Like many Raptors fans, that’s about as good as I’ve felt after a loss this season. On a back to back in San Antonio, where the Spurs haven’t lost all year, the Toronto Raptors fell short by a final score of 102-95 last night at the AT&T Center. Yes, there were some areas that could’ve been cleaned up, but the loss must be put in perspective given all of the positives that were exhibited.
On the back to back, Coach Casey made the wise choice to rest both Lowry and DeRozan, which not only provides some much needed recovery time for the Raps’ two best players, but it also challenges the rest of the team to step up – especially those who aren’t normally tasked with any significant minutes or responsibility. And last night, that challenge was accepted by the Raptors as a balanced attack from Cory Joseph, Patrick Patterson, Jonas Valanciunas, TRoss, Delon Wright, and Norman Powell propelled the Raps throughout the contest as they matched the Spurs punch for punch. And though San Antonio had the slight edge and ultimately retained their lead for the victory, it certainly didn’t come easy, and surprisingly, it took virtually their full strength to achieve it.
Gregg Popovich is known for a lot of things, but perhaps one of his weirdest tendencies is his minute-management, which while effective and shrewd in most instances, perplexes even the most devoted Spurs fan. While the members of the elder “big three” of San Antonio were all utilized for under 30 minutes, Kawhi Leonard played more than 40 minutes, and LaMarcus Aldrige clocked 38. That’s not bad at all for the Raptors, who hung in against the Spurs and seemed to fight back after every Spurs mini run.
And what’s even more impressive was the way the Raps were doing all of this – without the services of Lowry and DeRozan, the Raps relied heavily on point guards Cory Joseph and Delon Wright to create both off of the dribble and off of the pick and roll to generate the offense. While San Antonio’s prolific defense suffocated the Raps for pockets throughout the game, it wasn’t the primary reason for the loss. The Raps were outrebounded 47-32, and 15-6 on the offensive glass. That meant more possessions for the Spurs, who were held to 45% shooting (the Raps finished above 50% for the game). The Spurs got all-star contributions from Aldridge and Leonard who combined for 64 points (Kawhi flirted with a triple-double, and Aldridge had 15 boards). It took all that and more to beat the Raptors, minus Lowry and DeRozan, by 7 points…at home. Not bad at all for Toronto.
As we continue to see Norman Powell blossom into a fixture in this Raptors rotation, it’s becoming more and more impressive given Powell’s improved confidence shooting the ball, the poise he’s shown on both ends of the floor, and the energy with which he seems to play the game. That’s got to be big for Dwane Casey heading into the playoffs in light of news on DeMarre Caroll, who while insists he will be good to go soon, in reality, may be a shell of himself in the playoffs.
https://youtu.be/vwcpp–bADw
Delon Wright was also very impressive in his 22 minutes of action, going 5/8 from the field for 12 points to go along with 3 dimes and 4 boards. What intrigues me most about Wright’s game is his size and length that he brings to the point guard position for the Raptors. As a 6’5’’ point guard with an over 6’7’’ wingspan, Wright offers a unique combination of size and quickness at the point, perfectly complimented with a sick handle. The calmness shown by Wright shows a maturity level we’d expect from a senior out of college, and I genuinely see this guy as a starting point guard one day in this league.
JV continued his strong play inside in the first quarter with a couple of quick touches and confident post moves. Valanciunas finished the contest with 16 points and 6 boards, but didn’t see the ball as much as Dwane Casey would’ve liked, in the second half. With the position he was getting, I would’ve dumped the ball down low to JV 2 or 3 times every 5 possessions, but the inside game seemed to fade away for the Raptors in the third quarter.
Coming into the game, San Antonio had beat every other team in the league, except Toronto. And given all the circumstances – on a back to back, without your 2 best players, on the road against the best home team (and quite possibly the best team) in the NBA playing at full strength – this was impressive.
The Raps look to bounce back and get a win against the Charlotte Hornets, the surging force in the eastern conference that have risen all the way to 3rd in the standings (and climbing). With the way things are going, the Raptors could easily meet Charlotte (or Atlanta, Miami, Boston) in the first round, so meetings such as these are going to be important both from a confidence and game-planning perspective. At home, I’ll pick the Raps to take care of business similar to the Hawks game we saw last Wednesday. Tip time Tuesday at the ACC is 7:30 pm.
