TORONTO — With a nearly full menu to order from for the first time in nearly a month, Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse decided it was time to sample a little bit of everything when it came to making his lineup choices as his club was getting ready to host the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Options? He had options.
Two hours before the tip, the Raptors announced Pascal Siakam would return to the floor for the first time after missing 10 games with a groin injury. Also available? Scottie Barnes, who had missed two games with a knee strain, and Dalano Banton. who had missed three with an ankle injury. Even Justin Champagnie, who has been out most of the season with a back problem, was available.
Instead of putting together a team with duct tape and scraps of torn-up towels, Nurse could look into the closet and decide what outfit suited the occasion, and what fabric.
Nurse wasted no time in putting things in the blender a little bit. Not in the starting lineup Monday were Barnes and Gary Trent Jr., who have started 175 of the 176 regular season games they’ve been healthy for dating back to the start of last season. In their place were Thad Young, who has been brilliant in his five starts while the Raptors have been at their most short-handed, and Juancho Hernangomez, who has shown some flashes of his basketball savvy in the minutes he wasn’t getting before the wave of injury and illnesses hit.
But what mattered most, of course, was the return of Siakam, the all-NBA forward who leads the Raptors in scoring (24.8), rebounding (9.3) and assists (7.7).
Siakam was as expected in his first game back, which is to say, excellent. He managed 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in prescribed 30 minutes of action as Toronto pushed the streaking Cavs — winners of five of six coming in — with a 100-88 win.
If Siakam looking like his old self wasn’t enough, there were good news stories throughout the lineup, not the least of which was Toronto holding Cleveland to 37.8 per cent shooting and 7-of-38 from three for the night. Given the Raptors’ ability to defend shooters has been as much a story of the past month as their scoring woes, absent Siakam and others.
Toronto held the Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell to eight points, or 22 below his season average.
The changes Nurse made to the lineup all paid off. Young, as strong again starting as an undersized centre, chipped in 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 26 minutes, while Hernangomez didn’t look out of place with five points and six rebounds in 20 minutes.
The reinforced bench was essential also, with Trent Jr. and Barnes combining for 25 points and 11 rebounds. Toronto shot 44 per cent from the floor and broke out of its three-point shooting slump with a 12-of-28 night.
Toronto won their second straight and improved to 11-9 before heading out to New Orleans and Brooklyn for a pair this week. The third-place Cavaliers fell to 13-8.
It will be interesting what the medium-to-long-term effects of Nurse’s new-look lineup will be, or how he chooses to use what has proven to be a potentially very deep rotation after relying on his starters more than most in the NBA this season and last.
Factor in that the past month only one member of the Raptors projected top-eight in their rotation hadn’t missed time (and not to forget that two key pieces, Precious Achiuwa and Otto Porter Jr. remain out with ankle and foot problems, respectively) and Toronto has done well to hold its own in an Eastern Conference that is deeper and tougher because of improvements of teams like Cleveland, which has thrived with the addition of three-time all-star Donovan Mitchell in the off-season.
“I think staying afloat is probably a good term to use,” said Nurse before the game of the Raptors being able to go 5-5 since Siakam went down. “We probably did that OK. I can sit here and think of one half here against Brooklyn and one game at OKC where we didn’t play very well. Other than that, we played pretty good basketball and gave ourselves a chance in all the rest of them. We picked a few off, let one or two get away. Main thing is try to play good basketball and execute. Gotta be fairly happy with what guys did, for sure.”
But it’s nice to have horses. Any possibility the Raptors have of exceeding their finish from a season ago — 48 wins, a No. 5 seed and first-round playoff exit — relies on Siakam having a full season of brilliance, able supported by a deep, healthy and versatile lineup.
Siakam did his part from the jump, almost literally. He scored on a twisting floater on his first touch and drove the lane and pivoted into a jump hook a moment later. A few possessions after that, Siakam took the ball the length of the floor and got fouled taking it to the rim. There was another drive and dump-off to Christian Koloko that earned the rookie a pair of free throws.
OG Anunoby has been largely brilliant as the Raptors’ primary option on offence with Siakam out, but his three-point shooting (33 per cent) has suffered compared to his career average. Coincidence or not, the defensive stopper looked pretty comfortable stepping into a spot-up three in the first quarter.
Could having a little less responsibility with Siakam back help Anunoby’s efficiency going forward? It’s interesting to think about. He finished with 20 points on 13 shots.
And let’s not forget Trent Jr., who came off the bench and knocked down the first three he looked on his way to putting up six points in his 4:31 of first-quarter work as the Raptors led 26-24.
“I think we’re all aware that [Siakam] was creating a lot of faced-up, catch-and-shoot threes for guys,” said Nurse, whose team was ranked ninth in three-point shooting before Siakam was hurt and dead last since. “That’s kinda the best three to get and maybe we weren’t getting as many good looks or as rhythmic of looks, whatever.”
Siakam also has the ability to create for himself and it was on full display in the second quarter as he dropped a three from the corner and three straight pull-up jumpers to help the Raptors keep the Cavs at bay as Toronto led 52-43 at the half.
Encouragingly, there didn’t seem to be any trouble having everyone find their place at the table. Anunoby — who was again the centre piece in a defensive game plan that help an opposing star well below their season averages — found his offence. In the third quarter, first Barnes and then Siakam found him trailing in transition for easy, spot-up threes that he drained.
Trent Jr. looked like he had a little more edge to his game, such as when he picked the Cavs’ Cedi Osman’s pocket at halfcourt and hit a streaking Barnes for a lay-up. It was one of several hustle plays Trent Jr. made, and he moved the ball willingly too. Combine those qualities with the return of his jumper — he hit two triples in five attempts — and he’ll be a perfect focal point for an amped-up Raptors bench unit or be back starting soon enough.
Toronto took an 80-67 lead into the fourth quarter and didn’t let up, as Nurse was able to keep rolling out fresh talent for every situation. When VanVleet (13 points, 3-of-6 from three) broke down the Cavs’ Raul Neto off the dribble and hit a deep pull-up three, the Raptors were up 17 with three minutes to play, all the cushion they would need.
It’s one game and anything can happen — the Raptors’ first quarter of the season has shown that pretty convincingly — but with some semblance of health Toronto looks like a team ready to build some momentum in a season that has been missing just that.
