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4 Takeaways from Toronto's Blowout Loss to Pelicans
The Toronto Raptors no-showed Monday night in a 120-90 blowout loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. Here are the biggest takeaways from the game.
1. Raptors Caught With All-Star Game Blues
It's that time of year again.
With the All-Star Game less than a week away, everyone has their vacation plans ready with an eye toward some sunny destination. The problem is there's still basketball to be played. Maybe the Raptors forgot that Monday.
It was one of those days for Toronto. The Raptors looked off right from the jump. Nobody could reliably hit a shot. The defense looked sluggish with New Orleans turning Toronto's missed shots into buckets at the other end and a 29-17 first quarter quickly unraveled into a blowout.
It happens.
"Terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible game," Pascal Siakam said. "They came out early and were making shots, was one of those nights I would say for sure."
Raptors coach Nick Nurse said pre-game he thought his team was going to be locked in and not looking ahead. He was wrong.
2. Raptors Want Pascal Siakam in the All-Star Game
With Zach LaVine expected to be out through the All-Star break, the Raptors are going to do their best to get Siakam into the game. He's certainly deserved it, even if he didn't show it Monday.
"He sure should be (an All-Star)," Nurse said pre-game. "I think if they need another one, Pascal would be a great addition. ... He's played phenomenal. He's played like a superstar here for a number of weeks."
Siakam finished the night with 18 points, five rebounds, and a battered eye having been hit in the face in the second quarter.
"To be honest I asked my agent, ‘Does it even count as an All-Star?’ I don’t know," Siakam joked post-game after the league announced Jarrett Allen would replace James Harden in the game. "To be honest, I’m not really focused on that and I’d rather be picked off the jump. Right now, it’s not really on my mind."
3. Jumbo(ish) Lineup Makes a Debut
Toronto rolled out an all-center lineup late in the first quarter with Khem Birch, Precious Achiuwa, and Chris Boucher all playing together for the first time this season. It was an attempt to give the Raptors a little more size having been punished inside by the Pelicans to start the game.
It didn't work.
New Orleans went on a 6-0 run with VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. missing all four of the lineup's four jump shots.
Nurse, however, did admit that the Pelicans' size caused some issues and it might be time to start coming up with new plans for the league's biggest bigs like Jonas Valanciunas.
"I think that it's something we're gonna have to evaluate just a little bit," he said. "When we do come up against a big, really big big like that, are we gonna stay the way we are or are we going to try to match one of our centers with them a little bit more. I think we have to evaluate."
4. Thad Young Makes Impact Without Flashiness
Thad Young made his Raptors debut to start the second quarter Monday, taking over Dalano Banton's spot in the rotation. While Young isn't flashy by any means, he fits Toronto as a tough, defense-first forward that hustles at both ends of the court. His first bucket came on a hook shot inside from Siakam.
It's going to take him some more time to really get used to Toronto's system on both ends of the court, but he's shown a willingness to run in transition and play the kind of defense the Raptors are looking for off the bench.
"I think the biggest hardest part is I'm learning multiple positions, as opposed to one or two positions," Young said. "I'm learning anywhere from one on down to the five now, and because all the pieces are interchangeable on the court. So I think that's one of the hardest parts about learning offense, that we have so many similar guys that push the ball and start the break and start the plays and start the initial offense that it's a little harder to kind of learn the offense from every single position. You try to learn five positions in one day."
Young finished the night with four points in 12 minutes played.
Injury Report: Fred VanVleet Exits Early
Toronto let Fred VanVleet call it a night early with some right knee soreness.
"He told me at the half that he got knocked on the knee and to keep an eye (on it)," Nurse said. "He toughed it out and went through it but there was no sense in going any further with him after the third."
Up Next: Minnesota Timberwolves
The Raptors will see an old friend Wednesday night when they venture over to Minnesota for a date with former assistant coach Chris Finch and the Timberwolves at 8 p.m. ET before heading into the All-Star break.
