The Toronto Raptors nearly pulled off the comeback, but fell short to the Chicago Bulls 122-121.
Point guard RJ Barrett
With the Raptors down Immanuel Quickley and Scottie Barnes, the team has leaned on Barrett to not only shoulder the offensive scoring load but also take on the playmaking duties as well. Barrett showed flashes of his improved playmaking skills when he found Jakob Poeltl out of a pick-and-roll early on and then hit a cutting Ochai Agbaji in the third quarter. He even found Jonathan Mogbo out of the pick-and-roll in the fourth, which cut the Bulls lead to 11. However, Barrett is most effective when he looks for his offense and his scoring output kept the Raptors in this game. Barrett finished the game with 32 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists. It’s his 8th 30-point game of the season and 7th at home. For as well as Barrett played he couldn’t come up clutch when the Raptors needed him, missing twice in key moments. Barrett needs to recognize when not to force things and look for his teammates. Gradey Dick had the hot hand down the stretch finishing with 27 points on 9-for-20 shooting, but he couldn’t hit a last-second three which ended any hope for a Raptors miraculous win.
Poor transition defense
The Raptors defense was frustrating in the first half and Darko Rajakovic did not like what he saw from the team’s transition defense. Rajakovic called a timeout when nobody got back as Matas Buzelis got behind the Raptors defense for a dunk. The next quarter Julian Phillips scored seconds after a Jakob Poeltl basket. Rajakovic burned 3 timeouts in the first half and then he was forced to call his fourth timeout two minutes into the second half. The Raptors transition defense was lazy to begin the game, but when they finally showed a willingness on that end of the floor things got a lot more competitive.
Jakob Poeltl injured
The Raptors injury woes continued as this time Poeltl went down. Poeltl awkwardly slipped early in the fourth quarter and suffered a left groin strain. He was ruled out for the remainder of the game. According to Sportsnet’s Blake Murphy Poeltl is sore and is headed for imaging. The team should know more on his status tomorrow. The Raptors remain without Bruce Brown, Quickley and Barnes.
Next on tap
The Raptors will have two days off before they host the Brooklyn Nets on Dec. 19.
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