The Raptors have a number of important decisions to make after falling 95-93 to a Pelicans squad coming off a 15-point loss to the 76ers and playing without superstar Anthony Davis and starting point guard Jrue Holiday.
One can only wait patiently for the Raptors to right the ship for so long. Dropping four of six on a tough western conference road swing was certainly nothing to panic about. DeMar was on the verge of recovery and a long, therapeutic home stand would give the Raptors plenty of opportunities to turn things around. The problem is that the 6-game homecoming hasn’t made things better; in fact, it’s made them worse. The Raptors — who are now 2-4 over their last six games and have lost seven of their last nine — aren’t simply slumping, they’re unraveling before our eyes.
Yesterday’s game was sort of a perfect microcosm of the problems that have plagued the Raptors of late. They’re not only failing to stop teams, they’re also struggling mightily to score. They scored a season low 14 points in the opening period on 5 of 19 shooting. The offense looked both stagnant and unsure of itself. Both teams got off to a sluggish start but instead of fixing the problem by moving the ball and working for high percentage shots at the basket, the Raptors largely stood around and watched as guys took turns going one-on-one and firing up threes. For the quarter the Raptors only took five shots in the paint, while going 1-of-8 from beyond the arc. On the other end of the court the Pelicans waited for Toronto’s defense to over rotate itself into yielding an open driving lane or an easy basket at the rim. 16 of their 22 first quarter shots were in the paint and seven of their ten made baskets were assisted.
The second quarter was a bit better offensively but the Raptors could not stop Tyreke Evans, who repeatedly got to the basket and finished with 13 points on five of six shooting for the quarter. The Raps went into halftime down 50-36, a season first half low.
Things went very well for the Raptors in the third quarter after they came alive defensively around the 8:40 mark. The Raps outscored the Pelicans 35-14 for the quarter, while forcing nine turnovers and shooting a scorching 63.6 percent from the field. Greivis Vasquez, whom Dwane Casey started in place of Terrence Ross to start the second half, was a huge burst of energy – finishing with eight points, four assists and two steals on the quarter.
It looked as though the Raptors were going to come away with a win as they had turned a 14-point deficit into a 12-point lead by the mid-way point of the fourth quarter but, alas, they found a way to lose. After extending the lead to start the quarter, the Pelicans went on a 9-0 run to put the game within two points with 3:13 to play. New Orleans then essentially relentlessly attacked the basket for the final three minutes of grind-it-out basketball. Casey opted to play Patterson over Valanciunas from the 3:13 to the 0:42 mark. During that stretch the Raps surrendered two lay ups from Pelican guards, an Asik dunk and a 5′ jump hook from Ajinca, while DeRozan kept the Raptors afloat with a jumper and a pair of free throws. After a missed Eric Gordon jumper deflected off of DeMar DeRozan’s hand out of bounds with 21.9 seconds to play, the Pelicans had the ball with the shot clock turned off under their own basket with the game tied at 93 for a final play. Everyone and their mother knew that the ball was going to be in Tyreke Evans’ hands for the final shot but for some strange reason Dwane Casey opted to have Greivis Vasquez guard him and things went as predicted. The Pelicans spread the floor as Evans dribbled down the clock at the top of the key before ultimately blowing by an isolated Vasquez for a driving layup with 1.6 seconds to play.
Thoughts:
- The Raptors were outscored 62 to 34 in the paint. The inability to stop guard penetration is a problem. The lack of front court length is a problem. The constant rotational breakdowns from a group of guys not built to play Dwane Casey’s style of defense is a problem.
- Terrence Ross was benched for the second half.
- Ajinca played the entire 4th quarter, scoring 10 points and going a perfect 4 of 4 from the field. Valanciunas played 2 minutes and 44 seconds.
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- Lowry really needs a game off. His defense was not good and he basically did nothing in the 4th quarter: 10:33 min, zero points, zero rebounds, 1 assist, zero steals, 0-2 FG.
- I hope we see a trade this week. It’s time. This is more than just a team slumping, it’s a team with some pretty serious holes that can’t all be solved internally. The Miles Plumlee and Wilson Chandler type talent available on the market isn’t going to magically solve all of the Raptors’ problems, but it’s a start.
- Games like this, lost in large part as a result of bad coaching down the stretch, are huge reason why I have little faith in Dwane Casey’s ability once the playoffs get here. I like him. I like this team. They’re kind, charismatic and loveable but something needs to change.
