That this Los Angeles Lakers team, who feature only a couple of legitimate NBA players, led the Toronto Raptors at half tells you all that you need to know about this team’s recent form. After 24 minutes, the Raptors punched in and ran away with the game, winning 94-83.
It is simply pointless and torturing to rehash the laundry list of what ails the Raptors at this point, so let’s skip that part. The reasons Toronto has struggled recently are the same reasons Toronto struggled tonight. These issues are not changing and they are self-inflicted. That’s why you see objectively terrible teams give the Raptors fit.
There is just nothing left to say about this team. The 2014-15 Raptors regular season (and really, the season as a whole) is a race horse with a broken leg; someone must go behind the barn and put it to bed. It serves no purpose anymore.
Dwane Casey, the much-maligned head coach of the Toronto Raptors, believes the season still has a purpose. Before the game, Casey told reporters that “one game will help, a few games will help more,” speaking about the Raptors troubles, namely rebounding and defence. Against the Lakers, the Raptors did not make any steps in righting the ship, so Casey will have to wait until the next game to get any “help.”
Tonight, the Raptors just needed to show up. They did that in the second half, blew out the Lakers and gave us two Bruno turnovers. But for my own sanity, I will just focus on the positives from this meaningless game.
First, James Johnson deserves credit for waking the Raptors up. As it turns out, Toronto is really good when James Johnson is on the court. They are even better when he plays at home. Prior to tonight, JJ has a Net Rating of +15 at home and, curiously, a Net Rating on +1 on the road. Johnson finished 7-10 for 17 points, along with six boards and three assists. A word on his playing time, though. I get it, his usage is puzzling and frustrating. But let’s just relax and attempt to understand that we do not know everything that happens behind the scenes. Based on the collective fanbase knowledge, it makes zero sense that James Johnson doesn’t play more. Maybe there’s something we aren’t and will never be privy to that causes his minutes to fluctuate. It is time for us to stop focusing on this storyline because we will not get an answer, the Raptors will not share the information with us.
Speaking of sharing, Toronto did that with the basketball tonight. 25 assists on 36 made field goals is a welcome change. DeMar DeRozan recognized that it wasn’t his night and took play-making initiative. He’s been passing well in light of the infamous Steve Kerr white board note on DD. For the uninitiated, Kerr told his Golden State Warriors DeRozan doesn’t pass, and they baited him into bad plays in the blowout.
Another positive was Jonas Valanciunas, who led the team in scoring tonight. 19 points on 8-12 shooting is good, of course, but kind of disconcerting. If he was so effective, why not feed the Lithuanian beast more? So it goes, I guess. JV’s development has not gone according to plan, but Toronto’s plan has not really worked for Valanciunas either. You should not expect a plant to grow when you do not put it in the sun. In the final nine games, maybe Toronto should consider a JV-first offence for more than just the first quarter.
With original owner John Bitove and other founders in the crowd, Toronto secured their second Atlantic Division title in as many years. This time around, it is not a cause for celebration as the expectations have been raised. An Atlantic crown was bound to happen. But anything beyond the playoff series that comes with the division win is an unknown and unlikely. A first-round win isn’t guaranteed; media and fans alike have written of that possibility. After tonight’s lackadaisical first half against the bottomfeeder Los Angeles Lakers, it is hard not to nod in agreement with the cynicism.
