Not to sound like a broken record, but the Toronto Raptors are still searching for some level of consistently strong play.
The Raptors’ up-and-down play is perfectly encapsulated by the team’s 5-5 record over their last 10 games, but in their more immediate history, this team has lost three straight and has been trending downward after a stretch that saw it win five of six to bring the club’s record to 7-9.
No doubt, it’s been frustrating to watch the Raptors slowly climb their way up the mountain back to a .500 record, only to slip up again and take a tumble a few feet back down. But given how wide open the Eastern Conference is, the prospect of just pulling the cord on the season isn’t all that clear yet so, while tough decisions like that one will have to be made in the future, this team may as well continue trying to get back to what it used to be.
This journey resumes Sunday evening at 7:00 p.m. ET on Sportsnet Ontario and Sportsnet One when the Raptors open a two-game set at home with the Orlando Magic.
Here’s a look at three things to watch during the game.
Size issues
The Raptors’ personnel is what it is, which is to say it’s mainly comprised of guards and wings with the only real big men to speak of on the roster being Aron Baynes and Chris Boucher.
Toronto head coach Nick Nurse is trying to make the most of what he’s got to work with, playing small for the majority of minutes in games these days, but without a true, starter-level big man who has the strength and bulk to go along with the length — something Boucher, unfortunately, lacks at times — there’s no doubt the Raptors will run into trouble against teams with talented old-school bruisers.
This was evidenced on Friday night when Hassan Whiteside bullied the Raptors frontcourt for 16 points and nine rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting in just 20 minutes of action off the bench. And coming into Sunday’s game against the Magic and their big-man duo of Nikola Vucevic and Canadian Khem Birch, the Raptors will have their hands full trying to prevent these guys from doing whatever they want in the paint.
Vucevic, in particular, will be problematic for Toronto. A one-time all-star, Vucevic is enjoying another strong campaign statistically, averaging 23 points and 10.7 assists per game while shooting 48.7 per cent from the field and, as a slightly newer addition to his game this season, a lights-out 44.6 per cent from three-point range on over six attempts per game from that range.
In the past, the Raptors had Marc Gasol, who could easily erase Vucevic’s presence from a game, but without him, Toronto will have its hands full.
More Johnson, Watanabe and Bembry?
In Friday’s game against the Kings, the Raptors were able to stage a spirited comeback attempt in the fourth quarter thanks largely to the defensive efforts of players like Stanley Johnson, Yuta Watanabe and DeAndre’ Bembry.
Watanabe, in particular, was fabulous, playing hard-nosed defence, coming down with big rebounds and scoring seven of his career-high 12 points in the fourth quarter alone.
Watanabe and Johnson have been used more than Bembry, but it’s likely that all three will be needed against Orlando on Sunday at least as much as they were used Friday, and maybe more.
OG Anunoby will once again miss Sunday’s contest as he deals with a calf issue, and Norman Powell is “doubtful” with a quad injury, meaning there’s a lot of minutes to be had at the wing on the Raptors, and even though players like Matt Thomas and Terence Davis are better offensively, Johnson, Watanabe and Bembry offer more size, length and just plain better defence, something that Nurse values above all else.
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Struggling Magic
After a magnificent 6-2 start to their season, the Magic have taken a nosedive, having lost 10 of their last 12 games and sporting a horrendous minus-13.2 net rating over that period.
Orlando has been ravaged by injury, most notably the losses of Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz for the season. As a result, though it took longer than expected, the Magic are expected to be bad.
Sure, there are some bright spots to be found on the roster, such as rookie point guard Cole Anthony and the emergence of Aaron Gordon’s playmaking (he leads Orlando in assists this season) but outside of that, things have been bleak with the Magic.
This is something the Raptors need to take advantage of. They were unable to get the job done against a lesser opponent in Sacramento on Friday, but will have two cracks against Orlando to help rebuild some confidence Sunday and Tuesday.
