Letdown
After two convincing victories over two tough opponents, the Raptors fell to the Trail Blazers 128-122.
Being this a Saturday afternoon game for me over here, I had some family stuff to handle and didn't watch the whole game. And seeing how we kinda made it close at the end only to come up short, I don't know if I want to go watch the parts that I missed.
On we go.
Missing Lowry, JV, etc.
I only managed to steal glances at the opening moments of the game on my phone with the sound muted, as I was preparing lunch for our two kids. Once the meal was ready, it was family time, Raptors or not.
(The rule around these parts is never to watch anything while eating. I didn't want to break it myself. I am all about leading by example.)
We have this weekly craft class for the kids on Saturdays, and four of us usually go there together. While the kids are in their class, my wife and I wait outside, relaxing et al for a couple of hours.
But since I had to work in the office tonight from 5 to 11 p.m., the wife graciously offered to take the kids by herself, so I could stay home alone and get my beauty nap before going to work.
And I did exactly what many husbands handed such unexpected freedom would do: eating my favorite brand of vanilla ice cream straight from the tub. It took quite a bit of mental strength to put the thing back into the fridge. If I had finished the whole tub, my kids would have let me have it for days. I am not sure I wanted that.
Anyway, in between scoops, I watched parts of the second, third and fourth quarters.
I didn't find out about Lowry's absence until much later. Toward the end of the first half, I thought to myself, "Wait a minute, where's Kyle?" But I didn't even bother looking up online or anything. I just figured he was banged up, which turned out to be the case.
For the parts that I did watch, we never led. Cut it close a couple of times, only to let the other guys pull ahead. It was 91-89 to start the 4th quarter, but after Freddie made one FT, Portland went on an 8-0 run, with the other Curry making a couple of 3-pointers.
That's when I turned off the game and went to get my beauty sleep.
I touched briefly on how we've managed to play well without Kawhi. Sportsnet took a deeper dive into this issue here (and of course they should. These guys get paid to do that kind of thing. I don't.) and the bottom line is, the sample size with vs. without Kawhi isn't big enough to mean much in the grand scheme of things.
Now, when you play without your point guard, it's a slightly different story, not just because the said point guard leads the NBA in assists per game and was coming off back-to-back 20-point games.
I love FVV and he had 21 points in start. I didn't watch the final moments, but apparently it was Freddie's turnover that proved costly in the end. He does finish a lot of close games, but having a seasoned veteran at the helm down the stretch would have been nice.
JV will be out for weeks with dislocated left thumb. Nurkic didn't have as much of an impact that I'd feared he would, going just 4-of-15 from the field for 11 points. Those big, lumbering centers without perimeter game are a dying breed now, but having JV and his big-body presence down low can come in handy whenever those matchups materialize.
Siakam looked to be badly injured from this play:
He missed much of the second half with a stiff back. Hope he's okay. Can't afford to be without another body with Denver coming up Monday.
Jokic up next!!
The Nuggets beat us 106-103 on Dec. 4 (my time) in Toronto. I'll always remember that game as the one in which my fantasy shooting guard Gary Harris was injured. He hasn't played since. That cost me my matchup last week and brought me down from 2nd place to 4th. And I don't think it was even a contact injury. He just pulled up lame, disappeared, and that was that.
But it's also a game where Jokic had a triple double. I love watching him play. He is probably the least athletic star of this league. But man, that vision, that touch, that basketball sense. You can't teach those things.
During the baseball season, when I have nothing better to do in late mornings or early afternoon hours (which is often), I watch West Coast games. And the LA Angels are often the team of my choice. I try to watch Mike Trout as much as I can, for the simple reason that he's the best player in the game and it's a treat to have someone so transcendent active during my lifetime. The Jays only play them a few games a year, so I make efforts to watch the Angels games whenever I can.
Jokic clearly isn't Trout of the NBA. But there's some very unique about his game that I enjoy. With other superstars, you kinda know what's coming. They'll give you points, three-pointers, some fancy moves, some cheap rebounds off a long miss to pad their stats, etc.
Jokic can score and all that. But he can also make a play like this:
This was my favorite play of that whole game by either side. I didn't care that he did it against my team. After he helped me win my fantasy league a couple of years back (I picked him up midseason off the waiver wire. This was obviously before he became the fantasy hoops darling that he is today. He built on a strong second half that season to really emerge as a star), I will never, ever say anything bad about Jokic.
This will be our last game against Denver this season. Both games in December, and none the rest of the way unless we meet in the finals.
Well, at this writing, the Nuggests are in first place in the West. But teams switch places on daily basis there, so...
I could be wrong, but I think the Clippers were in first place before our game against them. Then the Warriors were in first place before we hammered them. Just sayin'...
