Raptors sit out starters, Gradey Dick has big game in win to Celtics

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The momentum toward the NBA regular season continued on Friday as some of the Toronto Raptors hosted the Boston Celtics in Toronto on Friday night.

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Toronto held its starting lineup for its first home game, Boston, already without injured superstar Jayson Tatum, rested former NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and likely first choice power forward Sam Houser.

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That meant it was mostly a night for Toronto's prospects to show off their skills, although the young man most fans saw, Collin Murray-Boyles, only lasted half the match due to a bruised elbow. At least they got to see longtime Raptor and new Celtic big man Chris Boucher take on their former teammates. Boucher, who ranks 12th on the Raptors' all-time games played list, even started, something he has only done seven times at Scotiabank Arena as a Raptor. Here are our takeaways from a game the Celtics were in complete control of: leading by 27 points until the Raptors made a furious late push, tied the game with 35.4 seconds left and won it on a Jonathan Mogbo bucket.

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LOAD MANAGEMENT OCCURS EARLIER

It's a shame that paying fans didn't get to see Brandon Ingram for the first time, as well as Scotty Barnes, RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley or Jakob Poeltl. But after a week and a half away from the West, two games already played this week and another this coming Sunday, it was decided that a rest was needed. The fact that both Barnes (knee tendonitis) and Poeltl (back and cold) were both suffering from minor ailments probably also factored in.

Additionally, the NBA's recreation policy, which went into effect in 2023, stipulates that teams must prioritize resting their players at home rather than on the road, since road fans may only have one chance per season to see opposing stars.

Barnes also missed Wednesday's game in Sacramento.

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Toronto plays in Washington on Sunday, rematches in Boston on Wednesday and hosts Brooklyn next Friday. This could be Ingram's unofficial home debut with the club, unless Toronto waits until Milwaukee arrives on Oct. 24 for its first home game of the regular season at Scotiabank Arena.

Ingram played in the first two games, including in Vancouver.

Back in the 2018/19 season, another long-awaited home debut was also postponed. That was when Kawhi Leonard suited up in Vancouver, played half a game in Utah, and then stayed home for a home game against Australia's Melbourne United. However, Leonard did play a home exhibition game five days later before making his real debut and starting what would become a championship campaign.

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BATTLE OF WINGS

Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said before the game that when everyone is healthy, his jam on the wing will be difficult to deal with.

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Behind Ingram and Barrett, there aren't many minutes available for Grady Dick, Ja'Kobe Walter, Ohai Agbaji and even Jamison Battle, arguably the best shooter on the team, besides them.

“It's going to be tough. At the same time it's a very long season, some of them may be out of the rotation, in the rotation, getting more minutes, less minutes, it's a long, long season and we need that approach, we have to look at the long term,” Rajakovic said.

“We can’t watch game by game and make judgments about these guys.

They work hard, they are all good and talented players and we have to do our best to put them in a situation that allows them to succeed,” he said.

Dick was really good early in the game, flying all over the court getting offensive rebounds and steal attempts, putting together a much better game in Sacramento compared to the terrible game in Vancouver. His eagerness and nose for the ball were obvious and Dick had clearly added size, as Rajakovic said earlier in camp.

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The coach believes that Dick is better at “playing without the ball, finding his spots,” hitting well and defending aggressively.

On Friday he was tasked with being one of the main players in the attack, which is too ambitious, but credit to Dick for trying. His role on a healthy Raptors team will be to provide offense off the bench, but in a complementary way.

Dick really warmed up in the third quarter, scoring 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Walter was also strong against the Kings, but struggled on Friday except for a few good passes. He missed his first eight shot attempts.

Agbaji, the most experienced of the three, was quiet in attack but played well in defense.

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New attacker Sandro Mamukelashvili wasn't having it, while Murray-Boyles showed his strength and good hands eight minutes before leaving and Jonathan Mogbo was a little erratic.

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PASSING FANTASY

It's still early days, of course, but Rajakovic is pleased with how his top scorers are adapting to the system he wants them to play in together.

“I think our whole team plays to the standard of how we want to play with the ball, with the pass, make quick decisions. I think (Ingram and Barrett) they're adapting to that style pretty well,” Rajakovic said.

“I just encourage all the guys every time you catch the ball to be aggressive and make quick decisions. You have to be able to shoot the ball if you're open or moving it. At the same time, it's very important to play off the ball. RJ is very well known in this league, he scores well without being asked to make a play, he just finds his spot on the floor where he injects himself and BI does the same thing, so I give credit to both of them,” he said.

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Rajakovic said Ingram is an “exceptionally smart basketball player” and told him he doesn't want to change his game. “We're just going to help you take it to the next level.

“And also given that the game is also evolving, so he also needs to develop in the sense that he needs to play more in the open court, transition more and be involved in rebounding more.

“There will be good days, there will be bad days, he learns, we learn, I learn,” Rajakovic said.

@WolstatSun

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