Big nights from Ochai Agbaji and Jamison Battle power Raptors blowout win over Pelicans

Toronto found their way back into the win column after a 119-93 win over the New Orleans Pelicans and there were plenty of positives to takeaway from the blowout victory. New Orleans has been marred by injuries all season long and last night was no different. Toronto took full advantage of what will likely be one of their least challenging matchups of the season. RJ Barrett shined as a playmaker yet again, Ochai Agbaji and Jamison Battle shot the lights out, and Ja’Kobe Walter made his first, and showed some positive things. An overall great night for the Toronto Raptors.

Toronto as a team made 21 threes last night, and shot 49.5 percent from the field, but based on how the game began it did not seem like Toronto was headed for an efficient night on offense. Both teams were abysmal in the first quarter, and the game was the true meaning of a slugfest, but Toronto woke up, and thankfully, New Orleans never did. Dejounte Murray made his return and you could tell that he was rusty, CJ Mccollum offered them very little, Yves Missi was clearly overextended on defense. New Orleans with this depleted roster was not expected to perform well, so there weren’t any surprises last night.

Barrett seemingly made it his mission to live in the paint against New Orleans and he succeeded on these drives both as a playmaker and as a scorer. Barrett’s forays into the paint was responsible for a large chunk of Toronto’s total offense, and is what empowered Agbaji to get some of the looks he got. Barrett would run a pick n’ roll with Jakob Poetl, force a tag from the corner, and Agbaji would reap the benefits and capitalize on the open look. Barrett also used his drives as an opportunity to score the ball and he was stomping his way to the paint and flipping shots off the glass with relative ease. The Pelicans defense was in disarray for most of the game, many breakdowns led to easy and simple looks for Toronto.

Battle and Agbaji played a large part in making this victory so decisive, as they combined for 48 points and 12 threes. Both players spaced the floor well, shot the ball with conviction, and never let New Orleans back into the game once Toronto got their lead. For Agbaji specifically, a night like this where he shot 9/10 from the field and 6/7 from three really validates what Toronto saw in him when they made the trade for him, he has made noticeable improvements from last season, and really stands out in Toronto’s rotation. For Battle, it’s a case of someone trying to stick on an NBA roster and the way you do that is to take advantage of the opportunities when they’re presented to you, which he did.

Walter did not disappoint during his first NBA start, and he put together a pretty solid game. He didn’t shoot the three ball very well, but he was active on defense, especially as a rebounder, he showed some on ball creation skills and got downhill, and he made some nifty passes during his minutes. Although he didn’t shoot well from outside, he was not shy about shooting the ball, but he also wasn’t forcing the issue, he was taking good shots, they just weren’t falling. Overall an encouraging game for the Raptors rookie.

No NBA action on Thanksgiving so Toronto will next play on Friday when they travel to Miami to face off against the Heat and look to get their second win in a row.

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