Overreaction: Raptors 122, Mavs 115 (aka Best Practice Game Ever)

• We Won the Game When: Carlisle decided it was time to keep turning the ball over
• Best Fixed Game Ever? The game felt like Carlisle had the full Raptors playbook and defended every set play beautifully. They even trapped Derozan frequently, which is something that DeMar will see in the playoffs.
• Siakam's Offensive Tool Kit: Pascal was doing a lot of things offensively tonight, and his face up game is starting to look more and more fluid.
• Pick Someone Your Own Size: It was fun to see VanVleet and Barea go toe to toe.
• Inbound Nerves: I'm starting to become less and less confident with CJ Miles inbounding the ball. He's committed a few now in the clutch. I hope this does not become a trend.
• DeMar's Off-Night: DeMar couldn't buy a basket (well defended most of the time) going 8-23, but got to the line 14 times, and still hit a clutch 3 to tie the game in OT.
• Ghosts of Daddy's Past: Seeing Doug McBuckets hit those 3s bring back past painful memories of Chicago Bulls owning the Raptors.
• No JV in the 4th: With Nerlens Noel and Dwight Powell on the frontcourt, the Ibaka-Valanciunas frontcourt pair looked slow and old. Casey countered with a Siakam-Ibaka and the defence got better.
• Clutch FTs: JV came in OT with 13 seconds to go, and was sent to the line multiple times. How many centres in the league would be utilized on this type of scenario where they are trusted to take and make FTs?
• Dallas Future in Toronto's Hands: Toronto's own - Dwight Powell has been on a tear since the All-Star break. His ceiling just keeps getting higher and higher.

Overreaction: Raps 106, Pacers 99 (CJ Miles Revenge Game)

• We Won This Game When: CJ Miles came alive with his 3pt bombs in the 4th
• Turnover Machine: The starting lineup of DeRozan/Ibaka/Lowry had 8 turnovers in the first half, while the Pacers only had 3. Jakob Poeltl had 3 turnovers of his own in the first half alone.
• Should We Be Concerned: The Raptors' haven't fared well whenever a team brings the physicality to them, and the majority of their losses came from those game plan.
• Is It Worth It: The Pacers came in hungry, physical, and really tough but at the expense of two of their players getting injured (Miles injuring the same ankle twice and Bogdanovic).
• Tim Duncan Bunnies: JV had a million rebounds, but a lot of them were from his own misses, a few times more than once in one possession.
• Hot and Cold: CJ Miles continues his weird starting cold and getting hot at some point.
• Throwback Thursday: As an old school head, I love watching Al Jefferson operate in the post.
• Road To The Six: It looks like Malcolm Miller will become the first Road To the Six convert. Tonight, his defensive prowess was on display.
• Missed Opportunity: Sad to hear Norm Powell coming down with an injury. 
• Difference Maker: Siakam's stats might not look impressive, but his activity in the 2nd half was a huge factor for their turnaround
• Riding the Hot Hand: DeMar DeRozan missed the majority of the 4th period as Casey rode CJ Miles until he got injured with 4:14 left in the game.
• Floor Leader: Kyle Lowry's effort to get every loose ball possible is admirable, but seeing him clean the floor several times while risking injury isn't just something I'd like to see at this point.

Overreaction: Raps 116, Nets 102 (aka Okafor is useless game)

