Anunoby’s return brings questions
Raptors have their legs under them but will have to adjust to two more
The Raptors have been clawing and climbing back into the thick of the NBA Eastern Conference race, figuring it out as they go along with far more smooth stretches than rocky ones in the last couple of weeks.
They are, as coach Nick Nurse said, “trending upwards” as they regroup after an arduous but ultimately successful 4-2 six-game road trip.
The offence, a blip or two notwithstanding, has never operated with more quickness and efficiency this season than it has in the last 10 games or so.
The defence looks as frenetically good as perhaps possible, solid enough to keep them in many games, not the greatest but not the worst and that about sums up the team as whole.
The question now is if that upward trend — five wins in seven games — can continue, because the season never rests.
“(I) think we’re playing really good basketball,” Nurse said. “I think we weathered some storms.
“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.”
It is expected the Raptors will have forward OG Anunoby back in the lineup for Sunday’s game against Minnesota in Tampa and that presents as many questions as it does answers.
The Raptors are better when their best defensive player in is uniform, and Anunoby missing the last nine games with a calf strain has been disruptive to say the least. It has forced Nurse to go a bit deeper into the roster than he might have liked and, while DeAndre’ Bembry has provided solid help and Yuta Watanabe brings energy, Anunoby is vital to sustained success. He guards the best wing or frontcourt player on the opposing team each night, he’s a threat to knock down threepointers with regularity and his contribution cannot be denied.
His return, however, may not be perfectly seamless to start because there will be a readjustment period.
“We’re missing OG, so hopefully OG comes back and the guys ... readjust, but that’s part of NBA basketball, it’s part of the team,” guard Kyle Lowry said. “We’ve just got to continue to adjust and figure it out as we go.”
Nurse has given no indication how he will reconcile Norm Powell’s strong play as a starter with Anunoby’s return. He said very early in the season that the dynamic of the starting unit changes drastically if Powell and Anunoby are in it rather than just one of them. The shots Powell gets might not be there if Anunoby is on the court, and the Raptors will be ultra small if they decide to start both of them with Pascal Siakam, Low- ry and Fred VanVleet.
It’s a problem; perhaps a good problem but a problem nonetheless.
What the just completed road trip did, though, was wipe out some of the nasty taste of the 2-8 start to the season. The Raptors were never that bad but they were struggling to discover an identity.
“I got a kick out of everybody talking about Toronto’s downfall eight games into the season because (that wasn’t) going to last,” Boston coach Brad Stevens said. “They’re too good, they’re too well coached, they’ve got too good of an environment.
“It’s just, they’re a winning organization.”
One that seems to have found its collective legs.
“The ball gets ready to go Sunday, we’re going to have to start competing again,” Nurse said. “But I think we’re OK, we’re getting in shape, getting our feet under us, and I think we’re trending upwards, we’re OK.”