Raptors’ losing streak extends to 11 after falling 96-88 to the visiting Nets

For a team hurtling towards the lottery, the Raptors sure made a lot of news off the court.

The day started with news that Jah’mius Ramsey would not be signed for the rest of the season (yet). Instead, Toronto signed guard, Kobi Simmons to a 10-day contract.

RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley missed the game, again, for personal reasons, but Raptors PR did indicate they were both returning to “competition conditioning.” There was no indication on when they’d return but that is positive news that returns are imminent.

However, the off-court news that took over NBA Twitter was ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski’s latest bomb surrounding Jontay Porter. According to sources, several sizable prop bets were placed on Porter stats. Allegations are flying from all corners regarding Jontay’s terrible interpretation of Fred VanVleet’s mantra!

Oh right, there was a game!

Dennis Schroder made up for a horrendous return game in Toronto last month by leading the Nets to a 96-88 road victory tonight. Schroder finished with 19 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds. Also scoring 19 points, and leading all reserves, was Trendon Watford, who scored on an efficient 7-for-10 shooting while also corralling 7 rebounds. Brooklyn took advantage of Toronto’s size deficiency — as has been the case for many Raptors opponents recently — winning the battle of the boards 50-30. Chief among the board men was Nic Claxton, who grabbed 16 rebounds.

With the Nets clinging to an 86-81 lead in the final minutes, Schroder hit a pair of floaters in the lane to ice the game for Brooklyn. Just one month ago, Dennis had a season-worst -30 in his first game back in Toronto after being traded two weeks prior to Brooklyn. It was sweet redemption for Schroder, who supposedly left the team because he was unhappy with his role.

Toronto was led in scoring by Gary Trent Jr., who chipped in with 18 points. Javon Freeman-Liberty was arguably the best Raptors on the night, starting the second game of his career and having his best performance to date. JFL scored 15 points on 7-for-12 shooting, constantly getting to the rim on aggressive drives and cuts. On the defensive end, he hounded Schroder all night long, rarely falling for Dennis’ fakes while always preventing the blowby. Kelly Olynyk nearly notched his 6th double-double of the season, and second consecutive, with 10 points and 9 assists.

Toronto and Brooklyn entered the game on a combined 16-game losing streak (10 for the Raptors, 6 for the Nets). In other words, somebody had to win this game.

If you needed an early sign that this was a matchup of lottery teams, Kevin Ollie challenged an out-of-bounds call.....3 minutes into the game. He was successful, but that’s still not the type of call to risk your only challenge.

Despite the presence of Nic Claxton, the Raptors made a concerted effort to attack the rim, scoring 12 of its first 15 points in the paint. Dorian Finney-Smith scored the Nets’ first 7 points as Brooklyn grabbed an early 16-15 lead.

Bruce Brown appeared to hurt his left thumb during the first quarter and temporarily exited the game to head into the locker room. By the start of the second quarter, his left thumb was taped and he re-entered the game.

Some history was made during the first quarter as Gary Trent Jr. moved up the Raptors’ All-Time chart for threes made.

With both teams essentially using the game as a glorified practice, they each were able to spread the love, scoring-wise. 18 of the 20 players who took the court in the first half scored at least one bucket. All 10 Raptors scored while 7 of the Nets’ 8 scorers hit at least two field goal attempts.

Leading the Raptors’ bench in first-half scoring was the aforementioned new acquisition, Simmons, who incited the first screams of “Kobi” in Scotiabank Arena in a very long time (and wearing number 8 too)!

Toronto’s offence was stagnant on multiple occasions. A 12-point “outburst” over the final couple of minutes in the first half boosted the Raptors’ field goal percentage over 40%. The Raptors kept pace with Brooklyn by resorting to its old bread-and-butter: generating turnovers (10 by Brooklyn in the first two quarters) and getting out on the break (12-5 edge in transition points in the first half).

The third quarter began the same way the first quarter began with Toronto getting to the rim. Javon Freeman-Liberty made several successful forays to the basket. Whether it was off the dribble or cutting behind the defense and receiving a perfectly placed feed from Kelly Olynyk, JFL showed the offensive prowess that led to his G-League success.

Gradey Dick struggled again with his shot, shooting 3-for-11 from the field and missing all 5 of his three-point attempts. The Kansas Jayhawk alum has been forced out of his typical role with the Raptors roster depleted and will continue being challenged for the remaining 10 games.

Brooklyn led for much of the game but Toronto was able to close the third quarter on a 9-2 run, taking a 69-68 lead into the final frame.

By the end of the 3rd quarter, both teams had zero luck scoring from outside. Toronto was 5-for-23 (21.7%), which was actually better than Brooklyn, who shot 6-for-30 (20%) from beyond the arc.

More history was made in the fourth quarter as a Gary Trent Jr. assist on a Kelly Olynyk bucket was the team’s 2,086th assist of the season — a franchise record for assists in a season. Despite constant turnover throughout the season and a never-ending list of injuries, Darko Rajakovic’s ‘0.5 offense’ has taken shape in Toronto. The Raptors entered the game 4th in assists and are in the top 5 in shot quality.

Watford was a pleasant surprise — for both teams. He led all Brooklyn scorers with 17 points. The fans inside Scotiabank Arena couldn’t help but cheer for him after his missed free throw in the 4th quarter won everyone a free slice of pizza. He endeared himself further to the home crowd by bricking two more free throws a few possessions later.

This was the Raptors’ lowest-scoring output of the season, surpassing the 89 points they scored in Wednesday’s loss to Sacramento. With two sub-90-point performances within a week, it’s probably not the greatest news that Toronto’s next opponent is the New York Knicks! On Wednesday, OG Anunoby makes his return to Scotiabank Arena for the first time as an opponent. He’s been battling an elbow injury and may not play, but his presence alone will be a welcome sight to Raptors fans.