The Toronto Raptors fall to the Denver Nuggets 128-109 in the third game of this road trip. It was a tale of two halves for the Raptors. What was a promising start to the game, led to an extremely underwhelming second half that led to the 19-point thumping.

Nikola Jokic led all players with a triple-double, pouring on 32 points to go along with 10 points and 11 assists. The Raptors had solid outings from their go-to scorers in Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett, but the fall-off in production from the rest of their players highlights my key takeaways from the Raptors’ loss.

Raptors Lack Consistency In Second Half

The Raptors led 67-64 in a very high-scoring first half for both teams. Toronto had four of their five starters in double figures going into halftime, but the production did not carry over.

The third quarter was where the Raptors fell apart, giving up a whopping 41 points, while only putting up a measly 15 points. Denver continued to work from the inside out, which is where Jokic made the Raptors pay.

Denver's ability to crash the glass and turn the Raptors over led to 24 points off turnovers. Even though the Raptors led in offensive rebounds, the Nuggets out-rebounded them 45-41, which led to 17 second-chance points.

No Answer For Nikola Jokic

It's clear that the Raptors simply do not have the size down low to keep up with other teams, and Jokic exposed that on Wednesday night. Denver continued to pound the paint, to the tune of 76 points in the paint, compared to Toronto's 46.

His ability to draw the double-team caught the Raptors out of position on a number of possessions. Too often would we see the Raptors' defenders late on the switch, where Jokic would make them pay, or kick out to find the open shooter, leading to his 11 assists.

While Collin Murray-Boyles had a decent first half, he was completely outmatched overall when it came to Jokic. Jakob Poeltl came off the bench for 18 minutes, with eight points and five rebounds, as he was listed as 'questionable' before the game. Still, there are serious holes in the Raptors' front-court, and Jokic almost single-handedly dismantled their defense.

Immanuel Quickley Disappears After Good Start

It was an all-around disappointing third quarter for the Raptors after a strong start for this squad. The positive takeaway is that they did a great job of executing to start the game, which needed to be a focal point.

First quarters have been a little lackluster for the Toronto Raptors, as they’re coming off 22 and 23-point performances in their Los Angeles back-to-backs. They turned things around in Denver with 35 points out the gates, as they converted on 6 of 12 attempts from the three-point arc. Ball movement is the key here, leading to unselfish play and high percentage looks.

Immanuel Quickley was a huge part of that. He was shooting the ball effectively for 10 points off of 4-6 shoot, 2-4 from range, to go along with six assists. He would finish with just 13 points and seven assists, while he would fail to convert another three out of his four attempts in the half.

This simply cannot be the case. The Raptors depend on his spot up shooting and facilitating, especially with Kawhi Leonard sidelined. We see Quickley contribute on the offensive end in bunches, just like in the fourth quarter against the Clippers. These efforts are too inconsistent, especially for a game that was in-hand going into the second half.

The Raptors now fall to 2-4 without Leonard. They wrap up this four-game road trip in Milwaukee on Friday.