Raptors Fall Flat in Must-Win In-Season Tournament Game Against Magic
The NBA’s In-Season tournament was supposed to bring an added intensity to regular season games. It was supposed to make these games feel like playoff games.
The Toronto Raptors must have missed the memo.
In what was essentially a must-win game for their in-season tournament lives, the Raptors did what they’ve done far too many times this season: Another first-half no-show. Once again, there was no comeback to save Toronto in a 126-107 loss to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night.
So that just about wraps up the in-season tournament for Toronto who found itself behind the eight ball after a loss to the Boston Celtics last week. Anything but a victory would have been nearly impossible to overcome for the Raptors but a blowout loss has ended any hope of a tournament run.
The Raptors just came out flat, again. Whatever has been plaguing this team in first halves that was masked by a blowout victory over the Detroit Pistons is still unresolved. While the offense was generally fine against the Magic, Toronto’s defense was anything but fine.
Orlando beat the Raptors are their own game, running in transition and pushing the pace to the tune of 17 fastbreak points before half. It was so bad that Toronto couldn’t even get back in time to defend the Magic after a made-field goal. The Raptors at one point watched as Franz Wagner ran the span of the court after the in-bounds pass, nailing a floater that put Orlando up 18 in the first half and forced Toronto to burn their four first-half timeouts.
Toronto’s bench had nothing going early, as Precious Achiuwa and Chris Boucher struggled to defend the paint. Orlando, meanwhile, got contributions from nearly its entire bench who had racked up 32 points before halftime, outscoring Toronto’s second-unit 50 to 20 before the deep bench players checked in late in the fourth.
If there was good news for the Raptors, it was OG Anunoby who nailed three first-half three-pointers, an important sign considering how badly he shot on Sunday night in his first game back from a finger injury on his shooting hand.
The one guy who was bringing it all night long was Jalen Suggs. It seemed almost personal for the 2021 No. 5 overall pick who the Raptors famously passed on to select Barnes at No. 4. Suggs was dominant from the jump and let the Raptors know.
After an eight-point first quarter, Suggs was ignited in the third when an iffy foul call went against him as he tried to block Pascal Siakam. That prompted an end-to-end drive from the 22-year-old who scored an and-1 layup with contact from Siakam. He then went at Siakam again, dribbling back and forth on the perimeter before nailing a mid-range jumper over Toronto’s All-Star forward.
Nobody in Toronto regrets taking Barnes with that pick, but Suggs certainly made his presence known all game. He was shimmying back on defense, dancing, and talking to himself and the crowd. While Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 25 points, Suggs wasn’t far behind with an 18-point effort.
Orlando never let up, trying to squeeze out every point to improve their point differential in tournament games. Toronto eventually threw in the towel down 24, subbing out the starters with seven minutes to go.
Dennis Schröder was the only Raptors player with a particularly effective night, scoring 24 points with perfect 4-for-4 shooting from three-point range.
If this was a sign of how Toronto treats must-win games, the Raptors are in trouble. At this point, they’re once again looking like a play-in team with a squad not bad enough to be among the conference’s three or four worst teams but also not good enough to be among the top six, seven, or eight.
There’s, of course, a long way to go in the season but it certainly looks like the Magic have jumped the Raptors in the standings, and with the way Toronto looked Tuesday, a play-in berth might be very short-lived.
Up Next: Indiana Pacers
The Raptors will be right back at it Wednesday night when they visit the Indiana Pacers for a 7:30 p.m. ET tipoff.