Being this a Saturday afternoon game for me over here, I had some family stuff to handle and didn't watch the whole game. And seeing how we kinda made it close at the end only to come up short, I don't know if I want to go watch the parts that I missed.
On we go.
Missing Lowry, JV, etc.
I only managed to steal glances at the opening moments of the game on my phone with the sound muted, as I was preparing lunch for our two kids. Once the meal was ready, it was family time, Raptors or not.
(The rule around these parts is never to watch anything while eating. I didn't want to break it myself. I am all about leading by example.)
We have this weekly craft class for the kids on Saturdays, and four of us usually go there together. While the kids are in their class, my wife and I wait outside, relaxing et al for a couple of hours.
But since I had to work in the office tonight from 5 to 11 p.m., the wife graciously offered to take the kids by herself, so I could stay home alone and get my beauty nap before going to work.
And I did exactly what many husbands handed such unexpected freedom would do: eating my favorite brand of vanilla ice cream straight from the tub. It took quite a bit of mental strength to put the thing back into the fridge. If I had finished the whole tub, my kids would have let me have it for days. I am not sure I wanted that.
Anyway, in between scoops, I watched parts of the second, third and fourth quarters.
 |
| We need this man back in the lineup |
I didn't find out about Lowry's absence until much later. Toward the end of the first half, I thought to myself, "Wait a minute, where's Kyle?" But I didn't even bother looking up online or anything. I just figured he was banged up, which turned out to be the case.
For the parts that I did watch, we never led. Cut it close a couple of times, only to let the other guys pull ahead. It was 91-89 to start the 4th quarter, but after Freddie made one FT, Portland went on an 8-0 run, with the other Curry making a couple of 3-pointers.
That's when I turned off the game and went to get my beauty sleep.
I touched briefly on how we've managed to play well without Kawhi. Sportsnet took a deeper dive into this issue here (and of course they should. These guys get paid to do that kind of thing. I don't.) and the bottom line is, the sample size with vs. without Kawhi isn't big enough to mean much in the grand scheme of things.
Now, when you play without your point guard, it's a slightly different story, not just because the said point guard leads the NBA in assists per game and was coming off back-to-back 20-point games.
I love FVV and he had 21 points in start. I didn't watch the final moments, but apparently it was Freddie's turnover that proved costly in the end. He does finish a lot of close games, but having a seasoned veteran at the helm down the stretch would have been nice.
JV will be out for weeks with dislocated left thumb. Nurkic didn't have as much of an impact that I'd feared he would, going just 4-of-15 from the field for 11 points. Those big, lumbering centers without perimeter game are a dying breed now, but having JV and his big-body presence down low can come in handy whenever those matchups materialize.
Siakam looked to be badly injured from this play:
He missed much of the second half with a stiff back. Hope he's okay. Can't afford to be without another body with Denver coming up Monday.
Jokic up next!!
The Nuggets beat us 106-103 on Dec. 4 (my time) in Toronto. I'll always remember that game as the one in which my fantasy shooting guard Gary Harris was injured. He hasn't played since. That cost me my matchup last week and brought me down from 2nd place to 4th. And I don't think it was even a contact injury. He just pulled up lame, disappeared, and that was that.
But it's also a game where Jokic had a triple double. I love watching him play. He is probably the least athletic star of this league. But man, that vision, that touch, that basketball sense. You can't teach those things.
During the baseball season, when I have nothing better to do in late mornings or early afternoon hours (which is often), I watch West Coast games. And the LA Angels are often the team of my choice. I try to watch Mike Trout as much as I can, for the simple reason that he's the best player in the game and it's a treat to have someone so transcendent active during my lifetime. The Jays only play them a few games a year, so I make efforts to watch the Angels games whenever I can.
Jokic clearly isn't Trout of the NBA. But there's some very unique about his game that I enjoy. With other superstars, you kinda know what's coming. They'll give you points, three-pointers, some fancy moves, some cheap rebounds off a long miss to pad their stats, etc.
Jokic can score and all that. But he can also make a play like this:
This was my favorite play of that whole game by either side. I didn't care that he did it against my team. After he helped me win my fantasy league a couple of years back (I picked him up midseason off the waiver wire. This was obviously before he became the fantasy hoops darling that he is today. He built on a strong second half that season to really emerge as a star), I will never, ever say anything bad about Jokic.
This will be our last game against Denver this season. Both games in December, and none the rest of the way unless we meet in the finals.
Well, at this writing, the Nuggests are in first place in the West. But teams switch places on daily basis there, so...
I could be wrong, but I think the Clippers were in first place before our game against them. Then the Warriors were in first place before we hammered them. Just sayin'...
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