Game #11 Charlotte Hornets @ Toronto Raptors 7:30 pm. TSN

[Dr Hannibal Lecter]

Lowry and Fred Vanvleet is so dumb, stop playing midget basketball, backcourt so small.is it February yet..just make some trades..Am I only thinks that Freddy is turning in Derozan..stop holding the F%#$ ball and move the ball...whatever this was embarrassing..every game gets more depressing..even though they won..feels like they didn't deserve it, feels like a loss,what a joke..

[can't teach wingspan]

Let me get this straight, the Raptors barely beat a HORNETS team who's in the 2nd night of a back to back missing its best player? and still, some here thinks this is a playoff team?

#TradeLowry

I'd say that's because some Eastern playoff teams based on the current standings won't be there at season's end, i.e. Orlando, and maybe Atlanta/Charlotte. Not great seeds to be sure, but still playoff spots.

I'm of the mind we don't trade Lowry unless that's something he wants. I think he's earned that.

[S.R.]

Did anyone see Chris Boucher coming? I sure didn't.

Team is better playing Boucher and small lineups. Let them find their rhythm, then work a bit of Baynes back in. They'll still need his size sometimes.

[can't teach wingspan]

Did anyone see Chris Boucher coming? I sure didn't.

Team is better playing Boucher and small lineups. Let them find their rhythm, then work a bit of Baynes back in. They'll still need his size sometimes.

Agreed. We still need to have options against the Embiid and Jokers of the league

[golden]

Did anyone see Chris Boucher coming? I sure didn't

Yup. I bought Boucher stock early and often and I’m not selling anytime soon.

[S.R.]

Yup. I bought Boucher stock early and often and I’m not selling anytime soon.

Thought he was a fun hustle guy last year but a bit of a gimmick at the NBA level. Seemed too skinny, shot too suspect.

[A.I]

Thought he was a fun hustle guy last year but a bit of a gimmick at the NBA level. Seemed too skinny, shot too suspect.

His shooting won't stay this high, but even outside of that, he has been playing well.

[golden]

Thought he was a fun hustle guy last year but a bit of a gimmick at the NBA level. Seemed too skinny, shot too suspect.

The advanced stats all showed he did better with more minutes. He just needed the opportunity and trust from Nurse.... which is damn near impossible to earn. But the stats don’t show how much heart and fearlessness he plays with. I thought we’d lose him in free agency to a team like the Rockets and then he’d blow up. Glad it’s happening here.

Terence Davis is similar and he rides the pine tonight.

[slaw]

What’s the opposite of a moral victory?

Fake win.

[Demographic Shift]

Fake win.

Not since the days that Snooch ruled the repbulic as resident troll in chief have I heard "fake win"
Wicked funny stuff.

[Dvdvideo]

Interesting game, so inconsistant.
Dominating at times, incredibly poor defense at other times, we could have easily lost this game.
That said we also could have easily won the prior 2 so.......maybe it evens out.

Pelicans made a few of highly contested difficult shots in this game.......

All I really ask from our team is that they compete, and they are in most games. They have done that the past 3 games. I actually don't mind losing if the games are close. (Still obviously prefer to win)

[saints91]

The Hornets look awful, but good win by the Raps. I certainly didn't see this coming from Boucher. Once again, just another fun game.

[planetmars]

I don't see it as a good win but a lucky win. They had 12 points in the 4th after being up by 18 at a time in the third. It's the same old with this team. They can't keep a lead because they start doing stupid shit and stop playing defense when they do it.

Lowry found Boucher to get them back up 5. That was a key bucket I guess.. but it was such an awful display against a team playing on a second game of a back to back that was missing their best player.. that team looked dead in the water, but the Raptors gave them a huge life boat.

At the end there, Charlotte had two wide open looks from 3 to tie it and missed. We were so close in just giving it away again.

And it was our vets that were unable to score. I have no idea why Nurse kept putting Norm in the game. He was a disaster. Fred looked like he didn't want to be there. And Siakam was missing his shots short like he did early in the season. Kyle isn't blameless either.. he was doing stupid stuff too... complaining to the refs, killing most of the clock as he was dribbling it up.

I don't know about this team in this weird ass season.. that was a tough game to watch for me. I'm so against tanking but it seems like this team just won't have it this year.. and it's not because of Baynes or Len. The second half was disgusting, and he didn't play in that half.

Hopefully it's just the Tampa situation getting into their heads. Because that should correct itself automatically next season.

[DanH]

Yeah, this one was fun! Probably more interesting than it should have been, but that's been a trend this year.

Funny game. The teams were essentially tied in 2PT%, 3PT%, offensive rebounding, turnovers, free throws (slight edge to Raps), and the Raps won basically on the strength of more 3's taken and those free throws.

Still need to find a consistent solve for the non-Lowry minutes. They tried everything in this one - Norm in with the starters? Lost those minutes. Pascal, Fred, OG with Stan at C and Flynn? Lost those. They even tried a bench unit with no Pascal or Lowry which unsurprisingly bled points. Both starting groups also just broke even, though obviously really small sample and they should certainly give Boucher a longer look (and Baynes a look with the bench, he's basically only played with and against starters this year). Seems to be headed that way with him getting the 2nd half start of each of the last three games, as I recall.

For the non-Lowry minutes, seems like they should keep Pascal and Fred out there to give them the best shot (giving the Lowry bench OG). And if you have Pascal out there, you have to surround him with shooters, Baynes getting in his way has really mucked up the paint for him. In theory Stan should cause the same problem but they have succeeded in their minutes together, somehow, including (particularly) on offence. Norm in theory should help if he can ever get back to just not destroying the defence and spotting up for threes. Now, that makes it hard to find minutes for Baynes off the bench too... Still feels like their best shot is to hand minutes to Flynn and hope he gets better and better in the creator role for the bench, which he's only gotten occasional sniffs at (mostly playing off ball still)... If he develops, that could remove the need to have Pascal out for those minutes, let Flynn and Baynes run PnR with Fred and other shooters spotting up. Solves a lot of problems. But until then it feels like it will be patchwork stuff like the Stan at C lineups we got in this one, or going with OG and Pascal and Fred and backfilling with guards (throw Thomas and Flynn out there and just shoot your way out?).

[G__Deane]

Interesting game, so inconsistant.
Dominating at times, incredibly poor defense at other times, we could have easily lost this game.
That said we also could have easily won the prior 2 so.......maybe it evens out.

Pelicans made a few of highly contested difficult shots in this game.......

All I really ask from our team is that they compete, and they are in most games. They have done that the past 3 games. I actually don't mind losing if the games are close. (Still obviously prefer to win)

Who did the Pelicans play?