Raptors 96, Heat 87| Box Score | Quick Reaction | Reaction Podcast
“Just when you think you have all the answers, I change the questions.” – ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper
The Toronto Raptors haven’t quite opened their 2016-17 campaign changing questions, and the sample’s still too small for definitive answers. They sure developing a penchant for shifting the talking points around the team, though, twisting concerns into non-factors. Friday’s 96-87 victory over the Miami Heat pushes them to a 4-1 start, and while the competition has been light and home-heavy, they can only beat the team’s put in front of the, and the means of victory have gone some distance toward quelling fears about this installment of the Raptors.
Frontcourt depth is going to be an issue in the wake of the Jared Sullinger injury? Pascal Siakam and Jakob Poeltl have mostly hit the ground running, flashing more than was expected in the short-term, and Sullinger wheeling around the locker room or practice facility has quickly become a favorite running gag around the team. Siakam’s energy in transition led to a pair of easy buckets, and Poeltl’s presence in pick-and-roll defense and around the rim – using the principle of Voeltlcality, obviously – has manifested early. Poeltl was pretty terrific in this one, despite what the box score might show.
Terrence Ross finally showed new glimpses but a silly preseason injury rendered it nothing but a tease? The second unit’s been sparked in consecutive games by Ross’ newfound attacking mentality, and Ross has become keenly aware that the work he put in all offseason – work that some speculated was largely lip-service, given how often he’s tempted with his skill before – is paying off when he stays aggressive. So, too, are his teammates.
“Just be aggressive. In the past, he wasn’t as aggressive as he is now,” DeMar DeRozan said of Ross. “A lot of great things come out of being aggressive like that because he’s one of the best scorers on this team. Once you see a shot or two go in, he has a night like tonight.”
Well then the emergence of Ross is going to waste Norman Powell on the bench? Head coach Dwane Casey is showing a willingness to move away from DeMarre Carroll, who’s clearly not at his best, and Powell’s ethos of always being ready to turn any shred of playing time into an emphatic statement sees him close out back-to-back games in the season’s second week. There’s some uncertainty game-to-game as to whether Powell will even play, but as far as break glass in case of emergency options go, Powell’s proving a pretty effective safety net. (Has a safety net ever demanded more use before?)
“Right now, no,” Powell said when asked if he has any idea when he’ll be called on. “But it’s all about being prepared. When opportunity meets preparation, equals success. I’m always the person to stay ready and really put in the work for that opportunity.”
An offense that relies too heavily on DeMar DeRozan is too predictable and easy to gameplan for, gumming up ball movement? DeRozan is out to a Michael Jordan-like start – quite literally – and is hitting the hottest stretch of his career at a time when his co-conspirator is struggling to score and the supporting cast can’t hit threes. He’s now the first player since Jordan in 1986 to open a season with five consecutive 30-point games, and he’s done so with remarkable efficiency. He might try to follow in Kobe Bryant’s footsteps, but he’s ended up a step higher for the time being.
“DeMar is little Kobe. He plays just like Kobe. We joke about it all the time,” Powell said. “I’m just proud of all the work that he put in to be there, being a great vet leader for me, taking me under his wing, talking to me, helping me out. He’s been balling crazy right now. Hopefully he can keep it going. That’s what we need him to do. He’s just a great superstar. He’s not cocky about it.”
His teammates won’t let him be cocky, either – Jonas Valanciunas was sure to yell out that DeRozan is still “No. 46 but No. 1 in our hearts.” Teammates are surely thankful DeRozan’s been as good as he has, too, because it’s providing opportunity for them, as well. As teams have overloaded to slow him down, DeRozan’s looked to use that attention to create for others, almost to a fault. His four assists Friday give him nine over the last two games, a number that would likely be higher were the team not shooting 27 percent from long-ranger as a group.
“DeMar DeRozan? He’s mine. He’s ours. He belongs to the Raptors,” Casey beamed after the game. “I thought he came out – and I didn’t think I’d ever say this – but he over-passed it. He tried to make some plays that weren’t there instead of vaulting up and doing what he does and let the game dictate some of those shots. But he’s been superb, and we just gotta make sure we continue with a defensive focus.”
That defensive focus is perhaps the biggest revelation early on. It was assumed, with good reason, that the Raptors might struggle on that end of the floor, given their youth and the loss of Bismack Biyombo in free agency. Instead, the Raptors’ have locked down in all but perhaps two of 20 quarters so far, and save for a brief stretch at the end of the third on Friday, they locked the Heat down almost entirely. Kyle Lowry blocking a pair of shots at the rim and drawing a key charge on Hassan Whiteside in transition helped set the tone team-wide, and it’s particularly notable as Lowry continues to provide plenty of value despite some wayward shooting. “A team win,” as Casey called it, requires players to recognize their roles in each game, big or small, offense or defense, and the Raptors were dialed in nearly to a man.
Miami shot 38.6 percent – the fourth time already Toronto’s held an opponent below 42 percent from the floor – and scored just 91 points per-100 possessions. The Heat have their flaws, of course, but the Raptors’ early-season performance can only be considered a positive, and they’re ranked seventh in efficiency on both ends of the floor early on. The defense wasn’t supposed to be ahead of the offense just yet, and if it isn’t, it’s right there with it.
“I thought it was superb tonight,” Casey said. “I thought it was the way we’ve gotta play.”
The Raptors have more or less played how they’ve needed to play through five games. A 4-1 start is nothing to get too excited about, and none of the “answers” they’ve provided are certainties to sustain as the competition ratchets up next week. Still, it seems every time there’s a new concern about them, the Raptors force a topic change.
