The Hornets played this game without their top 8 players by minutes played this year. But in the NBA nobody cares about your struggles and they’ll use your problems to pad their personal stats. That’s what this game turned into early as the Hornets came out game with lots of energy considering their starting lineup averaged 21 years old! I gave up looking up Hornet players as some of them just arrived a few days ago it seems. The one player that caught my eye as a Raptors fan was Svi. Good to see him getting some NBA floor minutes but I was pretty comfortable with where this game was going when he started.
I wasn’t wrong about the game but I was wrong about the Svi. He came out with something to prove against the Raptors and by the second quarter was feeling hot enough to drain a few 3 pointers. It was a nice outside/inside game he provided the Hornets with while inside they had lots of height to pressure the rim and defend their paint. Early on thou Freddy wasn’t taking it easy on anyone thou as he forced his way inside and was feeding everyone who cut inside off his action. Nick was in playoff rotations mode for the first 3 quarters it seemed as Pascal and Freddy got about as many minutes as they can handle. They both simply dominated as defensively the Hornets don’t have anyone that can even come close to stopping those guys. Let’s dive into the Good and Bad rather than pick on a team’s that’s clearly down and trying to sort out who gets invited back next year.
The Good
Pascal
Unstoppable. 36 points. Looked a bit lighter on his feet and defensively was engaged as well. Nice to see a big game from the teams best player a few games before it turns into do or die time.
Freddy
20 points and 20 assists! I don’t know if a Raptor has ever done that? Nurse kept him in a bit late to make sure he got it as well. Looked a couple years younger running around all night with the young and fast Hornets. 1 for 8 from deep just to show he’s still human.
O.G.
Watching O.G. defend Svi much of the night seemed strange… especially when he failed to really stop him much. Regardless O.G. was dropping 3’s with insane efficiency and powering inside enough to turn his ankle and try to gut it out while not being able to walk. Hopefully it’s nothing serious.
Svi
Never thought I’d be putting Svi in the Good column but the guy went off tonight for 26 points! And he did have O.G. covering him a lot of the time so needless to say he earned them. Goes to show you some consistent play time and extra motivation to stick it to your old team goes a long way! Message delivered Nick…
The Bad
Nada!
A very impressive showing by a very undermanned team in Charlotte.
Well that was a pretty entertaining game for a Sunday afternoon game to be honest! The Hornets brought a lot of energy with guys playing for jobs next year and the Raptors were forced to match them all night or risk getting their lunch stolen. However the Raptors are looking in sync as they roll along to their date with destiny in the Play in tournament. The Poeltl / Vanvleet combo looks great. Pascal was spinning in his office all game. O.G. hitting 3’s with great confidence. Scottie took a bit of a back seat this game but with Pascal and Freddy on fire so much there simply wasn’t that much more ball to go around. Scottie looked like he could take his man 1 on 1 anytime he wanted really.
I like easy games like this as the team cruises into the extra season. That being said it is good to go up against a top calibre team just before so the Raptors realize the difference between bottom feeding Charlotte and top of the East Boston. The Raptors shot 28% from 3 this game but were never seriously challenged. That can’t happen against a good playoff NBA team or you’ll lose 9 times out of 10. We’ll soon see how this Raptors lineup performs in the extra season!
Good to see the Raps win a game they were supposed. These eliminated teams are sometimes harder to beat since they have no pressure on them. My Spurs took it to the Kings on the road today with their bench going off for 78 points. This was done with our three best players sitting the game out. Or as they call it today. Load Management.