TORONTO — The third game of the season against a team that is playing on the second night of a back-to-back, features a 19-year-old point guard, a 20-year-old shooting guard and also has ‘playing for the lottery’ pulsing from it in neon, should not be a must-win game.
It should be a game you win on your way to getting more wins.
But the Toronto Raptors aren’t in a position to be taking anything for granted. With a rookie head coach trying to implement a new system and maintain the buy-in of some essential veterans who are in contract years, every step forward or step back is magnified.
So fumble a game at home to the winless and youthful Portland Trail Blazers at your peril.
Well, the Raptors fumbled it as Portland out-duelled Toronto down the stretch after owning most of the second half on their way to 99-91 win. It was the Trail Blazers’ first victory of the season as they improved to 1-3 in a year that will be very much measured in development rather than actual victories.
The Raptors fall to 1-3 and are officially on a losing streak, one that could spiral given how difficult their schedule is in the first few weeks of the season. After losing to a team that traded Dame Lillard, Toronto gets to try and right their ship against the team that acquired the superstar to help Giannis Antetokounmpo win a title in Milwaukee.
The Trail Blazers were led by Malcolm Brogdon who scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half and sealed the game with a pair of lay-ups into the teeth of the Raptors’ defence in the final two minutes, the last putting Portland up by six with 26 seconds to play.
The Raptors were led by Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam who each had 20 points for the night. But offence continues to be a problem as Toronto shot just 40.4 per cent from the floor and 4-of-29 from three and struggled — as a result — to score effectively by any other means than in transition.
Portland shot 44.7 from the floor and 31.4 per cent from three. Second-year guard Shaedon Sharpe, the 20-year-old from London, Ont., had some nice moments on his way to 14 points and three assists. Rookie point guard Scoot Henderson had 11 points and seven assists before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
The game had a slightly out-sized importance because the Raptors — if not fragile — are still a long way from being fully baked.
What the Raptors are trying to do — adopt a more egalitarian offence that relies on more ball movement and cutting and so far has meant fewer touches for pending free agents Siakam, Gary Trent Jr., and O.G. Anunoby — has been well documented. And there has been a lot of air given to the notion that first-year head coach Darko Rajakovic has both the tactical chops and the bridge-building abilities to sell the program to a group of pros who might want to reserve judgment.
But unless you’re in a complete rebuild as the Trail Blazers are, it’s important that there is proof of concept early and often. The Raptors opening night win over Minnesota was a nice boost and showed that this is a group that can defend at a high level.
On the other hand, the loss to Chicago on Friday in overtime was a tough pill because it was a game that was there to be won but was given away after a series of late-game errors and some tough officiating. A win against Philadelphia in Toronto on Saturday was always going to be a tall order given the Sixers were rested, had reigning league MVP Joel Embiid and the Raptors were on the second night of back-to-back.
In that context, a loss at home to a team that projects to be one of the weakest in the league? It can’t happen. This was a game the Raptors needed to have both in the standings and for the spirit of the whole thing.
“When you win, you’re getting that positive feedback. That what you’re doing and all the time and investment that you’re putting in, it’s giving you that positive feedback,” said Rajakovic. “When you’re winning games, you’re recovering better. When you’re winning. It’s much easier to learn new things, to be open to new things. So it is important. But everything comes for young guys, for young teams. It’s coming with time, and the time they’re putting in to do the work.”
But things don’t get any easier from here as Toronto hosts Milwaukee Wednesday and travels to Philly for a game Thursday to start a four-game road trip. Winning winnable games is crucial to avoid the kind of start that a team might need the rest of the regular season to dig out from.
Encouragingly, Monday’s game was likely Siakam’s best result of the season so far. There might be no one with more at stake in the Raptors quickly and successfully integrating the changes Rajakovic is trying to make. The two-time all-star will be a free agent next summer. A big season, perhaps another all-NBA nod or more all-star recognition would only increase his leverage in looking for a deal that could top $200 million.
Heading into Monday, Siakam was averaging just 14.7 points on 37.5 per cent shooting through three games. He managed just eight field goal attempts against the Sixers. It’s hard to get paid on that.
“I don’t want him to take shot eight shots in the game,” acknowledged Rajakovic. “There’s gonna be nights he comes in and takes 20 and you guys gonna come to me saying he takes way too many. So I think there has to be a happy medium there for everybody. [But] he’s really bought in, he’s really trying to do the right thing. Everything that we’re asking him as a coaching staff and we’re getting really good feedback from him as well. What can help him spacing wise, positioning all of the teammates from the court [and]his spot of where he likes to be on the court.”
Siakam had 12 points on 11 shots to lead all scorers in the first half, the majority of which came in transition which has been the Raptors’ best offence so far this season as their half-court attack has struggled – shooting 3-of-16 from deep as they did in the first two quarter doesn’t help. Regardless, Toronto led 50-47 to start the third quarter.
Perhaps the most eye-catching player on either side wasn’t much-hyped No. 3 draft pick Scoot Henderson, who is going through some evident growing pains as a 19-year-old trying to lead a team in the world’s best basketball league.
Instead, it was Sharpe, the high-flyer from London, Ont., who has picked up where he left off after a strong finish to last season. Sharpe shot 40 per cent from deep over the last 18 games of last season with Portland, 10 of them starts. With Lillard traded Sharpe is one of the Trail Blazers foundation pieces for the future.
With his combination of an athletic six-foot-six frame, effortless leaping ability and both comfortable three-point range and crafty finishing at the rim, it’s easy to see why Portland is so high on him. Portland head coach Chauncey Billups said he’s got high hopes that Sharpe can be an elite defender and compared his offensive skill set to that of Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker. “I’ve got great hope that Shaedon can be a great player in this league … I don’t just say those things,” was Billups. “We just got to keep teaching and keep teaching and I think the world will know when he gets there.”
It was a wily vet who made the Raptors’ life difficult in the third quarter as Brogdon, who has given the Raptors fits while playing in Milwaukee, Indiana, Boston and now Portland, scored seven points in less than six minutes as Portland outscored Toronto 33-24 in the period. The Raptors shot just 10-of-30 for the frame, generating little offence outside Barnes’s 12 points.
The Raptors couldn’t find a way to overcome Portland’s advantage and now find themselves in an early hole just as they try to create a new identity.
