Darko Rajakovic Defends Brandon Ingram After Blowout Loss to Phoenix Suns

Brandon Ingram and the Toronto Raptors fell 120-98 Sunday night to the Phoenix Suns in the Mortgage Matchup Center. Toronto’s leading scorer on the season struggled mightily in the Raptors’ second straight loss, contributing just six points and four rebounds on 3-for-10 shooting with five turnovers in 27 minutes. 

After being named an All-Star for the second time in his career, the former Duke Blue Devil has had a roller coaster of performances in March. Averaging 21.6 points per game on the year, Ingram has had four games with under 15 points, three games with 18-22 points, and three games with over 30 points. 

Ingram was not the sole reason for Toronto’s failure in Phoenix, though. In fact, the entire Raptors’ starting lineup was outscored 81-47, with the Raptors only attempting 37 total field goals compared to the Suns’ 55. The wire-to-wire loss was an all-out lack of team effort, rather than being on one person.

Head coach Darko Rajakovic accentuated this notion postgame when he was asked about Ingram’s struggles. 

“It’s a whole team, it cannot just be like one player,” said Rajakovic. “We win as a team, we lose as a team, we never want to point out a player. So, I thought that our whole team tonight did not have enough urgency for the game and enough respect for our opponent tonight.”

A fourth-quarter collapse was the cause for demise in Denver last game, but this was an outright domination by the Suns. The Raptors were outrebounded by 13 and allowed 18 three-pointers on 45% shooting. Losses like this will happen throughout the season, especially to other playoff teams, but having a blowout like this with 13 games left in the season is a reason for concern heading into the postseason. 

Every loss matters for Toronto in its final 12 games. While still sitting in the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, the Raptors sit just 2.5 games ahead of the 10th seed and would have to win back-to-back games in the Play-In Tournament just to qualify for the playoffs and play the top seed if they finish there. After missing the playoffs for three straight seasons, being in this position wouldn’t be terribly concerning because it is showing a sign of improvement. But when you factor in the trade for Ingram, along with the expensive contracts paid to Immanuel Quickley and Jakob Poeltl over the past two offseasons, the Raptors expect more. 

Not only that, but Toronto was on a 13-1 streak very early in the season, showing there may be a real chance of winning a playoff series this season. Putting those expectations on itself and then falling into the bottom of the Play-In Tournament would be dramatically disappointing. This would be even more true given the fact of where it sits in the standings with just a couple of weeks left. The Raptors control their own destiny the rest of the way, and that continues with a much-needed win against the Utah Jazz Monday night.