After winning title, Toronto has lost its way
The Toronto Raptors’ lineup is filled with talent: former All-Star Fred VanVleet, reigning Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes, defensive ace OG Anunoby, and polished scorer Pascal Siakam.
Yet, the Raptors will need two wins in the play-in tournament just to earn the eighth seed and the right to meet the juggernaut Bucks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
It wasn’t supposed to work out this way. The Raptors were considered a rising team with a bunch of young, physical wing defenders, plus shooters VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr.
Toronto has been ghastly offensively, ranking 26th in the NBA in field goal percentage, 23rd in points per game, and 28th in 3-point percentage. In a league in which teams that shoot the 3pointer the best generally win, Toronto is drowning.
The Raptors missed 27 of their 33 3point attempts in Wednesday’s loss to the Celtics. VanVleet, whose impending free agency has perhaps affected the team’s psyche, missed 11 of 12.
Coach Nick Nurse, who led the club to its first NBA championship with Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry in
2019, told reporters in Philadelphia that he will contemplate his future after the season. The Raptors are the league’s most puzzling team. League observers can’t unravel why they have underachieved so much.
Before the Raptors arrived in Boston for the two-game series against the Celtics, they had won 16 of 25 games to reach one game above .500. They were emerging as a potentially dangerous postseason team, and then they looked completely inept against the Celtics.
Nurse isn’t speaking like a coach in his final days, but he does appear befuddled about why things have descended so quickly.
He did feel positive about the team’s direction — but that was before the first game in Boston.
“Our guys have been really focused and good and I think the connection is getting stronger all the time,” Nurse said before Wednesday’s game. “They’re playing at both ends. I think they’re trying to get the ball where it needs to do on offense.
“I just think we’re trying to continue to play to our potential and to play better. For us, we understand we’re a hardworking, defense-first team. You call it playoff mentality, well that’s what we’ve got to be every night of the year. If we do that we’ve got a chance to beat anybody. We understand that, too.”
In past years, the personable Nurse has taken his team into TD Garden during the early season and carried a quiet confidence about his team. The Raptors are a team nobody talks about. They don’t make many national television appearances because of their location. Their players aren’t household names and Nurse embraced that underdog mentality, especially in 2019 when they made their improbable run to the championship.
Since that title, the Raptors lost to the Celtics in seven games in the bubble, went into rebuild mode in 2020-21 that enabled them to draft Barnes fourth overall, and then lost to the
76ers in the first round. They were supposed to take a major step forward this season.
“I think we have played a lot better basketball [of late],” Nurse said. “Listen, we had a span of 15 games that I don’t want to even think about. Since Feb. 1, we’ve played solid ball, at times really good. Our defensive numbers have shown we have been really good as well. I think it’s a pretty good indicator of connection and chemistry and how you’re playing.
“For us to really hit another level, I think our shot-making still has to get a little better. We’re creating good shots for guys who are good historical shooters. We still have some room to go up. That’s probably our area to get better and we’ve got to stay healthy.”
The Raptors will host Chicago on Wednesday in the play-in game and, if they win, will face the Miami-Atlanta loser Friday for the eighth seed.