Obviously there isn’t a lot to take away from this game – losses don’t count when Kyle Lowry sits because he’s the core of everything they do and the one truly dominant player on the roster. The Raptors rely on him more than other good teams rely on their best player and whether you want to blame coaching or just say the players just aren’t good enough – or both – it’s become very clear that this supporting cast is hopeless without him out there for an extended period of time. His absence exposes the fact that Cory Joseph isn’t really much of a facilitator on offense and as much as he’s improved his ball-handling and passing DeMar DeRozan will always look to put the ball in the basket first so the offense grinds to a halt unless Delon Wright is making things happen or Jonas Valanciunas is drawing attention in the post.
The one thing I will take away from this game is continued admiration for the Raptors determination. They were within striking distance for most of the game despite missing two of their highest impact players in Lowry and Patrick Patterson, which also left them with but two legitimate outside threats in Terrence Ross and Luis Scola. When you’re down a superstar and your best glue guy and left with no real possibility of proper NBA spacing, getting blown out would be completely understandable. Instead the Raptors put in work on both ends of the floor, hustling on defense and making up for their lack of shooting with a great offensive rebounding performance. I feel like a win was possible even without Lowry or Patterson but with Valanciunas not in game shape due to his injury vacation and the rest of the team having trouble generating any offense it just wasn’t in the cards this time.
The loss allowed the Cleveland Cavaliers to put a little distance between themselves and the Raptors but otherwise it had no real impact on the team. They’re still comfortably ahead of every team behind them and aren’t really worried about playoff seedings, content to let the teams below them jockey for position while they get their players ready for what will hopefully be a deep playoff run.
That $@#* I Like
Delon Wright, Positive Impact Player – the sample size is obviously tiny but he’s been a huge positive over the last two games, with his on/off rating coming in at a very healthy +25 points per 100 possessions. We can’t get carried away and tout him as a future all-star or anything like that but he’s made obvious progress since the start of the season. He’s learned how to use his change of pace to get inside the defense and while he still needs to learn when to pass and when to shoot – and what kind of pass to throw when he dishes the ball – getting into the heart of the defense is the first step toward becoming a good NBA point guard and he’s demonstrated that ability as an injury replacement in each of the last two games. If he had a little more veteran savvy and understood what kind of passes Bismack Biyombo can and cannot catch the Raptors may very well have come away with a victory last night. He seemed to be the most effective option on Isaiah Thomas, using his length to bother the diminutive guard – this is significant because at times we’ve seen similar defensive potential in youngsters Norman Powell and Bebe Nogueira at the NBA level and last years project pick has the kind of wingspan that makes it difficult not to be effective so long as you’re engaged. The Raptors may have the makings of a great defensive team in the pipeline right now and seem to be doing a very good job with their development.
The Return of Jonas Valanciunas – Per the Toronto Sun’s Ryan Wolstat he’s not quite in game shape after his short injury vacation so his night was cut a little short by fatigue but he had an impressive showing. He let Jared Sullinger free for some early jumpers but those are honestly shots that you’re begging the Celtics to take because Sullinger hits 41% of his midrange shots and 27% of his threes. Sullinger is average at best anywhere but the rim so if he wants to take those shots then he should be encouraged to do so. Valanciunas had a solid overall offensive performance: scoring efficiently, crashing the offensive glass and – perhaps most importantly – reading double teams and making the correct pass. With the Raptors having little in the way of shooting and a very stationary offensive system the Celtics were doubling the ball on the regular and he did a very good job of handling those double teams. He was their most consistent offensive weapon and it’s not a coincidence that the Celtics pulled away after he was shut down for the night. The Raptors will need him for the playoffs so it’s nice to see him back and healthy.
That $@%# I Don’t Like
DeMar DeRozan’s Hustle – I can excuse a bad offensive showing on a night where almost all of the Raptors shooters are out of the lineup, I can even accept the constant complaining to refs and dawdling a bit before running back on defense after trying to draw a foul but I just can’t accept defensive lapses when his shorthanded team is trying to lock in or grabbing zero rebounds while everyone else is hustling and trying to grind out a victory. He’s supposed to be one of the veteran leaders, one of the consummate pros who never stops working at improving his game so I can’t stand watching a game and feeling like he didn’t leave it all on the floor. This game really magnified his limitations as a player – he has trouble impacting the game in a meaningful way if he’s not surrounded by shooters because driving is more or less the only way he can generate points. The Celtics did a great job of making sure he didn’t get many straight line drives to the rim and limited his momentum so he couldn’t attack the rim at full speed and it worked. Fortunately for the Raptors that won’t be as easy to do when they have their full complement of shooters back in the lineup, but DeRozan would still be much more valuable as a player and the game would come so much easier for him if he could shoot curling off screens. Regardless, this was one of those games where the Raptors needed consistent focus and effort from everybody and they didn’t seem to get that from their star guard last night.
That Mother****ing Valanciunas Pump Fake – Watching him pump fake three times before taking a jump shot is really annoying and sometimes that pump fake gives away his advantage by allowing his defender to settle in. Recently he’s surprised defenses by taking some quick turnaround jump shots so there is some real progress there but more often than not his back down or face up moves are preceded by that shot fake. It’s probably more muscle memory than anything, just a part of his rhythm as he goes into his moves and he’s obviously working at reducing the frequency of these fakes but I’m still annoyed by them. It’s a shame that he relies on them so heavily because he has a pretty convincing fake, teams just know that he’s going to take that shot about 10% of the time so it doesn’t work as often as it could. When that pump fake is replaced by a quick jumper, maybe preceded by a jab step or two, that fake will become much more effective. But that day is clearly not coming any time soon so we’re left watching him pump pump.
Like I said, this game was pretty inconsequential so there isn’t a lot to take away from it. It would have been nice for the Raptors to win and avoid backing into the playoffs but the Chicago loss clinched the playoff spot for them regardless. Their focus, as it should be, is on getting their key players healthy and ready to go for the playoffs. As of now it’s not certain if DeMarre Carroll will be cleared to return for the postseason – it’s definitely the plan but the end of the season is getting close and he still hasn’t been cleared for full contact practice let alone games. With Carroll’s status up in the air the Raptors should be even more cautious with the likes of Lowry and Patterson as their shooting becomes that much more valuable with Carroll still on the sidelines. After a quick day for rest the Raptors road trip continues with a stop in Houston, where a hopefully full strength(minus Carroll) Raptors squad tries to shake off this loss and notch win 49 for the second year in a row.
