"The effects were immediate on playstyle as Scottie Barnes played the first possession as a Delay action big man in the offense to feed RJ Barrett for free throws. Barnes plays this way when he shares the floor with Mamu, not Poeltl. The next play down? Mamu hit a triple. The play after that? He caught the ball on the move and lobbed Barrett at the bucket. There was a bit more, but I won't recite it all for you."
"The Raptors broke off a 12-0 run to open the game with their backup big involved in basically everything. Of course, the opening run isn't everything and a string of missed shots from the Raptors and run outs from the Nets brought the game back even. Noah Clowney, in particular, had some nice drives to fuel Brooklyn. Also, an unsurprising pain point without Poeltl? The defensive rebounding."
"The game persisted, with the Raptors keeping the Nets at arms reach, legs still pumping, feet searching for their grip to close the gap. You can't fault the Nets for how hard they play. They drive it hard from a few different positions, they try and hunt down the glass, they hustle. Coach Jordi has his team punching the clock. No doubt about it."
Sandro Mamukelashvili started in place of Jakob Poeltl, creating more spacing that changed Scottie Barnes' role into a Delay action big to free RJ Barrett for shots. Mamukelashvili hit a three and converted a lob pass to Barrett during the opening sequence. The Raptors used a 12-0 run early with the backup big highly involved, but the Nets responded with runouts and strong drives from Noah Clowney. Defensive rebounding declined without Poeltl, and when Brooklyn switched more actions the extra spacing yielded limited advantages. Bench units with Ingram and Barnes provided effective depth and helped sustain momentum.
Read at Raptors Republic
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