Oftentimes in the NBA, specifically the modern NBA, a team is going to have an extremely hot shooting night. When a team is shooting the lights out from behind the arc it feels like no matter what you do you can’t seem to climb back into the game. Couple that with prolonged periods of offensive ineptitude from Toronto and you have the recipe for a loss to the Orlando Magic.
Orlando shot the bell extremely well during the first quarter, making 9 of their 19 threes in this quarter alone, which tied a franchise record for threes in a quarter. Orlando took advantage of many ill-timed turnovers by Toronto and got points out of most of those extra possessions. Orlando young guns Caleb Houstan and Tristan da Silva burned Toronto from outside repeatedly in this opening quarter. Scottie Barnes caught moving lackadaisically around a screen? Triple. Ja’Kobe Walter pinching in to help on a Magic dribble handoff, Triple.
It seemed that the only Raptor generating consistent good looks was Jakob Poeltl. Poeltl finished with 25 points and 6 rebounds and his push shots and dives to the rim were a consistent source of offense for Toronto. For many of the starters tonight it just was not their best game. Immanuel Quickley finished with 11 assists, but also had 11 points shooting 23.5 percent from the field. Quickley seemed quite reluctant to fire shots up at times, pump faking himself out of open looks. The looks he did take, many of which were open as a result of his movement around screens or in transition, did not convert. Quickley is only on his second game back since his injury so some rust shake off is to be expected. Gradey Dick was missing routine looks, plus not offering much on the defensive end as well. Barnes was not taking charge as a scorer early on in the game, allowing the ship to sink around him while providing little aid.
Orlando was already without its star forward duo in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, and in the midst of the game they lost their third best player Jalen Suggs to back spasms. What was left for Orlando was a young group of players who were no stranger to having to step up this season, similar to what Toronto has had to endure this season. There are some parallels between these two teams. Da Silva stepped up in a big way with 25 points and he always seemed to be in the right place at the right time for Orlando. Spotting up on the wing in transition, muscling his way to a loose ball and getting a putback, carefully maneuvering his way around screens in order to get downhill.
It was clear that Toronto missed RJ Barrett last night, someone who could get you a paint touch consistently and generate good looks from those paint touches. This game was a winnable game, a team down its best three players should be able to be beaten, but the Orlando Magic had no quit in them, and Toronto has many on-court issues to work out and are the last team that should be spotting anyone a large lead.
This game somewhat boils down to the difference behind the arc between the two teams. Orlando finished 19/44 from behind the arc while Toronto finished 10/29 from behind the arc. A 9 shot difference behind the arc is tough to overcome for any team, but especially so for Toronto who has been offensively challenged this season. Orlando held the lead for the entire game and it was just too big of a gap for Toronto to close. There were some brilliant moments where it seemed that Toronto could potentially climb back into this game and maybe even win. A fourth quarter flurry from Barnes and Poeltl gave Toronto a glimpse of hope and life, but ultimately the deficit was just too much.
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