Raptors serve up some home-cooking
The Raptors begin a stretch where 10 of their next 11 opponents are below .500 — which means this is an excellent opportunity for the good guys to entrench themselves as Eastern Conference elite. And hopefully gain some ground on the Boston Celtics.
The Raptors returned home this week with a 12–7 record and with very winnable games against the Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers (revenge game and also the lone above .500 team mentioned above), and the Phoenix Suns.
Of their 19 games played thus far, 12 have been on the road. Their 7 homes games have also been the fewest in the league. As the schedule delivers more home dates against inferior competition, we fully expect them to go on a run.
Last week, we predicted they win would all three games. Let’s see how our prediction fared as we examine 4 things we liked and 1 thing we disliked from each matchup.
TORONTO 126 — CHARLOTTE 113
Like #1 — No Kemba Walker
The Hornets were without All-Star point guard Kemba Walker who has been a Raptor killer throughout his career. Last season, the dude averaged 28.8 points in four games against the Raptors — 5.5 points better than his season average.
The Raptors found themselves in familiar territory against the Hornets — going up against a team minus their All-Star point guard. Prior to this game, this exact scenario has happened three times already this season. Twice against Washington (no John Wall) and once against Boston (no Kyrie Irving). In those 3 games, the Raptors went 1–2. Not ideal.
As you can imagine, Raptors fans were more nervous with Walker not in the line-up as opposed him playing. The good news is that the Raptors took advantage of his absence — and most importantly, Lowry went off!
Like #2 — Lowry Time
In the previous 3 games the Raptors played against teams who were without the services of their All-Star point guard, Lowry was not able to successfully take advantage of the situation.
In those 3 games, here are his stats:
PPG: 10.0
FG%: 37.5
3PT%: 31.3
Not the kind of numbers you would expect from an obvious advantage. I will admit there is a lot of noise in the above numbers as Lowry was struggling to start the season. But, it is safe to say, that Lowry has officially moved past his early struggles and is arguably playing the best basketball of his career — which was on full display against the Walker-less Hornets.
Lowry dropped a season-high 36 points (his first 30+ point game of the season) and connected on a career high 8 three-pointers. He finished the game 12-of-18 from the field and 8-of-11 from beyond the arc. Lowry time is officially back!
LIKE #3 — DEMAR
Charlotte has historically been a team that DeMar DeRozan struggles against. The reason for this is due to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist — who is rangy, pesky, and one of the premier perimeter defenders in the league. He is a 6'7" defensive menace.
Last season, DeRozan averaged 23.8 points (on 21.5 shots) against the Hornets. The 23.8 points were nearly 4 points less than his season average.
But this year, DeRozan has quietly been a top 5 MVP candidate and he was not going to let MKG slow him down. DeRozan dropped 30 points on 14-of-22 shooting and even showed excellent vision with 6 dimes. Watching DeRozan continually get better year after year has been a treat.
LIKE #4 — THE BENCH
Enough cannot be said about how incredible the second unit has been. Against the Hornets, the Bench Mob finished with 40 points, 12 boards, 11 assists, and 6 threes.
Highlights include a career high 9 assists from Fred VanVleet and the strong play of Norman Powell off the bench. Powell is playing with a renewed confidence. As a starter, he did not look comfortable at all— he was averaging 8.3 points on 40.9% shooting and 30.8% from downtown.
As a reserve, he is averaging 12.8 points on 50% shooting and 40% from beyond the arc. This is the Powell the team needs in order to reach new heights. Keep up the good work, Norm!
DISLIKE — THE THIRD QUARTER
No lead is safe once that the third quarter starts. Last week, they lost the third quarter to the Knicks 41–10 highlighted (perhaps lowlighted?) by a 28–0 run by New York. Against the Pacers last week, they lost the third quarter 31–20.
Against the Hornets, the Raptors were up 71–52 at the half and looked to have the game in hand. However, the Hornets started the second half on a 8–0 run forcing Coach Casey to burn a timeout less than two minutes into the quarter. The Hornets ultimately enjoyed a 19–2 run to open the second half.
Toronto would ultimately go on to lose the quarter 33–22.
The Raptors rank dead last in the league in third quarter play — which is no surprise. They also rank first in the NBA in fourth quarter play — a pleasant surprise. This stark contrast is becoming an alarming trend though. If their third quarters could begin resembling their second and fourth quarters, the Raptors would truly become a monster for other teams to deal with.
The good to great teams will make them pay if they routinely take their collective foot off the pedal.
TORONTO 120 — INDIANA 115
LIKE #1 — REVENGE GAME
Last week, Toronto unceremoniously lost in Indiana 107–104 so we knew the good guys would be out for revenge back in Canada. Especially against Lance Stephenson who last time dropped 13 points in the fourth quarter — including two dagger threes in the closing moments that iced the game for the Pacers.
We’d also be remiss if we did not mention the officials from last week’s tilt. The NBA admitted that the refs blew two late calls which ended up having a direct impact on the outcome of the game. Both errant calls were by Stephenson on DeRozan. Time for some revenge!
