Though they still remain below .500, the Toronto Raptors have a much different feel around them these days.
That’s because they currently find themselves sixth in the Eastern Conference standings, and also because of the success they’ve found of late on the road.
Toronto’s earned six victories away from its new (and now permanent for the season) digs of Tampa Bay, with four alone coming on what at first was looking like a tough six-game trip.
Instead, however, some of the team’s best moments all season came from this six-game roadie, and even though they still haven’t completely climbed out of the hole they dug for themselves when they started 2-8, the confidence they’ve managed to build from this appears to have set them back on the right path.
“I feel pretty good. Trending upwards, think we’re playing really good basketball,” said Raptors coach Nick Nurse of the six-game trip after his team fell to the Boston Celtics Thursday night. “I think we weathered some storms, came back. I think, again, we look like we’re getting in good shape, we’re finding a little better rhythm, we’re executing a little better, got a lot of room for improvement, got some time to get better. It was a good road trip, it was a very interesting road trip, actually. A little bit of everything on this road trip.
“Win in Brooklyn, Freddy getting 54, [Adrian Griffin] getting a win, OG’s first-ever Super Bowl party. All kinds of stuff, man. It was a helluva road trip.”
Yes, as Nurse alluded to, a lot happened over the course of Toronto’s last six games. And so, looking back on them, here are six takeaways from their long road trip.
VanVleet got the Raptors out of the staring blocks
Raptors guard Fred VanVleet made it into the top 10 of Eastern Conference guards in the latest all-star voting returns.
This was largely aided by his franchise-record 54-point eruption in Orlando that kicked off the trip.
Quite possibly the most feel-good moment of the entire season, VanVleet’s monstrous, historic night finally gave the Raptors something unequivocally positive and fun to latch onto, and they used those good vibes to help carry good momentum the rest of the way.
VanVleet was actually a little spotty on the trip overall, but because of his amazing evening in Orlando he still managed to average 23.5 points, 7.2 assists and two steals per game while shooting 47.8 per cent from three-point range.
There is obviously a debate to be had if momentum from game-to-game is actually real or not, but VanVleet’s explosion certainly seemed to do something to help impact his team the rest of the way.
Siakam playing with joy again
Pascal Siakam has gone on the record many times explaining how he lost the joy he felt playing the game while trapped in the Disney World bubble during last season’s summer restart.
It negatively impact his game all through that period and also appeared to leak into parts of this season.
Something finally clicked with Siakam and it looked as though the Raptors all-star was back to his old joyful, productive self while on this road trip.
Most notably, in the Raptors’ comeback victory against the Memphis Grizzlies, Siakam’s signature smile was lighting up FedExForum as he himself was proceeding to light the Grizzlies up for 32 points, six assists and five rebounds while going 11-of-18 from the floor and 5-of-8 from deep.
Playing well again has unlocked Siakam’s signature passion and energy and he worked hard to get back to this point.
As you may remember, Siakam took a lot of threes to start the season, but not many free throws. Over the course of his last eight games (the six-game trip included), Siakam has appeared to reverse that trend, playing more aggressively and trying to get to the basket more, like he did earlier in his career.
This shift in play style from the start of the season has paid off for Siakam, and now that his three-point stroke appears to be back, he’s looking like the All-NBA player he was last season.
Raptors Newsletter
Great offence, but bad defence
The Raptors turned into an offensive juggernaut over the span of their last six games, putting up an outrageous offensive rating of 122.2, a number that would be nearly three points per 100 possessions better than the Milwaukee Bucks’ top-ranking 119.5 for the season.
This is great news for the Raptors as their offence was a real concern early in the season, bordering on anemic at times.
However, as great offensively as Toronto was during its road trip, defensively there’s certainly some concern.
The Raptors allowed opponents to score 116.5 points per 100 possessions over their last six games, a figure that would put them right near the bottom of the league in defensive rating with the likes of the Washington Wizards and Sacramento Kings if played out over an entire season.
That’s poor defence that simply isn’t good enough if the Raptors want to keep winning, no matter how great their offence is.
Good defence is something that can be relied upon more consistently than good offence, and even though there obviously was success found during their road trip, the Raptors are going to have to tighten the clamps more, like the way they did when Nurse got ejected in the Memphis game, but over the course of full games.
Playing without OG
Of course, a big reason why Toronto’s defence was as porous as it was can be linked to the fact the team was without its best defender.
OG Anunoby has been out for Toronto’s last nine games with a pesky calf strain and his presence has been sorely missed.
A high-end role player who had found his three-point stroke after some early-season struggles, Anunoby was the perfect Swiss Army knife for Nurse to turn to when he wanted to try to lock down just about anyone at any position.
Not having access to a defensive asset like that is going to hinder your defence, no matter what.
Instead, the Raptors made do by inserting Norman Powell into the starting lineup. That move instantly boosted their offence and has, once again, sparked the debate over whether or not Powell should remain a starter even when Anunoby returns given how much more productive Powell is in the starting unit than off the bench.
Odds are we’ll find out soon just what decision Nurse makes as all signs points towards Anunoby returning to the lineup Sunday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
[radioclip id=5061908]Playing too fast?
Another reason for the Raptors’ poor defence could be because they’re playing a little too fast for their own good.
Toronto is a team that wants to get out in transition and score easy buckets that way, but playing that style invites track-meet type games where you’re going to see extremely high-scoring contests like the ones we saw the majority of the trip.
This is very eye-catching and can be fun to watch, but there is a toll to be paid for playing this run-and-gun style.
As you may have noticed, the only losses for the Raptors on this trip came on the second nights of back-to-backs when, after likely getting into their new city in the wee hours of the morning, they also were in all-out sprints offensively the nights before.
Toronto’s win against the Brooklyn Nets is one of the team’s best of the season — despite the strange circumstances surrounding Kevin Durant and the health and safety protocols — but the next night in Atlanta, fight as they did, they just ran out of gas down the stretch.
A similar thing happened in their Thursday loss to the Celtics. Sure, Boston got unexpectedly big nights from Payton Pritchard and Semi Ojeleye, but the three-point barrage the Raptors were bombarded with could be traced back to the fact they had tired legs from their masterful offensive showing against the Washington Wizards the night before. The effort and exertion needed to run those Celtics shooters off the line just wasn’t there with the team running on low battery.
The Raptors have obviously found success playing fast and this isn’t to say they should stop. But there’s always a price to pay.
Bembry’s emergence
The long, tough, energy-wing bench duo of Stanley Johnson and Yuta Watanabe looks to have become a trio.
While it took longer than most would’ve expected, it looks like DeAndre’ Bembry has figured out how to get onto the floor consistently for Nurse, and it’s been to the Raptors’ benefit.
He provides Toronto with another wing player who can defend multiple positions and play well enough to ensure that possible leads the starters build up won’t slip away when the second unit is in.
His offence still leaves quite a bit to be desired (a reason why a struggling guy like Terence Davis is likely still getting floor time) but, as we’ve seen in the past, Nurse values guys who can bring it on D, and Bembry has done that of late.
