Though it was just the first game of the season, there was a lot to be gleaned from the Toronto Raptors’ 113-99 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night.
From hints at what the team’s offensive focus might look like, to the apparent return of Pascal Siakam — and even how the team might navigate complications related to COVID-19 this season — we learned quite a bit about what the 2020-21 Raptors might be about.
Living and dying by the three
Though not overly surprising, given its importance in the modern NBA, it looks like the Raptors will be taking a lot of three-pointers this season.
In their pre-season finale last Friday, the Raptors hoisted up 57 triples. On Wednesday, they jacked up 46.
At first, it seemed like this was a great idea, with Toronto going 11-of-24 from deep in the first half. But after an ice-cold third quarter, where they went 0-for-10 from three-point range, and just 3-of-22 in the entire second half, Toronto appeared to shoot itself in the foot — paving the way for the Pelicans to turn a seven-point halftime deficit into a nine-point lead by the end of the third.
And while the NBA, to use a cliché, is a make-or-miss league, what’s a little bit concerning was hearing after the game how those Raptors’ three-point misses impacted the club’s energy level in the second half.
“It sure looked like it, it zapped our energy pretty big time, I thought,” Toronto head coach Nick Nurse said when asked if those missed triples drained the Raptors. “That’s tough to deal with, but it still wasn’t a million miles away. With six minutes to go, it was still a five- or seven-point game. We kind of weathered that, that’s a big thing, but we did seem to lose a little energy and maybe ran out of a little gas, too.”
It’s well and good to be a team with an offence predicated on the the triple, but tp hear of them running out of steam because they happened to go cold on good looks isn’t the most encouraging thing.
Granted, this was just the first game of the season, but based on all the threes the Raptors put up, as well as just the 12 free throws they attempted Wednesday, it feels like there needs to be a better balance struck between outside and inside scoring.
“We’d like to get to the free-throw line more, I thought we probably should have,” Nurse said. “But just didn’t seem to get too many of the hard driving, contact plays tonight. Yeah, we’re gonna definitely need to get to the line more. It’s certainly a high priority, we’re going to need to shore that up a little bit.”
Siakam back, mostly
For more encouraging news, it looked like the Siakam of old was back Wednesday night.
The Raptors all-star finished with 20 points, six rebounds and six assists on 8-of-17 shooting, including a 3-for-7 clip from deep.
Siakam looked active and energized, and he appeared to have some of that old swagger that made him an All-NBA selection last season, with takes to the basket that left Pelicans defenders all tied up in a knot.
“I think it was a little better in terms of continuing to play fast,” Siakam said after the game. “I’m getting back to, you know, just running and attacking, making plays and stuff, so I felt good about it.”
More importantly than seeing his confidence going toward the basket, however, was the level of playmaking he illustrated.
The six dimes Siakam dropped Wednesday weren’t by accident. His passing is something he worked on in training camp and the pre-season, and now he’s showing it to start the regular season.
“Well, I think that that’s certainly a good place for him to be,” Nurse said of Siakam’s playmaking Wednesday. “I think once you become a scorer like he is you’re going to have to play-make just because they’re going to send multiple defenders to you. And I think he’s getting better at that.”
The only criticism to be had of Siakam’s game from Wednesday is the fact he didn’t score, nor assist, in the fourth quarter. The Raptors had a chance to mount a comeback early in the final frame, but ultimately couldn’t, and while Siakam certainly wasn’t all to blame for that, his lack of production proved to be a factor.
Baynes, Boucher are going to be alright
There was obviously a lot made of the departures of Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol in the off-season, but based on what we saw Wednesday from their replacements at centre, Aron Baynes and Chris Boucher, the Raptors will be just fine.
Baynes had 11 points and nine rebounds Wednesday and, in the first half in particular, was seen setting big screens that freed-up shooters like Kyle Lowry. And, as you can see in the clip from a little earlier, he even hit a three-pointer.
Boucher, too, had a good first half, scoring eight of his 12 points, crashing the glass hard and even looking Ibaka-esque in his own way: doing damage in the pick-and-pop and drilling mid-range jimmies.
In all, Baynes and Boucher held their own Wednesday, and if this is what we can expect from them this season, things won’t be too bad for the Raptors at that spot.
Dealing with COVID
Norman Powell wasn’t cleared to play Wednesday until just a few hours before the game, stuck in the league’s health and safety protocol.
As Powell revealed after the game, he missed two or three practices with the Raptors before the season opener because he was under the protocol, something that may have contributed to the poor night he had, going 2-for-12 from the field for 12 points.
Regardless of Powell’s performance, however, this uncertainty that Powell put the Raptors in sounds like it’s going to be a reality moving forward.
The virus hasn’t left our midst yet, and these kinds of situations, unfortunately, might become normal as this season progresses.
