2024-25 Preseason: Takeaways from both Raptors-Celtics games

Season series are destined to be split even in the pre-season

What a difference home makes.

A game after the Raptors trailed the Celtics by as many as 34 in Boston, they bounced back in Toronto courtesy 10 first quarter three-pointers, Scottie Barnes piling up 26 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists, and Gradey Dick looking phenomenal for his 27 points. Jakob Poeltl and Davion Mitchell had excellent supporting roles, too.

It was a really fun ending, too, as D.J. Carton almost pulled off the dunk of the pre-season with under 30 seconds remaining, only to get fouled and make both free throws and give the Raptors a two-point lead. That was followed by JD Davison knocking down a triple for a 118-117 Boston lead before another pair of Carton free-throws. The victory was sealed by a great Branden Carlson block on a Jordan Walsh layup attempt just before the buzzer.

I didn’t think it was worth doing takeaways on Sunday’s game when the Celtics were without Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet. Instead, this will be a combined takeaways piece that can have the excitement of Tuesday’s win tempered a bit by the dud that was in Boston.

DICK LOCKING DOWN STARTING SPOT

While Darko Rajakovic has been coy in saying that no spots are guaranteed, we know that Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, and Jakob Poeltl will be starting when healthy.

What has been a bit of a debate is who the fifth starter should be. Do you opt for someone more defensively inclined in Davion Mitchell or try to accelerate the development of Gradey Dick while also receiving the bonus of his spacing? How does Bruce Brown figure into the equation once he’s healthy?

Having a tremendous game against the defending champions should go a long way in aiding Dick’s cause. He was a perfect 6-for-6 in the first quarter including three triples, flashed solid defence especially in the third quarter with a pair of picked passes, and finished with 27 points on a variety of looks.

When the shot is falling like that, it opens up opportunities for him to cut to the basket for some easy ones as well penetrate and find some open teammates as his six assists showed.

Dick’s defence was not good in Boston on Sunday, getting lost on screens and losing straight up foot races to Jordan Walsh. The positive is that he knocked down five above-the-break triples on Sunday and followed it up with three more above-the-break triples in this one.

Why is that important, you ask? Dick’s shooting on above-the-break threes vs. corner threes is going to be a crucial measure of improvement this season. Last season, Dick shot 31% on non-corner (above-the-break) threes compared to 48% on corner threes. After going 0-for-4 in the opening game of pre-season, Dick has since knocked down 10 of his 23 three-point attempts and eight of them have now come from above the break.

When thinking of how Darko Rajakovic can space the floor, he will want RJ Barrett shooting corner threes as much as possible and so Dick’s ability to fill an above-the-break slot becomes critical (along with Quickley, of course). While defence is a stated priority this season, it doesn’t supersede the overall theme of rebuilding and prioritizing development and that’s where Dick looks the leading candidate.

BARNES DOES IT ALL

Not to be outdone by Dick’s hot shooting, Barnes knocked down four triples of his own in the first quarter. He had missed all six of his attempts leading up to this one, and so this shooting display was a sight for sore eyes.

What was also great to see was the playmaking. Following a combined three assists in his first two pre-season games, Barnes teed up his teammates regularly and I’ve always maintained that when he plays with a scorer’s mindset, finding his teammates becomes that much easier because of the attention opponents have to now give him. Of course, both he and his teammates making shots go a long way in that. He has had 14 turnovers in his three games so far, and one hopes that’s just some casualness we associate with the pre-season.

Across the two Boston games, my favourite moments came when he was able to secure a mismatch on smaller players and went right to work. There’s also been occasions where he’s been able to pull up for both short and long mid-range jumpers and that could be such a great weapon for him.

Defensively, there isn’t much to take away from Sunday’s game because of who was out for Boston. On Tuesday, Barnes’ primary assignment was Tatum and I thought he did a good job of consistently making his presence felt by being right in his chest for the most part. We saw more of the free safety type approach when Xavier Tillman checked in for Tatum.

MITCHELL IS ONE-MAN COMMITTEE OF COMPETITION

From pushing Jamal Shead in practice to challenging Gradey Dick for a starting spot, the internal competition Davion Mitchell is providing has been great.

While Dick was outstanding, Mitchell didn’t go quietly into the night. He finished with nine points and 10 assists, all of his points coming via the three-ball. The appeal of Mitchell, Barnes, and Poeltl on the court together is having three very good defenders at the same time — something that was a rare find last season after OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam departed.

Mitchell’s highlight of the night came when he was all over the Celtics in forcing a shot clock violation virtually by himself in the second half and had the bench losing their minds when the shot clock buzzer sounded. The defence, as ever, was suffocating throughout.

MOGBO SHOWS SIGNS OF PROMISE

In what seemed a lost game in Boston on Sunday, Jonathan Mogbo provided a spark in the second half with some good defence and hustle on the offensive end. He had eight points, 10 rebounds, and four assists and his minutes on Tuesday show what even “garbage time” can do for players looking to build and crack the rotation.

Mogbo seemed to carry that confidence into this game and showed some encouraging possessions defending both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. He picked the latter clean when guarding him 1-on-1 on one possession, immediately leading to a foul in response by Brown.

There’s been some online chatter about Mogbo being a composed version of Precious Achiuwa, and you can see it in the way he is able to push the ball up the floor off rebounds without being reckless. Individual game plus-minus can be a fool’s errand in the regular season, let alone the pre-season, so don’t get caught up in his minus-30 from this one.

NOTES

• Ochai Agbaji had his best game of the pre-season as well, looking very capable taking on the tasks of defending both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown at different times. He was 7-for-11 from the field including a three and while he hasn’t stood out this pre-season until now, he hasn’t been bad, either. Rajakovic has challenged him to embrace his athleticism and it does seem there are more on-ball possessions where he’s looking to identify gaps to attack and explode to the cup.

• I mentioned in my previous takeaways that Jakob Poeltl looks ready for the regular season and he’s maintained that form with a combined 29 points and 29 rebounds in the two games against Boston.

• Bruno Fernando still doesn’t inspire confidence around the basket but he had good moments with his athleticism and physicality at the five in this one.

• Jamison Battle has impressed in the limited minutes he’s received at the end of games thus far and was rewarded with a first quarter appearance tonight. He knocked down a three almost immediately and added another one later in the game. There’s no doubting his pure lefty stroke he could have some big night with the 905.

NEWS

Vince Carter was officially enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame this past weekend. It was very cool from a Raptors perspective that he wore a purple suit, had the Raptors logo on display beside him during his speech, and made it clear he was entering the HoF as a Raptor.

The speech didn’t have the most amazing storytelling, but it was definitely heartfelt as he expressed gratitude to virtually everyone who has helped him along the way.

Here’s hoping there’s more stories on the way Nov. 2.