Raptors Film Room: Ja’Kobe Walter Makes His NBA Debut + RJ Barrett’s Passing
The Toronto Raptors finally received some good news on the health front: their rookie, Ja’Kobe Walter, would finally be available to play on Friday versus LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers wanted to keep the good news at that. They dog-walked the Raptors in the 1st quarter, outscoring them 43-19 as the Raptors struggled to combat against the size and strength of the Lakers in the frontcourt.
But Toronto, as they have despite their injuries, stayed resilient. Led by RJ Barrett and Gradey Dick, the Raptors put together a comeback, outscoring the Lakers and the 3rd and 4th quarters to bring it to within single digits.
That comeback fell short, but the Raptors still saw many developments in this game.
Dick notched, yet again, another career-high in points, pouring in 31 points on 26 shots, showing off the whole package of stutter-rips, pull-up jumpers, beautiful floaters, and most importantly, knocking down five of his 11 three-point attempts.
Barrett was brilliant in the Raptors comeback effort, dropping 33 points and adding a career-high 12 assists, serving as the lead ballhandler for Toronto without Scottie Barnes or Immanuel Quickley.
For his part, the Raptors rookie Walter had a quiet debut offensively, only scoring five points, but did well elsewhere, nabbing six rebounds and getting a chase-down block as well.
Jakob Poeltl continued his solid play on the inside, scoring 19 points, nabbing 12 rebounds, and dishing out 6 assists.
The Raptors will play host to the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night and celebrate Vince Carter’s jersey retirement. Carter will be the first player in franchise history to receive such an honour. Awesome.
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