Useless, per Brooklyn Nets March 13, 2018, vs Toronto Raptors

• We Won the Game When: CJ Miles hit those back to back 3s in the 4th quarter. That pretty much swung the momentum for good and was the push that they need for the win.
• Development Faux-Pas: We really dropped the ball on JV's early development. It's great that it doesn't look too late to correct this mistake.
• Keep Betting on Fred: Fred VanVleet was marvellous tonight - he put the pressure on the Nets guards defensively, and was calming presence for the starting lineup that was confused with what to do with the Nets' weird lineup.
• Pound the Rock: JV was a monster down low tonight. Clearly, JV has to clean up his fundamentals so that he doesn't get stripped so often, but he was a beast once he's positioned well enough.
• WD-40: The way the Nets game-planned for today, JV and Ibaka had to run around chasing shooters more than usual. They both look so mechanical and exerting too much effort every possession. It seems like they could use WD-40 every stoppage they can get.
• 3s vs 2s: This should be a no-brainer - yes, you can win by trading 3s vs 2s if you can stop the opponent from making those 3s. At least, play the percentages -- don't let the players with a good percentage wide open looks.
• Suspect Coaching: The Nets busted out a Russell-Dinwiddle-Crabbe-Carroll-Cunningham. There should only be one sound strategy here: Let Caroll and Cunningham beat you. Not only did the starting lineup not make any sound adjustments, but they also came out in the 2nd half oblivious to the situation and no adjustments at all.
• POTW Jinx: It feels like DeMar comes out flat almost every game after he gets named the EC POTW.
• Bad Mileage: When CJ Miles is not hitting those threes, he's a liability out there. He was horrible for the first 90% of his usage, then the 4th quarter happened.
• Awesome Team Culture: That end of the game interview with JV sums it up. We have a great group of guys that genuinely like each other.
• The Flash: Pascal Siakam displayed his speed when he lost the ball on a drive, D'Angelo Russell went for a fastbreak with a clear 4+ step lead, only to be beaten by Siakam to the other end of the court. The crazy part? Siakam didn't look like he was on 100% effort!

Overreaction: Raptors 121, Piss 119. Casey bets on VanVleet.

• We Won the Game When: Amid the confusion and plays/ defence breaking down, DeRozan drove down the middle to draw all the defenders only to find VanVleet for the corner jumper. Impressive confidence.
• Finding Mojo: Norman Powell got the start, and it looks like he got his mojo back. Tonight might be his best game this season.
• Baka: In Japanese = "stupid." Ibaka had a very stupid game tonight.  Missing a lot of wide open shots, fouling instead of defending, and getting thrown out. What a hat-trick.
• On the Decline: Hot take here, but it feels like Kyle Lowry's offensive game is really on a decline. Yes, he's still all over the place getting rebounds, steals, assists, etc. but it's hard to rely on him anymore as a scorer. I don't know and maybe he doesn't know when he'll be able to score. Far cry from the last 2 years when he was scoring at will. But hey, he came alive with 2 4pt plays when the Raptors made a run.
• Bebe #Utilized: Bebe only played a few minutes, but he did a decent job at being a scarecrow in the middle, even blocking Blake Griffin's shot. Hat-tip to the Raptors coaching staff for coming up with a strategy to lead Griffin towards the middle where Bebe's waiting for the block.
• On the Job Training: Pascal Siakam got an unexpected start in the 2nd half since Ibaka got thrown out, and he was put into a tough task trying to defend Griffin who tried to bully him as often as possible. Siakam did an admirable job without fouling a lot and even came up with good defensive stops along the way.
• Nothing Was the Same: The bench doesn't look the same without Siakam and Delon Wright. VanVleet struggled to run the offence, there are less movement and not a lot of opportunities for points off turnovers.
• Hubie Brown Says: Hubie Brown is an institution. If Hubie Brown said it's an offensive foul, it's an offensive foul. I mean, Hubie authored the rules of the game with Naismith FFS.
• Crunch Time Minutes: I thought the way Powell played well enough that he deserved the crunch time minutes, especially with how VanVleet had been playing. Benching him in favour does two things:
• It breaks Casey's philosophy of riding the hot hand; and
• It upholds Casey's philosophy of always playing VanVleet in the 4th.
• DeMarvelous DeRozan: DeMar DeRozan 2.0 was on full display tonight. His mid-range was on point, he got to the line when he needed to, he hit his threes, and more importantly, he was finding his teammates setting them up for an assist, the last one on a VanVleet game-winner.

Overreaction: Raps 106, Hawks 90

• Norm Showing Some Pulse: Norman Powell played really well during his first stint in the first half. He was all over the place on defence, and everyone in the building was relieved to see that corner 3 go down.
• Oh Brother(s): Tony Brothers seems to have something against DeMar and Kyle. However, the refs altogether were horrible on both sides.
• Raptors Playing Down to the Competition: The starting lineup with a slow start and the bench came in just as sluggish. It was really ugly for 3 straight quarters.
• Miller Looking Good: Malcolm Miller with a better 2nd career start. He's looking more comfortable out there - although he needs to do a better job at moving to a different spot so that he can be easily found via the drive and kick.
• DeMar's Got Us: DeMar DeRozan pretty much carried the team in the first 3 quarters.
• should we be concerned? -  The Raptors were pretty much bricking everything from the perimeter until CJ Miles came alive
• Dominant 4th by the Bench: The bench mob did not just step on the gas in the offence, but also locked down the Atlanta Hawks by limiting them to 13 points in the 4th.
• Playoff Crunch Time Lineup: I won't be surprised to see the same Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, CJ Miles, DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl lineup in the playoffs. Most especially in crunch time.
• Stiffbaka: Ibaka looked old, slow, and stiff versus younger springier Atlanta studs.
• Block Party: Poeltl was amazing with 3 blocks, JV with 2 blocks, I believe both from Schroeder's cat, and surprisingly, Fred VanVleet with 2 blocks!

