Overreaction: Game 26/82 - The Sixers Need One More All-Star

• Kawhi is rounding into form, and it feels like there's still a gear he can get into offensively, and a couple of gears defensively. Scary.
• Speaking of Kawhi, having Kawhi with the Raptors makes the "floor" ridiculously high. With the rest of the team struggling and just having Kawhi in there, the Raptors are tough to beat. In the past, if one of the stars and the rest of the bench are struggling against a good team, there's a good chance that we're staring at a blowout.
• Is it me or Kawhi looks more integrated w/ the offense for the past 2 games?
• Seeing JV unleashed again felt so good. Games like this makes me confident and excited about Boogie Cousins playing for the Warriors.
• Wilson Chandler looks washed. As in Big3-bound.
• Delon Wright game starter pack:
• A euro-step
• acrobatic layup
• step back 3
• drive and kick to FVV for a 3
• Nick Nurse Strategy #1: Kawhi on Ben Simmons. Simmons struggled the entire night being guarded by Kawhi.
• Nick Nurse Strategy #2: No straight up D on Embiid, and help would only come in when he's about to shoot. Embiid was definitely frustrated the entire game.
• Nick Nurse Strategy #3: Siakam + Bench. Siakam provided better ball and off/ball movement with the bench mob. Defensively, he plugged some holes that they would normally have with Miles in there.
• The Go Daddy curse seems to be contagious. Lowry and FVV have been struggling. Siakam struggled tonight. Damn, Masai, make this stop.
• Speaking of the Sixers - if they don't become top 2 in the East, do they deserve to have 3 all-stars? I don't think so.
• I might make a separate post about Kyle Lowry vs Masai later today, but I'm not a fan of what he said.
• We have a chat group on twitter for RapsHQ and I kinda mention that we should waive Brown and Monroe to free up some minutes for Loyd and Boucher. For tonight, I apologize about the Monroe comment lol.

Overreaction: Game 8/82 - It's not Rebound-ball

• A bit of a nitpicking here, but Kyle Lowry needs to stop hunting for assists sometimes because the shots are right there
• I don't know how many games has it been, but even though the Raptors are winning, it feels like they are losing the rebounding battle on a nightly basis
• I don't want to write anything new about CJ Miles because there's nothing new to write
• Pascal Siakam's starting to break out. I don't know how this will affect OG's playing time, but we have too many decent young players, and at least one of them need to step up and become good or even better
• Just imagine how this team will look once FVV, OG Anunoby, and a healthy Delon Wright are back in the lineup. Speaking of Delon, it's good to see him start to look like his old self.
• Again, a couple of major difference between Nurse and Casey - Nurse will get Malachi and Brown some reps that they need, and CJ all the rope to get out of his rut
• I guess no matter how much weight JV loses, his heavy feet will always be a weakness when teams utilize Cs to get their three-point shooters open
• I love how simple Kawhi's game is offensively, yet he would easily get 20-25 a night. We're not even seeing those games where he would force 2-3  turnovers leading to his fastbreak points.
• Norm Powell is quietly putting together a decent showing offensively, however, he still struggles to chase guys off the ball. He needs to watch how Danny Green -- someone who's way slower than him -- chases guards off the ball. It's not just about sprinting. He keeps getting caught on those screens as if he really didn't see them coming. Maybe he didn't.
• From what I've heard from my friends, certain employers in the middle east region would hold the passport of their expats as part of their employment agreement. Is this what Masai is doing?
• For the road - Raptors won despite getting pummeled on the boards -- As Raptors legend Andrea Bargnani once said "It's not rebound-ball, it's basket-ball"

Overreaction: Raptors 123, Piston 94

• We won the game when: The starters hung it up on the pistons in the 3rd quarter
• A good sign: Kyle Lowry shooting 6-8 from deep, 6-10 overall. Since returning from his injury, he only had 4 games where he had at least 50% FG. Tonight makes it 5 in 18 games.
• Should we be concerned: CJ Miles ain't exactly killing it on the offensive end, and he's looking more and more of a liability on the defensive end.
• Disappointing night: "Hey, you are way better than Drummond" Masai yelled at JV. Drummond is now a 2x all-star, and he's the better player today. Still, I was expecting a better fight from JV.
• Bounce back: Good to see  OG Anunoby bouncing back from a horrible streak of games where he's been producing eggs.
• Bounce back 2: It's garbage time, but good to see Norm looking sharp. Is it time to see him back with the 2nd unit instead of Miles?
• Not going to be intimidated: Loved how Jak, Siakam, and FVV didn't back down from Blake Griffin's bullying.
• Multi-faceted player: back in 2011-2014, if you would tell me that DeMar is capable of getting 20pts without volume shooting AND drop 7 dimes on the same game, I'd say BS. It's amazing that we're currently watching DeMar DeRozan for almost a decade, and his game is still growing.
• Growth spurt: Siakam was thrown into the lion's den last season when Sully got injured. But watching his game grow in the G-League throughout last season, I'm not expecting this rapid development from him. He could be a really important piece for this Raptors' playoff run (and maybe the Raptors future too).
• Flying under the radar: Delon Wright shot almost 29% from the perimeter prior to his injury, and he's now just below 37%.
• Positive aggression: This game might be Jak's best game in terms of showing aggression, power, and excellent motor movement. I didn't know he had those lateral quicks to guard Blake Griffin, and that dunk tho.

REDEMPTION! pic.twitter.com/tOmOHaiGrx

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) February 27, 2018

• Anger issues up north: I'll shamelessly put my tweet below

Why does Blake Griffin seems to have anger issues every time he's in Canada? If I'm the @DetroitPistons trainer i wouldnt be anywhere near Blake after the game #rtz #WeTheNorth

— JD Quirante (@jdkeyrants) February 27, 2018

• Lost opportunity: I wanted the camera crew to focus Dwane Casey's face as the clock was about to expire and the Pistons still trying to score. I'm almost convinced that he would've said BAMF!
• #BB3: Bebe 3. no need to elaborate. I'm gonna go back to this post and update this with the video.