Raptors @ Grizzlies, Dec. 26 Takeaways: Shambolic defence surrenders franchise-worst 155
Darko ejected, Davion defends with one shoe, and more
Hope everyone’s enjoying the holiday season! Toronto got a little too carried away with the season of giving and allowed a franchise-worst 155 points against Memphis and lost by 29.
What was the previous record, you ask? The Raptors conceded 152 points to the L.A. Clippers on March 13, 1998. In an interesting twist of fate, former Raptor Lamond Murray led the Clippers in scoring that night with 25 points while another former Raptor Darrick Martin had 21 points and eight assists. Toronto finished 16-66 that season.
The commitment and intensity level seemed low from the get-go in this one and the result was a 43-point first quarter for the Grizzlies. There were stretches where the Raptors fought back and even tied the game at 68 with just over two minutes remaining in the second quarter, but it always seemed as though Memphis could hit a higher gear as and when they pleased.
Toronto, at 7-24, will try to avoid a 10th straight defeat on Sunday when they take on the Atlanta Hawks. Let’s get to the takeaways.
Barrett, Barnes keep offence afloat
Scoring was not the issue for Toronto in this game, scoring 100 points on 48.8 percent shooting through three quarters. At that point, there were 30 assists on 39 made field goals and the ball had good energy throughout.
R.J. Barrett was at the heart of it all, scoring 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting through three quarters while also racking up nine assists. He finished with 27 on 10-of-18 shooting. Scottie Barnes finished the night with 26 points, six rebounds, and eight assists and the two continue to show great chemistry in playing off each other.
Dominated inside
Once again, in the absence of Jakob Poeltl, the Raptors could not compete on the boards. Memphis won the rebounding battle 63-40
Canadian Zach Edey was a huge factor, finishing with 21 points, 16 rebounds, and two blocks. It’s really nice to see Edey have these strong performances as a rookie and makes you wonder how different things could have been in Paris had the Grizzlies made him available for Team Canada. Here’s to 2028.
Jaren Jackson finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists while Jake LaRavia and Brandon Clarke finished with nine rebounds each. That trio alone finished with just two fewer offensive rebounds than the Raptors as a team.
Olynyk starts
In the presence of 7-foot-4 Edey, Darko Rajakovic thought it was literally too tall a task to ask Jonathan Mogbo to continue starting at centre and opted for the veteran, spacing presence of Kelly Olynyk.
Edey had his way but Olynyk did contribute positively to the Raptors’ offensive flow and finished with 14 points, five rebounds, and five assists with a pair of triples.
While Poeltl is out, I do like the idea of putting Olynyk next to Barnes and Barrett to see how those two operate with spacing at the centre position. We have a pretty good idea of what it looks like with a rim rolling threat in Poeltl.
Mitchell silver lining of Raptors’ defense
As bad as the team’s defense was all night, Davion Mitchell still made a couple highlight worthy stops.
Just before halftime, Mitchell lost his right shoe on the offensive end and Ja Morant chucked it away. As the Grizzlies made their way down the court, the Memphis point guard force fed Desmond Bane the ball and urged him to attack Mitchell on one shoe. Mitchell embraced the challenge, walled off a drive, and forced a difficult fadeaway that Bane missed at the buzzer. The bench, led by Immanuel Quickley, was absolutely ecstatic for the man nicknamed Off Night. Perhaps Off Shoe can be added to the list of names.
Then in the third quarter, Morant was matched up with Mitchell and tried to go right at him. Emphasis on tried. Mitchell completely locked him up, forced a pass, and even when the possession got recycled and was back in the hands of Morant, he passed it immediately without even considering a rematch.
Darko tossed
Darko Rajakovic had to be livid with his team’s defensive effort and that would have only compounded what he felt was an unjust whistle when the Raptors were attacking the basket.
After Scottie Barnes and Chris Boucher battled in the paint without a foul call, Toronto’s head coach stormed the court and went absolutely nuclear at the officials. Rajakovic’s face went so red it cartoonishly looked like his head was going to explode.
Both Ochai Agbaji and Barnes had to hold back Rajakovic.
It’s been a long season for all involved and Rajakovic probably deserves an early night as the team headed to a ninth straight defeat. Pat Delany took over as head coach for the remainder of the game, and it actually seemed like there was a bit of rock/paper/scissors going on to figure out who would take over when Rajakovic left. At the very least, they were amused with the manner in which their colleague was tossed from the game.
Notes
Ja’Kobe Walter missed the game due to an illness while Jamal Shead was ruled out with a right knee contusion.
Jakob Poeltl, Immanuel Quickley, and Bruce Brown remain out.
The Raptors wore the vintage purple jerseys in this one while the Grizzlies rocked the Vancouver jerseys, making for a perfect uniform aesthetic.