Overreaction: Raps 103, Hornets 98

We won the game when: With about 5 minutes left in the game and up by 2 (88-86), the Raptors tightened up their D and made some clutch plays. A back to back trifecta by Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan and an And-1 by DeRozan shortly thereafter gave us the cushion that we need to win the game.
Miller time: Malcolm Miller got the start instead of Norman Powell. He missed a couple of shots and looked completely not in-sync with the starters, which is to be expected.
JV3: It's been a while since he hit 2 in a game, and it's great to see those shots go down for him.
The struggle is real: Norm got his chance to play late in the second half, and it was disappointing.
Ibaka and his old bones: Ibaka started off hot and went cold in the 2nd half. It feels like this is starting to be a trend.
Slumping bench mob: Offensively - we haven't seen them put on the jets on anybody lately.
Jak with an off-night: Need to fact check this, but the Hornets might be his Kryptonite.
JV's revenge: JV finished with 18pts, 13rbs, 2blks -- with key rebounding effort in the clutch, completely outplaying Dwight Howard.
4th quarter slump: The Raptors are only scoring 20.5 points in the 4th on their last 4 "close games" which is not a good thing.

JV w/ the perfect celly. @BMO Game Highlights: https://t.co/6NqvY6uRpP pic.twitter.com/AgJJSzcGsW

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) March 5, 2018

Overreaction: Raps 102, Wiz 95

• We won the game when: CJ Miles hit that corner 3 fading to his left, which is really hard to do especially for a left-handed.

Unconscious pic.twitter.com/Bpyv5jZPUG

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) March 3, 2018

• Shut up and dribble: Kyle Lowry with a boneheaded move by getting T'd up in a close game.
• National TV jitters: The starting lineup looked very stiff and very much under the spotlight, as the Wizards tried to run away with the game in the 1st quarter, opening up an 18-4 lead.
• Mobile Center: Jakob Poeltl provided what JV and Ibaka couldn't do: quick rotation, a better "show" on PNR, active hands with the deflections, and interior defence, to a point where he's never too late to recover.
• Miles' spacing effect: the interior was so wide open when DeMar operated for that rever layup. The Wizards couldn't afford to leave their man to double DeMar.
• DeMar's passing effect: DeMar was routinely passing to the open man the entire game (even though they were not hitting them) was also a big factor on that clutch reverse layup by DeMar. He's never been this open in any of his clutch drives.

That boy clutch. pic.twitter.com/W520WS5Dui

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) March 3, 2018

• Slumping Powell: OG got the night off due to his sprained Ankle, and Powell failed to capitalize on this opportunity. He looked tentative, out of sorts, and his defence did not deter Bradley Beal from having a good game.
• Miller time: Miller got some non-garbage time burn midway through the 2nd quarter - He hit a corner 3 but looked a bit lost on the offensive end, as it looked like he didn't know where to position himself to space the floor as the play unfolds.
• Bounce Back: JV had a nightmarish 1st quarter but came back to redeem himself in the 3rd quarter. However, his defence (help and in pnr action) got him riding the pine in favour of Poeltl.
• Bebe sighting: Bebe got some burn because JV got into foul trouble in the 1st half, and he came in ready. He provided quality minutes, netting 4 points -- including an And-1 (FT did not go in), and he's got an uncredited block.
• No heavy lifting by the All-Stars: Lowry and DeMar did not have to go the extra mile to get the W, and that's a good thing.
• There's an app for that: Noah Basketball and Noahlytics looks like a bust, judging by the way the Raptors shot the 3 tonight.
• Shot-ready: How good was CJ Miles tonight? His shot preparation before catching and all the way to the release is so good. So damn good. I'm out of words. (Bonus: Listen to his SoundCloud below).