Led by their new franchise leader in games played, DeMar DeRozan, the Raptors are shipping out to Boston for the second game of a back-to-back against the Celtics. They’ll be doing so without DeMarre Carroll, who is still sitting out back-to-backs as he recovers from injury. Toronto took the season series against Boston 3-1 last year, and will need a win to help maintain their grip on the Atlantic Division/best Eastern Conference team without Lebron James ranking.
While Boston has bounced back from a rocky start to the season, going the same 7-3 as the Raptors over their last 10 games, they’ve struggled to really stand-out as particularly good at any one thing so far. Their defense has been a notable and surprising struggle at times for them, as they’ve dropped off from a top-5 team in defensive efficiency a year ago to coming out just on the wrong side of league average so far this season. They’ve struggled to rebound defensively and they’ve given up a problematic number of free-throw attempts. Those are two avenues in which DeRozan and Valanciunas in particular like to feast.
The Celtics will be playing without their scoring leader in Isaiah Thomas on Friday night, who will be missing the game after receiving a plasma-rich platelet injection in his groin (for what I assume to be completely legitimate medical reasons). Thomas has once again looked like Boston’s best player this season and is their clear leader on offense and the only player consistently able to make his own shot. However, the on/off numbers for Thomas have told a different story so far this season than in years past. The Celtics are a much better team offensively when Thomas is on the court, but when he doesn’t play they only drop off from a good offense to an average one, where they had become anemic without him in the past. Defensively, on the other hand, the Celtics go from a poor defensive team with Thomas on the court to an elite, league-best unit when he sits. Overall, they’ve been almost 5 points per 100 possessions better with him sitting. While it’s possible that those numbers end up righting themselves over the course of the season, it suggests that missing Thomas might better prepare the Celtics to play heavy minutes for Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart in the hopes of shutting down the dynamic duo of Lowry and DeRozan.
Shutting down Lowry and DeRozan has been most team’s gameplan against the Dinos this year though, it’s just easier said than done. Just ask poor Ricky Rubio, whose ashes DeRozan scattered across the farthest corners of the galaxy. But it hasn’t been just a two-man show as of late, as the Raptors have left scorched Earth trails behind them offensively. They hit over ten 3-pointers again last night against Minnesota and they continue to shoot 39% overall, which is better from deep as a team than the Golden State Warriors. That historically great offensively so far Warriors team is the only team in the league with a more efficient offense than the Raptors so far, and the Raptors are nipping at their heels, too. The Raptors efficiency continues to happen by going against the grain, with DeMar hoisting more mid-range shots than anyone, Kyle Lowry shooting 3s from the parking lot, a second-round pick without range starting at power-forward and a traditional big man in the middle. Maybe it’s that non-conventionality that it makes it so hard to guard. Boston will try tonight, but they will fail.
