Raptors defense is historically bad as losing streak hits nine

There was nothing that could get the Raptors going on defense in Memphis on Thursday.

Not a pretty retro night to reminisce about a past rivalry. Not one of the league’s fastest and most dynamic scorers, Ja Morant, and his 7-foot-4 pick-and-roll partner, Zach Edey, who was ready to smash Toronto in the mouth from the opening tip. Not a draft for their head coach, who barely moved the needle in energy level.

With six minutes left, it wasn’t a question of whether the Grizzlies would hang an embarrassing number on the Raptors. It was a question of whether it would be one historically speaking embarrassing number. And not even that could force much defensive execution.

That’s the number the Grizzlies posted in a 155-126 victory, a new franchise record for points allowed in a game for Toronto.

That came with 18 threes, 24 offensive rebounds and double-digit scoring from eight different Grizzlies.

It also came with some fun asides and solid offensive performances from the Raptors. Cool. They allowed 155 points; so it’s hard to focus on much else. A fitting example came midway through the third quarter, when the Raptors trailed by just 16, came out of a timeout to score on six straight possessions and were still down 14 because they couldn’t get any stops. At least it was close then.

Teams often say to “rinse it” after a performance like this. Toronto better have a plumber on speed dial.

The following are some notes from the game.

• Darko Rajakovic opened the fourth quarter by getting ejected after a pair of technical fouls. I’m not sure we’ve ever seen Rajakovic get fired up, even in his famous altercation in Los Angeles last season when Ochai Agbaji and Barnes needed to help hold him back from the officials.

The Raptors are the league’s most exposed team, and at times Rajakovic has felt the whistle hasn’t been equivalent the other way. That’s been especially true with the calls his star, Barnes, receives in the middle of traffic in the paint.

• The presence of Edey and the absence of Jakob Poeltl meant a rare start for Kelly Olynyk. It didn’t work, and basically no lineup iteration did against Edey. The Grizzlies were a plus-29 in his 27 minutes, and while many of those were with other starters with shared credit, Edey was a big problem for a team with such limited size right now. He finished with 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including a pair of triples, with 16 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Edey has also continued to have a really strong and exciting rookie year. Some of the knocks on him 18 months ago were fair, but he has worked tirelessly to improve the weaker parts of his game, which were on full display at Purdue last year. He looks like an undisputed NBA rotation player, likely starter, big piece for Memphis’ future and hopefully an influential piece for Canada in future international events.

What a bright spot in the NBA season.

• Bruno Fernando’s contract will be fully guaranteed for the season if he is not terminated by January 7. He has appeared in just two games since Nov. 27, only one of which was non-time. He didn’t even play on Thursday, ceding his trash spot to Ulrich Chomche.

Fernando provided a nice, brief boost early in the year and has been a good culture piece, but the writing seems to be on the wall here with his recent usage.

By waiving Fernando next week, the Raptors would preserve a bit of extra roster flexibility and breathing room under the tax to absorb money going into the trade season. It would also free them up to cycle through some 10-day contract options and, if space remains open after the deadline, convert Jamison Battle to a standard (likely multi-year) NBA deal.

• The Raptors played short with Barnes and Barrett off the floor at the same time, something that has happened in a couple of recent games when both were available. Going into this game, the Raptors had a disastrous -22.5 net rating in 130 minutes with no one on the floor (and Poeltl and Immanuel Quickley also on the bench or hurt); tonight, the Grizzlies jumped out on a quick 6-0 run in less than a minute against that look.

Rajakovic has very few options available to him with the roster thinned so badly and playing Barnes and Barrett together is Toronto’s best path to win minutes, but they just can’t survive with none of the offensive creators in the game right now.

By the way, Barnes and Barrett combined for 53 points, 15 rebounds and 18 assists with just five turnovers. They were both really solid and efficient offensively, which was probably the only bright spot here; they continue to have good chemistry on that end.

• Joining Quickley, Poeltl and Bruce Brown on the inactive list were Jamal Shead (knee) and Ja’Kobe Walter (illness). It required the team’s 15th different starting lineup in 31 games, already halfway to last year’s franchise-record 30.

The Raptors still haven’t had their expected starting lineup assembled in a single game. Quickley, Barnes, Barrett and Dick have played a combined 18 minutes since the big trade last December 30, a total of 81 games.

If there’s one team that isn’t going to feel bad about the Raptors’ injury woes, it’s the Grizzlies. Memphis leads the league in man games lost for the second straight season. In some ways, their jump up the roster highlights a silver lining that lives in last year’s injury woes: This year’s depth is far more experienced and capable of contributing than they otherwise might have been. Any team would definitely take a healthy team over a crappy one, but the Grizzlies have made gourmet chicken salad with 18-month-old chicken… well, you know.

Santi Aldama was added to the roster in this one, leaving in the first quarter with an ankle injury. He’s been a big contributor this year, especially in Edey’s absence, but knowing the Grizzlies, another terrific big will spawn in his place if he needs to miss time.

• The aesthetic of this game was beautiful, with both teams wearing retro colors and the Grizzlies using their retro Vancouver-era court. They provide two of the best looks in the league, individually, and are perfect together if you’re of a certain age, taste or nostalgia level.

The unofficial Naismith Cup meeting was also a chance for everyone to revisit the mystery surrounding that piece of hardware. Matt Devlin explained it on the show, but if you’re looking for more, I made one deep dive into its history and whereabouts in 2020. And I mean it deep – I talked to the Raptors, Grizzlies, NBA, NBA Canada and even Israel’s ambassador for sports and goodwill. Fingers keep being pointed in several directions, yet I am without a fixed location.

• Fittingly, due to the matchup and throwback theme, the Raptors and Grizzlies combined to set a new NBA record with six Canadian players in one game: Edey, Olynyk, Barrett, Chris Boucher, AJ Lawson and Brandon Clarke. Very cool!

• Cheeky move by Morant at the end of the second quarter: Davion Mitchell lost a shoe on offense, and before Mitchell could get it back, Morant threw it away to the other side of the floor, requiring Mitchell to end that possession and the subsequently defensive one in a shoe.

• The previous Raptors record for points allowed in a game was 152, set in the 1997-98 season. Lamond Murray led the Clippers with 25 points. Chauncey Billups was minus-31 for Toronto.

• The Raptors get another couple of days off before they resume play Sunday at home against Atlanta. (That the Hawks’ staff has a couple of old friends in Brittni Donaldson and Ryan Schmidt, both of whom spent several years in the organization.)

At least a couple Raptors should be Mississauga bound for an afternoon Raptors 905 game on Friday. With the G League Winter Showcase now concluded, the standings reset to 0-0 heading into the 34-game “regular season” portion of the schedule. The somewhat odd format convention gives the 905 renewed life after a 16-game start riddled with injuries and turnover. AJ Lawson, Frank Kaminsky, and Jared Rhoden (when healthy) should be big second-stage additions.

• Part 1 of Sportsnet’s four-part documentary, Raptors Delight, aired after the game and is available on Sportsnet.ca. I can’t recommend the main episode, The birthenough. The amount of work that went into it behind the scenes has been cool to see from the inside, and parts three and four may include myself (I haven’t seen a final cut; I better make it, you guys have been warned) .

Hope you all have a great holiday!