Toronto has to turn the heat up
Raptors are still relying on too few for too much, and could use just a little bit more
Just more, a little bit more. A shooter who can consistently make a shot, someone to create something off the dribble, a passable backup or two who allow stars to get even a little rest.
Just a little bit more and the Raptors might be something special.
But as it is today, there’s just not enough — not enough depth, not enough help — to get them past good opponents on a regular basis.
Five guys played well Monday night, but Toronto struggled down the stretch and dropped a 104-99 decision to the Kyle Lowry-less Miami Heat. And with the NBA trade deadline less than a month away, that should give team president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster much food for thought. The Raptors have played three of the best teams in the league well over the last week, but losses to Phoenix and Miami underscore the need to add just a piece or two.
It was another delightful game Monday, intense and physical, but the Heat made just enough plays down the stretch. A PJ Tucker three-pointer sealed the deal with under 20 seconds left.
Fred VanVleet, with 22 points, Chris Boucher (21), Pascal Siakam (20), Scottie Barnes (16) and OG Anunoby (14) gave Toronto their bes,t but there was no one to make a couple of shots to put the Raptors over the top.
“I thought I had six guys, I wanted them all out there,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “I kind of wanted to keep Precious (Achiuwa) out there more in the fourth quarter but … (Boucher) was having a great game so I let him keep going.
“I don’t know, looking at the guys we played, if I can fault any of them for the way they played tonight, so I’m not saying I needed to try anyone else.”
The multitude of skills presented by the combination of VanVleet, Siakam and Anunoby are estimable and at the heart of what the Raptors want to do. They shoot, they dribble, they pass, they attack and they work in cohesion well enough to allow the Raptors to stay afloat most nights offensively.
Nurse said over the weekend that the team is “finding a lot of different areas” for them to attack opponents.
“You can see sometimes we’re doing it in the middle of the floor and sometimes we’re doing it on the side and sometimes we’re doing it in little passing and cutting thing between the three of them as well. We’re trying to create some matchups that they can take advantage of.”
But when they are slightly off, when they can’t create enough mismatches to make opponents play, it’s hard for Toronto to win.
There are certainly issues with the Raptors offence beyond what the three veterans give them. Toronto went into Monday’s games in the lower third of the league in threepoint shooting and points per game. The bench production has been virtually non-existent some nights. And with Gary Trent Jr. hampered by ankle swelling and Barnes levelling off after a torrid start, points come at a premium.
VanVleet, Siakam and Anunoby combine for 62.4 points per game, on average, which is almost 60 per cent of Toronto’s per-game output.
Boucher had a big night on Monday as he continues his torrid play, but Achiuwa only had six points and Justin Champagnie was scoreless in the nine minutes he played.
The return of Trent, and having him get back up to full speed, will add another dimension to Toronto’s offence. But it might be asking a lot to expect the main backups right now — Boucher, Champagnie, Yuta Watanabe and Svi Mykhailiuk — to suddenly become consistent shooters. Boucher can pile up points in the run of play, but he’s hardly a focal point on offence. The other three make shots every now and then but it’s VanVleet, Anunoby and Siakam who do the heavy lifting.
It’s Nurse who has to devise game plans each night to put those three in some combination of a two-man game that allows Toronto to survive.
It is also going to be up to Ujiri and Webster to find some way to bolster the roster in the next three weeks to give this group a chance to do something in the second half of the season.