Raptors drop their ninth consecutive game against Grizzlies

Another game another win for team tank members as Toronto is now one game off a double-digit losing streak.

One of the storylines heading into this contest was the battle between the two Canadian bigs, Kelly Olynyk and Zach Edey. Olynyk drew his first start of the season, after missing the games at the start of the season and had a lot of positive moments out there. He was not the reason the Raptors dropped this game tonight, but Toronto missed their usual starting Centre Jakob Poeltl, who missed his fourth consecutive outing due to a groin injury sustained recently. Although Olynyk usually gives minutes at the Centre position these days, his lack of inside presence was apparent. Zach Edey on the other hand has been enjoying a successful rookie campaign so far as he’s averaging close to double-double numbers in the scoring (10.6 points per game) and rebounding (7.5 rebounds per game, averages not including this game)department. He’s started most games this season but was benched for a short period of time before Taylor Jenkins realized Edey was too good for a bench role. Zach only attempted two three-pointers in his college career and that part of his game was a big question coming into the NBA, but the Purdue product seems to have put the time in over the summer as he was at the 53% mark beyond the arc (not including this game.) His one-for-five shooting performance will drop the averages but, the shots speak volumes of how the game unfolded.

The first half was looking promising if you don’t include the start of the game as Toronto did concede a double-digit lead before the end of the first quarter but they made a run right before the first 12 and were able to really push the Grizzlies before the end of the half. In fact with just over two minutes to go the Raptors actually tied the game at 68 a piece before suffering a huge run to give the Grizzlies a big momentum shift.

In the second half, it was more or less the same defensively as the Raptors were very consistent with their points allowed in this contest. A pair of 43 points conceded in the first and third quarters and thirty-five in the second quarter followed by a 34-point fourth quarter for the Grizzlies. Toronto played a solid game on the offensive end, as they were able to put up a respectable 45% mark from the field as a team, followed up by 33% beyond the arc and 78% from the charity stripe. They actually won the turnover battle by 2 (15-17 Toronto) and also surprisingly had three more assists than a team that put up a season-high (NBA-wide) 155 points. A big part of the downfall tonight was the lack of Poeltl’s size as Memphis dominated the glass (11 rebounds by Jaren Jackson Jr. and a career-high 16 by Zach Edey.) Edey hit a bunch of career-high milestones as he pulled in nine offensive rebounds, fifteen field goal attempts and five three-point attempts. This is where the Zach cliffhanger from the battle of the bigs paragraph comes back in as he was given the green light after what went down in the second half. The 155 points allowed also clinched Toronto an unwanted franchise record, as it became the most points allowed in franchise history.

We’ll end on a positive note for the Raptors as the victories that Toronto’s interested in is the player development department and Star-J Barrett has been having a career year so far into this young season. He’s enjoying career highs in multiple categories this year and has shown tremendous improvement in the playmaking department as he was able to double-double with points (27,) assists (10) and was one rebound shy of a triple-double. A big part of that is the fact that the Raptors have been so depleted this season due to injuries but that’s through no fault of RJ Barrett and he has taken advantage of the opportunities that fell in his lap. Scottie Barnes enjoyed a good outing too with 26 points and it’s always nice to see the franchise player play at the level we all know he’s capable of.

Next up for Toronto is a matchup they’ll have plenty of time to rest for as it comes on Sunday, December 29 at home against the Atlanta Hawks. They’ll look to avoid losing ten straight games.

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