The Raptors got the W in Toronto for their sixth straight home victory while also ensuring Stephenson was a non-factor. They played excellent team basketball with 29 assists on 48 made buckets. They also had a well-rounded offensive attack with seven players scoring in double figures.
Indiana did make it close at times but the outcome was never truly in doubt. Also, the Toronto crowd gave lots of love to the kid from Pickering — Cory Joseph, in his return to the 6.
LIKE #2 — THE AUSTRIAN HAMMER
Jakob Poeltl had the game of his life against the Pacers. The Austrian Hammer finished with 18 points on a perfect 8-of-8 from the field to go along with 6 boards, 1 steal, and 2 blocks. If you guessed that the points were a career high, you then earned yourself a Wiener Schnitzel!
The second year Center has been a bright spot for the Raptors all season. Let me refresh your memory in case you forgot how the Raptors acquired the 9th overall pick in the 2016 draft:
Thank you New York!
As good as his offence has been, we must also acknowledge his solid play on the defensive end. Poeltl has the skill set ideal for today’s modern NBA. He is quick on the perimeter and mobile enough to hang when switched onto opposing guards. Poeltl has essentially made JV expendable.
LIKE #3 — THE THIRD QUARTER
Pop the champagne! The Raptors lost the third quarter by only 2 points. They also forced Indiana to call the first timeout.
LIKE #4 — POINTS IN THE PAINT
The Raptors have never been a great points in the paint kind of team. Which one would expect when your two best players are perimeter ballers. However, the Raptors dropped 70 points in the paint against the Pacers.
This was due to the strong play of Poeltl and Siakim off the bench but also illustrates the attack-the-basket mentality of DeRozan, Lowry, and even Powell to a certain extent.
We must also give Serge Ibaka and Jonas Valanciunas a shout-out for having solid games. Ibaka dropped 15 points, 8 boards, and 3 three-pointers while shooting 6–of-10 from the field. JV had 13 points, 7 boards on 6-of-11 shooting. Here’s to hoping we can have more nights like this from our front court tandem.
DISLIKE — FREE THROWS
We dislike that we have to do this because Siakim and Poeltl have taken a huge (and unexpected) leap this season.
But if there is one aspect of their game we would like to see evolve, it is their free throw shooting. Poeltl is shooting 43.3% while Siakim is shooting (gulp) 27.8%. You have to make your free throws if you want to get those fourth quarter minutes.
TORONTO 126 — PHOENIX 113
LIKE #1 — SERGE MUTOMBO
Dikembe Mutombo took in the game from courtside and Serge Ibaka put on a show for him. Ibaka finished with 19 points (8-of-13), 6 boards, and 3 blocks (he really had 4 but the refs called it goaltending).
After a block, Ibaka even did the Mutombo finger wag which had the Hall of Famer’s stamp of approval.
LIKE #2 — THE KYLE & DEMAR SHOW
There is nothing finer then when our two All-Stars are both playing at a high level during the same game. Against the Suns, Lowry finished with 20 points, 10 assists, 6 boards, 5 threes, and 2 charges taken. Lowry leads the NBA in charges taken with 17.
DeRozan too had 20 points to go along with 8 assists, 7 boards, and 3 steals. DeRozan is averging 4.9 assists this season which is also a career best. I fully expect that number to continue to climb as his game evolves. He no longer forces the issue on offence — instead taking what the defence gives him.
LIKE #3 — OG IS OMG
Anunoby continues to show flashes of superstar potential. These flashes were on full display against the Suns. He finished with 16 points (tying his career high) while also connecting on a career-high from downtown (4).
He also had the unenviable task of guarding Devin Booker. OG helped hold Booker to 0-for-7 shooting in the first half. Booker finished the game with a mortal 19 points on 4-of-15 shooting.
LIKE #4 — THREES, DIMES, AND REBOUNDS
We do not want to overreact to this game because it was against the lowly Suns who rank 28th in the league on defence — they give up over 115 points per game.
But the good guys took care of this favourable match-up by connecting on 15 threes (41.9%), assisting on 30 of their 44 buckets, and holding the Suns to zero offensive rebounds. Zero! This was the first time in franchise history that the Raptors held an opponent to no offensive boards.
DISLIKE — LIFELESS JV
I would feel bad for JV if I was not so frustrated by him. Against the Suns, he missed all five of his field goal attempts and finished with 4 points in 18 ineffective minutes.
JV’s confidence has definetly taken a hit especially with how well Poeltl has been playing. The Austrian Hammer played 23 minutes scoring 13 points to go along with 5 boards.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Raptors handled their business by sweeping this three game home stand — and extended their current win streak to four games. They also have the best home record in the league (9–1).
Toronto now sits with an overall record of 15–7 as they hit the road for a four-game Western Conference road trip. They play in Memphis on Friday, Sacramento on Sunday, Los Angeles on Monday against the Clippers, and they wrap it up Wednesday against Phoenix.
The combined record of their four opponents this week is 32–62 for a .340 winning percentage. Yikes. Is it too much to suggest they could sweep the slate on the road? We think so — because even the bad teams win sometimes.
We here at Life In Repeat predict that the Raptors will go 3–1 on this road trip. Even though we are secretly optimistic they will win all four!
Until next time…
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