Whatever the Toronto Raptors end up doing between now and the trade deadline, winning games can only help them.
In that vein, the Raptors’ impressive 135-128 win over the visiting Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday was not only a nice way to end a four-game losing streak but hopefully will help them reset as they settle in for a four-game homestand they will need to take advantage of if they are going to have a chance at getting back to .500 and beyond.
Now, a cynic might point out that they owe their first-round pick in 2024 to the San Antonio Spurs if they finish outside the top-six picks in the lottery thanks to the trade last February that netted the Raptors Jakob Poeltl.
So in theory a hard slide down the standings and staying in the top six of the draft order (or bottom six of the standings) would help the Raptors (10-14) because they would keep their own pick.
Seems like a good thing, right?
Well no, two problems.
The first is that the Raptors would still owe the pick to the Spurs in 2025 (with the same protections) if it doesn’t move this year, or 2026 if it doesn’t go to San Antonio next year.
Since the 2025 and 2026 drafts are already considered to be top heavy with all-star potential talent – much more so than 2024, which is widely considered one of the weaker drafts in years – it’s in the Raptors’ interest to get out from under their obligation this year if they can. Mess around and it could really come back to haunt them.
The second is that until the pick transfers to the Spurs, the Raptors’ hands will be tied should they want to use future draft capital in other trades.
So better for all concerned if the Raptors simply settle their debt sooner than later.
And by the same token, if the Raptors aren’t tanking and trying to keep their pick, it will sting a little less if they end up handing over the 12th pick, let’s say, than the seventh. Optics matter, regardless of what anyone tells you.
But the biggest reason winning games would be a good thing is that when you still have 56 of them left to play, losing sucks. Are the Raptors going to be in the hunt for a playoff spot? Probably not. Do they look like a play-in team? At best.
But it’s something, and if there’s not a lottery pick at the end of the rainbow, might as well play for that.
Besides, did you catch Pascal Siakam’s comments the other day? Heading into the opener of the Raptors’ two-game set with the Hawks, Siakam delivered an extended and very detailed description comparing losing to getting punched in the face repeatedly, noting blood, loss of consciousness, and the search for the mouth guard. It was graphic and seemed very unfun.
So try winning then.
More efforts like they gave against Atlanta should do the trick. Pick an element of the game and if the Raptors weren’t proficient at it for most of the night, they were at least able to rectify it as the game went on. As an example, after the Hawks shot 57 per cent from the floor in the first quarter, Toronto held the Hawks to 47.6 per cent in the second quarter and 39.3 per cent in the third. After the bench unit struggled in the first half, it was much better in the second half. And the starters, as a group, logged one of their better efforts in weeks.
The best sequence of the game had a little bit of everything. A block of a Trae Young floater by Jakob Poeltl led to a thunderous dunk by OG Anunoby on the other end where he almost hurdled Hawks centre Clint Capela. On the next trip, Poeltl blocked Young again — this time on a lob attempt — and Scottie Barnes finished a nicely executed fast break with a twisting left-handed finish while being fouled. But the sequence started with defence.
“Great reads by Jak, definitely there,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “We had a couple of similar situations in the first half we did not pull the trigger and they got all the way to the rim … but when the game was on the line in the most important, crucial moments he did a great job and blocked two shots there …”
That helped push the Raptors’ lead back to eight with 4:57 to play after a pair of threes by Bogdan Bogdanovic had cut the Hawks’ deficit to two. Just to keep it interesting, the Raptors – who were up by 14 with 2:19 to play after a pull-up jumper by Siakam – did surrender a rapid 10-2 run. But when Siakam found Anunoby for a dunk to put Toronto up eight with 36 seconds left, the game was over.
Siakam did his part all night long as he finished with 33 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in 36 minutes. Barnes had 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Anunoby had 22 points and three assists for the Raptors, who had 39 helpers on the night, their second highest total of the season.
The relief was palpable.
“I think obviously, you lose some games in a row [and]we just got to have a sense of urgency to come into the game,” said Siakam. “Just go out there and try to do everything we can to get a win. At the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to. More energy, more focus, more communication. All that is needed is for us to be able to win these games. And we’ve got to understand that’s what it’s going to take. It’s going to take a lot more than just showing up. We got to have extra energy, extra effort. I thought we did well today in terms of that. A lot more communication. We just got to keep that going.”
Toronto shot 57.5 per cent from the floor and 52.9 per cent from three and improved to 10-14 on the season. The Hawks fell to 9-14 and dropped their fifth straight. They shot 48 per cent from the floor and 18-of-41 from three. Young had 35 points and 18 assists for the visitors, although the Raptors bothered him into five turnovers.
As for Siakam, the eighth-year forward has been in trade rumours for nearly a year but has continued to deliver on the floor. The Hawks have been a team Siakam has been linked to – they have a need for a dynamic scoring big and have a surplus of the kind of skilled guards and wings the Raptors need – and the two-time All-NBA selection gave them no reason to doubt their interest.
He built his game from the inside out, driving deep into the paint and scoring at the rim and in a crowd for his first four baskets of the game. No big news there – that’s Siakam’s bread and butter, although his level of determination and finish can vary at times. Not an issue Wednesday night.
Early on, Siakam stepped into a wide-open corner three and knocked it down like he was Kyle Korver.
That was nice, seeing as Siakam’s three-point shooting woes have been well chronicled. Coming into the game, he was shooting 12.5 per cent on threes in his last 18 games. He hasn’t made two or more threes in a game since Nov. 1.
Then Siakam hit another one as the Raptors tried to keep close to the Hawks, who took a 39-31 lead to start the second quarter thanks largely to Young.
Siakam hit his third three as the Raptors began to pull themselves out of a 12-point hole early in the second quarter and then his fourth to give Toronto a brief lead before a three by Hawks guard Dejounte Murray – Atlanta’s 11th on 21 first-half attempts – gave the visitors a 66-64 lead. Siakam ended up 5-of-6 from deep for the night. His confidence, he says, never wavered.
“I understand that it’s basketball, at the end of the day, makes and misses. I’m not mad at the shots that I took. I’m not mad at the mechanics. I’m not mad at anything,” Siakam said. “Like I said before, it’s like [if a]couple of those in-and-outs go in and it’s a different thing. You can’t focus on that as a player.”
Young was getting to do whatever he wanted against a Raptors defence that has been sagging for weeks – he had 20 points and 10 assists by halftime – but on this occasion the Raptors offence and the scoring provided by their starters could at least match what they were giving up. Siakam, with 24 points on 14 shots in 17 first-half minutes, was a big reason why.
It was another slumping shooter who helped the Raptors next. Gary Trent Jr. has shot just 25 per cent from three in his past seven games and was 0-for-7 combined in a pair of Raptors losses to New York and Charlotte and then went 1-of-4 from the floor in the first half against Atlanta, although he did hit a three.
But in the third quarter – after the Raptors starters had come out of the halftime with a 16-6 run – Trent Jr. knocked down threes on consecutive possessions to put the Raptors up by double digits. Both were set up by Malachi Flynn, but it was their third connection that was the prettiest. Flynn hit Trent in stride with a cross-court pass delivered at full speed with his left hand that Trent gathered and shot just before the horn sounded, giving Toronto a 103-95 lead to start the fourth quarter.
They were able to hold on to it, and for the first time in a while were able to walk off the floor feeling good about themselves. Small victories.
