After missing three players due to injury and losing another one mid-game, the Raptors couldn’t catch up to the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Toronto Raptors were without several of their players tonight as they went up against the New Orleans Pelicans — and Zion Williamson.
Williamson, along with Brandon Ingram, beat the Raptors 138-100 last time these two teams played against each other. To top it off, Toronto was without Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl and Bruce Brown, all to injury.
Due to this, the Raptors opted to start Ochai Agbaji and Kelly Olynyk in the two spots left open from Barnes and Poeltl.
If the Pelicans’ 23-point halftime lead holds, Jonas Valanciunas is going to earn his first win in Toronto since December 5th, 2018.
This is only his 3rd game at Scotiabank Arena since being traded away during the 2018-19 season.
— Keerthika Uthayakumar (@keerthikau) March 6, 2024
The first quarter was all Gary Trent Jr., as he started his night by going 3-3 from three. Agbaji also got on the three-point board quickly, helping the Raptors gain a lead going into the first timeout.
Eventually, The Pelicans caught up, and it was Herbert Jones who scored big for them in the first quarter, with 14 points on 4-5 three point shooting. The Pelicans 7-9 three point shooting overcame the Raptors 6-12.
By the end of the first quarter the Pelicans snuck up to 42 over the Raptors 28. Missing their best two defenders in Barnes and Poeltl, the Raptors struggled to contain the offence of New Orleans. They also racked up four turnovers in the quarter.
The second quarter saw the Pelicans extend their lead to a high of 26 points. The Raptors just could not keep up offensively, shooting 7-22 from three in the half.
By the time halftime rolled around, the Raptors were down 68-45 to the New Orleans Pelicans. Trent Jr. and Quickley were the only Raptors in double digits with 13 and 11 respectively, while Trey Murphy III lead the Pelicans with 16 and Williamson and Jones had 14 points each.
Despite being down 30 points at one point, the Raptors were still trying their best to stay in the game. Immanuel Quickley was shooting 4-5 by the midway point of the the third quarter. RJ Barrett entered the double digit scoring club, and Javon Freeman-Liberty got on the board too.
Yet, they could not keep up with the Pelicans, the fact that four of their five starters were in double digit scoring, and their leading scorer was coming off the bench with 25 points at the end of three.
Murphy III just rolled into the fourth quarter, and was quickly up to 34 points. It seems one Pelican must approach 40 in every game they play against the Raptors this season. Murphy was also shooting 10-14 from three with eight minutes still to go in the game.
Meanwhile, the Raptors lost another one of their starters when Ochai Agbaji left the game with knee soreness.
Pelicans are insanely talented.
I know they have their questions but I just don’t know what you do when Zion is surrounded by all these shooters and creators.
A genuine headache of a matchup.
— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) March 6, 2024
By the time there was about six minutes left in the game, Darko Rajaković had pulled (what remained of) his starting lineup. It was Gradey Dick, Jordan Nwora, Jontay Porter, DJ Carton and Javon Freeman-Liberty who got an extended run in.
It was at this point that the “We Want Boucher” chants rang out among Scotiabank Arena, after Boucher again did not get any minutes in the game.
Trey Murphy just tied a career-high with 10 threes, passing Steph Curry for most threes a player has made against the Raptors in Raptors franchise history.
Steph Curry set the record in 2015, Tyrese Maxey tied it in 2022.
— Keerthika Uthayakumar (@keerthikau) March 6, 2024
From there, it was a garbage minutes fest until the end of regulation. The final score was 139-98… somehow just a little worse than the last Pelicans game.
The Raptors will now head on the road for a four-game west-coast/Detroit road trip. We will see if any of the injured Raptors can make it back for any of this upcoming stretch.