That being said, he generally acquitted himself quite well against one of the game’s best big men despite his minutes being limited due to foul trouble, which has to be an exciting sign, no matter the game’s result. He’s clearly still got room to grow: saddled with early foul trouble, he became either overly passive on defence or just couldn’t handle Dwight Howard’s athleticism in the block at times and his head-fake/two dribble drive is becoming a bit predictable. His touch around the rim is really impressive, and he seems to have a nose for the ball on the offensive glass (7 on the night).
He’s beginning to look more confident on both ends of the floor, and given the way he was blown-by on a regular basis last season, that’s a really exciting development. Yes, he’s still raw, and there were still moments in this game where he had you scratching your head (a corner-three off a fast break with Houston’s lone defender playing him tight sticks out in my mind), but on the whole, it was one of his more impressive nights on the year. In the second half and through both overtimes until he fouled out, he was the primary defender on James Harden, and visibly disrupted him with his length and effort. Terrence Ross, in particular, was impressive on the defensive end.Rather than trying to fight through screens against Houston’s twin towers, the Raptor wings started using their length to disrupt passing lanes, and out-stole the Rockets on the night 12-8 after being down 6-3 in that category in the first half. The strategy paid off in the first half with plenty of open looks and late rotations (including one memorable James Harden four-point play), but the effort level by the visitors increased dramatically in the second half. The Raps’ struggles defending the high pick-and-roll have been well-documented and have clearly made their way onto other teams’ scouting reports by now: for the duration of the game, it seemed that Houston’s entire half-court offense revolved around setting a high screen and either throwing to a driving Dwight Howard or jump shooting. Defensively, the Raptors were as solid as they’ve been all season.(Spoiler alert: Rudy Gay does not end up in “The Good”) So, rather than a willy-nilly post-game recap, let’s go with one of my favourite sports column gimmicks: it’s time for the good, the bad, and the ugly, Raptors/Rockets edition. And after that one, I’m desperate for some structure in my life. Then, imagine if I told you that despite all that, this game still went into double overtime. Then, imagine if I told you the team’s three starting perimeter players went a combined 23 for 78, and Jonas Valanciunas fouled out in the fourth quarter.
Alright, let’s say you didn’t watch the game last night, and I told you that the Raptors, as a team, had ten assists on the night against the Howard/Harden-led Houston Rockets.