FIRST-PLACE RAPTORS SEEK CONSISTENCY
LINEUP CHANGES HAVE BEEN A NEAR CONSTANT THIS SEASON
Nobody asked Nick Nurse what was on his Christmas wish list, but you could easily predict a request to be found near the top: An opportunity to run out his preferred starting lineup night in and night out.
Whether it has been Kawhi Leonard battling a couple of ailments or being rested for parts of back-toback sets, or back and thigh issues pulling Kyle Lowry away from the fray, Nurse and his staff have seldom been able to expect to have both of the team’s all-stars available consistently, especially lately.
Leonard and Lowry have only been in the lineup together for four of the 12 Raptors games this month, though the expectation ahead of a late Christmas practice was that both would be on the floor to face the Heat on Boxing Day in Miami.
Rotating starting centres Serge Ibaka and Jonas Valanicunas have also been banged up, with Valanciunas still out for a while due to his thumb injury. Only shooting guard Danny Green and Pascal Siakam have been good to go just about every night.
Toronto has been amongst the league leaders in fewest man games lost to injury for a number of seasons now, so it was easy to get used to the nightly rotations seldom changing. This year has obviously forced the group to adapt.
Toronto has not started the same five in consecutive games since Dec. 11-12 and the team has already used 13 different starting combinations compared to 12 all of last season.
Nearly everyone on the roster has started at least once, not that the NBA-best 25-10 record Toronto takes into its date with Miami indicates the absences have been debilitating. It’s simply been a change from what came before.
“It’s different,” point guard Fred VanVleet told Postmedia after the team lost to the Sixers last week.
“We haven’t had this in a while it seems like, so to deal with it all at once now has been a little different to deal with. But let’s get them all out of the way now and finish up the year strong,” he said with a grin.
“It’s tough, but that’s the NBA man, we’re all professionals, we’re expected to go out there and do our jobs. It’s been a challenge, it’s been a good challenge to try to just go out there and figure it out.”
The lack of on-court and practice continuity has made it more difficult for the coaching staff to teach its preferred groups the defensive strategies it is looking to see implemented. If the team’s health holds up, it stands to reason the defence, which hasn’t been a major problem by any means, should only improve.
The same could be said of the chemistry between Leonard and Lowry, which remains a work in progress.
At times Lowry has been too passive when Leonard is playing, perhaps because Leonard is capable of piling up points against any opponent.
There have also been times with Leonard out that the offence has become more free-flowing, with good shots turned down for better ones. Again, not having the crutch of Leonard’s offensive prowess available might have something to do with that.
To get where they want to be come the playoffs, however, the Raptors will need each of the team’s pivotal players to be healthy and in sync with one another.
Nurse said last week that Leonard might finally be cleared to play back-tobacks. That would be a start.
If Lowry and Ibaka’s nagging injuries are finally behind them, the team can now start to build up some needed on-court chemistry.