get Marc rolling early. Norm was getting an opportunity as well. Really didn't like that dirty foul from Kyle. That was kind of gross. Hopefully Gordon is going to be okay.

But I like that the Magic didn't fold up. They came out like gang busters in the second half. And we kept our poise and just never faltered. Wasn't a nice game to watch at all but enjoyed the win, even if it felt more like a scrimmage game then the previous two games.

Siakam had way too many turnovers. Wasn't driving to the rim and doing his patented spin away, roll to the rim. Magic have no shot blockers with Isaac not around. He could have went ham. I'm not sure if he's still needing to find that second gear or if there is an issue. Let's just hope he took a step back purposely.

Fred is continuing to look great.. which is awesome. No hesitation with his shots and he was aggressive going to the basket.

Our defense continues to impress though. That first quarter lock down almost made me cry. Let's hope we can do some of that against Boston on Friday.

[saints91]

I don’t think Nurse wanted to give anything away last night. Chances are ww’ll He playing them in the first round. The focus was to get all the struggling guys going. The 3rd quarter was incredibly sloppy, and let Orlando bacyk in the game.

We we still won with out taxing guys too much and no one got injured. That’s all that counts at this point.

I can’t wait for tomorrow night’s game, Win #50 on the season better be against Celtics

[Apollo]

The guys were just toying with the Magic. The score was deceiving, it could have been a 50 point total annihilation if they were locked in all game.

[Puffer]

...Siakam had way too many turnovers. Wasn't driving to the rim and doing his patented spin away, roll to the rim...

Seven turnovers? At least three of them came from jumping into the air to make a pass. Pascal, Just Don't.

I like that he is confident, but this 8 game warmup will allow him to settle down a little I hope. With no travel, there has to be time to sit and watch tape with an assistant coach. Still hasn't touched his ceiling if he can cut down on the silly turnovers.

[Jclaw]

Seven turnovers? At least three of them came from jumping into the air to make a pass. Pascal, Just Don't.

I like that he is confident, but this 8 game warmup will allow him to settle down a little I hope. With no travel, there has to be time to sit and watch tape with an assistant coach. Still hasn't touched his ceiling if he can cut down on the silly turnovers.

Not much love for Pascal in this thread. Thankfully our good notoriously Raptors friendly people at ESPN can set us straight

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/nbareturn29602472/picking-nba-all-bubble-team-five-best-stars-far

"...One thing to watch: Siakam has been excellent running pick-and-rolls. With Siakam as the ball handler in 27 ball screens, Toronto is averaging 1.36 points per chance -- the second most of any player in the restart.

[Jclaw]

I know I said the Miami game was a sneaky big game but hear me out,,,the Boston game is a sneaky big game. After that game, the Celtics have Magic/Grizz/Wiz. That's an easy 3-0. We have Grizz/Bucks/Sixers/Nuggets. Even if we lose to the Celtics we can wrap up the 2 seed with a win over the Grizz. But that puts a lot of pressure on securing a win in the Jonas revenge game. There's not a sure win in the next three. Incidentally, we are only 2 games back of the already-clinched Lakers (with the tie breaker ). They have a similar schedule to us the rest of the way. Coach Nick mentioned he does believe in home court advantage down there. Let's get it.

[G__Deane]

Six Raptors scored in double figures

Pascal Siakam had 15 points
Norm Powell had 14
Marc Gasol had 13
OG Anunoby 12
Serge Ibaka 11

Couldn't arrange for that again if you tried. Kyle blew it by not netting his 10

Celtics game is bigger than any of the tuneup games so far. Go Raps!

[planetmars]

Boston game should be fun.. but even if we get the 3rd seed it's fine with me. The 76ers look cooked.

[inthepaint]

Some Raptor love from Glodsberry (ESPN):
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...tle-contenders

Love this chart (unassisted 3pt defense):

Stuff of champions.