Raps
Yesterday at 11:26 PM
The Toronto Raptors have lost in a wide variety of ways this season.
Monday night in Madison Square Garden was the triple-whammy of a red-hot home team, potentially the distraction of the holiday season and most certainly the inevitability of the schedule: The New York Knicks were at home in their own beds Sunday night, rested after a blowout win over New Orleans in the Big Easy Saturday, while the Raptors were taking it to the wire in a loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday night.
It's not an excuse, but playing a talented team with a rest advantage on their home court is often a recipe for a blowout loss, though the 139-125 final in favour of the Knicks didn't fully reflect the gap between the two teams.
That's what the Raptors will have to reflect on for a couple of days as a 29-8 run by the Knicks in the second quarter busted open a tie game and allowed the Knicks to go up by 18 at half. They never looked back.
Doing more than his share of damage was former Raptor OG Anunoby, who made his first 12 shots on his way to a game-high 31 points on 13-of-15 shooting against his old club. Anunoby was a big reason the Knicks converted 59.3 per cent of their shots from the floor, though Karl-Anthony Towns going for 31-10-7 on 11-of-15 shooting was also a factor for the NBA's top-ranked offense.
New York won for the 14th time in 18 starts to improve to 19-10 as they stand third in the East. The Raptors, who were missing Jakob Poeltl (groin) and are still waiting for Immanuel Quickley (elbow) and Bruce Brown (knee) to return got 24 points, three rebounds and eight assists from Scottie Barnes and 23 points, six rebounds and six assists from RJ Barrett, but have now lost eight straight, their longest streak of the season and are 7-23 on the season.
The Raptors have no choice but to look forward, so instead of takeaways, some giveaways: With Christmas coming, here are five things the Raptors and Raptors fans might hope to get in their stocking before the season is out.
Some late-game success for Darko Rajakovic
It's not winning and losing that matters so much this season as the process, but all the same, the Raptors could use some success in all these close games they're playing.
Heading into Monday the Raptors had 16 games end up in a 'clutch' situations, where they were ahead or behind by five points or less in the final five minutes of a game. That in itself is a triumph for a team that has won only seven times this season.
Among the lottery or bust crowd, for example, the Washington Wizards have only had eight 'close' games this; same as the Utah Jazz. The Portland Trail Blazers have had 12. Even the over-achieving Brooklyn Nets have had only had 14. But the Raptors are 4-12 in those close games, giving them the worst 'clutch' winning percentage and the most 'clutch' losses.
Heading into the Christmas season, maybe let's give the man some reliable combinations of his best players being available, a little better judgement on his use of coaches' challenges, and some better late-game execution overall. The Raptors are just about league average defensively in close games, allowing 112.9 points per 100 possessions, which is actually better than their defence overall (114.9, which is 23rd). But offensively they are a hot mess, mustering just 102.2 points per 100 possessions, meaning Toronto turns every opponent into the league-leading Oklahoma Thunder's defence in the final minutes of close games. There's no specific short-coming, it's just a bit of everything: The Raptors turn it over more and shoot it worse in the clutch than in the other 43 minutes of the game.
More minutes for Jamal Shead
With Davion Mitchell back in the lineup against the Knicks after missing the previous two games with a shoulder issue, it was going to be a good opportunity to see what the organization's plans are for Shead's minutes going forward, especially with Immanuel Quickley's return getting closer.
That Shead was a late scratch with a sore knee scuttled that. Mitchell brings one very special skill to a team: He's an on-ball terror who routinely screws up the best ball-handlers in the sport.
But even with all the opportunity he's had this season in Toronto — as many starts (13) through 28 games than in the past two seasons combined in Sacramento and a jump in minutes from a career-low 15.3 last year to 26.8 this season — Mitchell's offence hasn't come, although he did contribute five points and three assists in 12 minutes against New York.
Mitchell is shooting a career-low 39.8 per cent from the floor 29.3 per cent from three. Given Shead's defense is impressive also and Mitchell is a pending free agent, it makes sense to me that Shead gets more chances to learn and grow. There's certainly reason for optimism: prior to Monday night Shead has averaged 7.8 points, 5.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 21 minutes a game, while shooting 56.5 per cent from the floor and 45.5 per cent from three. Let's just hope that Shead's knee problem is short-lived, and he resumes his strong run of play.
A nice, extended run of good health for Scottie Barnes
Since appearing in the All-Star Game last season, Barnes has played just 22 games, his progress interrupted by three different injuries, and that's not including the time he missed in training camp and the exhibition season in October due to personal reasons.
Given what the Raptors are expecting of him – play point guard on offence, centre (often) on defence as he did at times against Towns and everything else in between, while improving as a ball-handler and a three-point threat — he needs all the reps he can get.
He's shown signs — in a 10-game stretch before his recent ankle injury, Barnes averaged 21.1 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.0 assists with reasonable efficiency (46.1/32.9 from the field and from three, respectively) and the Raptors got four of their seven wins. Barnes looked little more himself against the Knicks, but he was still clearly favouring his right ankle. Hopefully, that passes soon.
It's probably too late for Barnes to make a run at All-Star and making All-NBA on a lottery-bound team is unlikely also. But a strong run of 50 or so games from here on in can set Barnes up for seasons to come.
Better situational awareness
It's been a problem all season for a Raptors team that has been competitive but ultimately not good enough on so many nights: Too many guys falling asleep too often.
As the Knicks were beginning to put some distance on the Raptors in the second quarter with what was then a 13-2 run, Gradey Dick took a tough, contested three over Anunoby that spilled out. Ja'Kobe Walter made a nice effort to crash the offensive boards but had no chance with Towns and Josh Hart – two of the best rebounders in the league – zeroing in on the ball.
But even as the ball came off the rim, Dick was hanging around hoping for what, Walter to somehow win that battle? In the meantime Anunoby had leaked out and by the time Dick got back in transition, Anunoby had Dick locked up at the Raptors foul line, leaving all kinds of room for Hart to throw the lob from half-court for the easy dunk.
It's a cherry-picked example, to be sure, but there are so many to choose from. A moment later Dick lost track of a red-hot Cam Payne when he was standing behind him on the three-point line and Payne made him pay.
Cutting down on fouls — opponents shoot 27.6 free throws per game against the Raptors, the most in the NBA — and trimming back turnovers (Raptors are 24th in turnover percentage) offer a relatively simple path to improvement, but it starts with being aware of what is happening in front of you more often.
Some strategic calf strains in March and April
To this point, the Raptors have had a fairly charmed path to the second-most losses in the NBA at Christmas. A very difficult schedule and lots of injuries have made the losing go down a little bit easier.
You can see glimpses of a reasonably competitive team when — if — they ever get fully healthy. But the schedule remains testing for weeks to come. Consider that the Raptors bookend their Christmas break with road games at New York and Memphis. They spend New Years Eve in Boston. The Hawks are emerging as one of the most intriguing teams in the East, and the Raptors play them three times by Jan. 25.
But look ahead to March 7, the 62-game mark. From there through the end of the season the Raptors play Utah twice, the Wizards three times, Portland twice, Brooklyn twice and Charlotte twice. It will be hard games to lose, given their opponents are deeply committed to gathering lottery balls. It would be a shame for Toronto to go through so many tough losses and fumble the ball with meaningless wins over ghost teams in the final quarter of the season.
Winning takes tremendous commitment in the NBA, but losing does also, and maybe a calf strain or two.
