Raptors in need of a quick fix

MONTH OF LOSSES

RYAN WOLSTAT TORONTO • Unless the Toronto Raptors fix the poor defence and shaky shooting soon, January is going to end up being a strange month for a club that has grown accustomed to piling up victories.

Toronto was just 6-7 in January ahead of Wednesday’s game in Memphis. Three home dates remain in the month, against Milwaukee, Orlando and New Orleans.

Earlier this season, despite facing one of the NBA’s toughest schedules, the Raptors went 12-6 in October/November, 10-4 in December and had not finished a month under .500 since March 2015 (7-8), which was coincidentally the last time a Raptors team dropped four straight until Tuesday’s home loss to San Antonio.

That early 2015 stretch saw the Raptors lose 9-of-10, a warning sign of what was to come in the postseason, when the Washington Wizards steamrolled the outclassed group in four straight.

Head coach Dwane Casey was happy to see his team come to Tuesday’s shootaround in “a bad mood, teed off and upset,” but that demeanour didn’t show itself in the game against the Spurs until the second half.

“Losing DeMar (DeRozan to an ankle injury) didn’t help ... it’s edgy, which it should be. I don’t want guys to be happy losing. Hopefully, we’re setting a standard of expectations that you don’t lose three, four, five, six, whatever it is,” he said. “You’ve got to build those expectations and have those expectations of yourself and of your teammates to bounce out of it.”

After leading the league in offensive efficiency at just north of 114 points scored per 100 possessions in November and December (stats via NBA.com), the offence has dipped by just over five points per 100 possessions this month, only the 10th-best mark in the NBA. A significant drop in three-point accuracy (40 per cent over the previous two months, to just 34.3 per cent in January), fewer assists and more turnovers have been the main culprits on that end.

The dip at the other end has been more troubling. Toronto’s defensive efficiency this month ranked just 20th before Wednesday’s game and the point differential has been nearly even. Opponents have been shooting significantly better on three-pointers this month (38.9 per cent vs. 36 per cent in November and 34 per cent in December) and are getting to the free throw line far more often (26.6 attempts after only 20.4 attempts in December), obvious signs of defensive stagnation.

“Everyone goes through it, you see Cleveland going through it,” Casey said. “We control what we control. This is a time of year that’s difficult for everybody. The mental toughness that you need to have at this time of year is so important. We’re trying to maintain a level of play so that we are still relevant and stay toward the top of the East.”

The offence will come around, but to fulfil Casey’s hopes, the de- fence must get better.

There were signs of that happening against San Antonio, and forward Patrick Patterson offered assurance there is no panic in the locker-room.

“I don’t think there is any real concern,” Patterson said.

“It’s still early. We are at the halfway point so we still need to get back everyone healthy, focus more on our defence, but we’ll be fine.”

It’s a small thing, but avoiding a rare losing month would be a good start to getting back to being a winning outfit. MORGANSTEIN, Saul 2:30 Pardes Shalom Cemetery. GIBSON, Beryl 1:00 Pardes Shalom Cemetery. * See www.hebrewbasicburial.ca for shiva times