This time, Barnes was slightly more physical, not allowing Morant to square up and get the bigger defender back on his heels.
For all the excellent things that happened in this Raptors win — Precious Achiuwa nearly matching his season total in 3s in his 17-point third quarter, Gary Trent Jr.
With that, the defence has fallen apart, because playing a hyper-aggressive defence well against excellent offensive teams requires making the correct decision several times in each 24-second window.
“‘I think you should chase greatness and you shouldn’t fall into the trap and the lulls of what it means to be a rookie.’ With his size and his skill set, if he just plays hard he’ll be OK.
“All the things we saw tonight are : He shot catch-and-shoot 3s, put the ball on the floor in transition, he set screens and he rolled.
Thankfully for Toronto, however, the Grizzlies are probably the worst defensive team in the league and, in the third quarter, Memphis began to show its real stripes.
During that stretch, VanVleet scored a driving layup, dropped a dime to Pascal Siakam – who was alright himself with 17 points and seven assists – and drilled a dagger three to put the game out of reach.
“He really got in a rhythm there.
Sometimes it’s hard to stress the urgency and what it takes to win in this league every night,” said VanVleet, who had 23 points, six rebounds and seven assists Wednesday evening.
Added Nurse: “I think it’s just overall energy that translates from one end to the other.
The Grizzlies got off to a better start than they have been recently, as the game was a little more back and forth to start.
The Raptors cut the lead to 4 mid-way through the 2nd quarter, thanks to their defensive pressure causing turnovers.
There was a little fun sequence of two possessions where Ja Morant iso’d Scottie Barnes and scored both times — with Morant pointing over to Barnes after 1 of those buckets.
While Precious Achiuwa was the role player killing the Grizzlies in the 3rd quarter, it was Gary Trent that demolished the Grizzlies in the 4th quarter.
Returning from injury for his first regular season game this season, Watanabe came off the bench — mostly in Pascal Siakam’s minutes — and instantly provided the team what he needs to.
Watanabe would finish with just three points, and that normally doesn’t deserve a paragraph so high up in a recap, but any onlooker could see what he injected into this Toronto team.
Tonight, he had an absolutely brilliant sequence in what was a two-point Raptors lead: making a tough layup, setting up Siakam for an easy dunk, drilling a three, and drawing a foul on four consecutive offensive possessions.
Coming into the night the Raptors had boasted the league’s sixth stingiest defense in the paint, holding opposing teams to just 42.3 points inside per game.
Precious Achiuwa was the first to break out, coming alive in the third to nail three three-pointers and scoring 17 points in the quarter to erase Memphis 12 point lead.
All the things we saw tonight are nothing that anybody has asked him not to do,” said Fred VanVleet.
He did it while getting to the in the paint a little bit more, nailing a pair of close-range floaters and getting downhill to draw a foul midway through the fourth.
The Raptors gave up a season-high 71 points in the first half and were down 12 at the break, but were able to make adjustments in the second half and storm back to steal the victory.
Missing OG Anunoby , the Raptors were unable to protect the rim or the paint while the Grizzlies scored almost at will inside in the first half.
The Raptors gave up a season-high 71 first-half points — 42 of them in the paint — as Memphis shot 61.5 per cent from the field in the first two quarters.
Either we weren’t keeping them in front, or we missed the help, or we missed the contest or we’d not block out.
Gary Trent Jr.
Watanabe was finally able to get on the court, while Achiuwa started at centre in Memphis, where he had starred as a freshman before declaring for the NBA draft.
He shot catch-and-shoot 3s, put the ball in the floor in transition, he set screens and he rolled.
I know it’s nice to see a couple shots go through the rim because he’s definitely had his struggles at times.
