Defense is hard, but by all accounts the Raptors have generally done an excellent job at it this season. Entering last night’s action the Raptors were the only team in the NBA with a top 5 ranked offense and defense, sitting fourth overall in offensive rating at 110.1 and third in defensive rating at 103.1.
That’s a damn good statistic to have. Simply put, the Raptors are among the elite at both scoring and preventing the other team from doing so, and those are two big factors in winning (HOT TAKE!).
Like all statistics though, there is a lot within the numbers that must be considered. The goal for this season after all wasn’t just to be among the top teams in both categories, but to find a style of play that would be sustainable when the playoffs came along.
For the entirety of this Raptors era they have been among the top scoring teams, before somehow losing that skill when it was needed most. While the difference wasn’t as staggering on the other end of the ball, the team also needed to figure out a way to get more consistent stops.
So far, mission accomplished. The only teams to have defended more consistently this season have been Boston (99.9 DRTG) and San Antonio (101.6 DRTG).
Which begs the question: how are the Raptors defending so well?
Some of what the Raptors are doing is obvious. They have blocked a lot of shots (5.9 per 100 possessions, 2nd in the league behind Golden State) get their fair share of steals (8.1 per 100 possessions, for 8th in the league), and are among the league leaders in charges drawn (thank you, Kyle Lowry!).
But they are also 20th in the league for defensive rebounding percentage hauling in just 76.6 percent of available defensive rebounds, allowing what feels like a staggering number of second chance opportunities (and third chance…and fourth chance…).
For years teams have been targeting scoring in two general areas of the court: in the paint and from the 3-point line. Everything between came to be known as the least efficient shot in basketball. Why would anyone willingly shoot for the fewest points from the furthest away?
We as Raptors’ fans know this all too well. It’s been one of the main criticisms of DeMar DeRozan for years. Here was a man that became one of the league’s leading scorers, but did so in stark contrast to who efficiency was viewed. Jump to this season with DeMar hitting threes, and the conversation surrounding him as nearly done a 180.
Which brings us back to defense. If offenses are trying to score from two main areas as a generalization, then taking away those two areas becomes paramount to success. Impressively, these two traditional areas of struggle have been great success recently.
While there is no one recipe for success, I created the below chart to compare these two areas of defense. All stats are from NBA.com/Stats prior to last night’s games, with the top 5 defenses highlighted green and the bottom five defenses highlighted orange:
The Raptors as a team are giving up an average 45.5 points in the paint per game, and adding another 26.4 points per game from three (tied with Boston for the lowest mark),
In total, 69.27 percent of points scored against Toronto per game have been either from within the paint or beyond the arc. To a large extent, Toronto has been very successful in forcing teams to beat them from the middle ground.
This strategy certainly isn’t fool proof as Phoenix, the worst defensive rating in the NBA, has a very similar rating to Toronto. OKC meanwhile, owner of the 5th best defensive rating in the league, is sitting in the bottom third on this chart.
Either way, forcing opponents off of the three point line has been a clear mandate in Toronto, as they allow a league low 24.9 attempts from beyond the arc per game. To take this to the next level, Toronto also challenges 19.1 attempts from three per game, which is the second highest.
Only time will tell whether the Raptors can maintain this once the playoffs begin, but the results to date are encouraging.
It’s easier said than done, but limit the paint, shut down the three, force the mid-range, and challenge everything. Still a long way to go, but the Raptors finally seem to have a recipe for success on defense.
(Once again, all stats are from NBA.com/Stats and are from prior to last night’s games.)
