The Charlotte Hornets came into Toronto on Monday night with Kemba Walker having his best start to a NBA season yet, having hit more three-pointers through the first three games of the season than anyone had in NBA history, and looking the part of a MVP candidate through the first week of the season. In this game, though, the Raptors would flex their defensive muscles, showcasing their versatility at that end of the floor to drive their offense and shut down a scorching hot Charlotte team as they cruised to victory.
This was a dominant Raptors victory, with Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard again leading the way. Lowry delivered an incredible performance running the offense, keeping everyone involved and creating easy shots all over the floor for his teammates to drive the offense forward, and with Leonard beginning to find his legs and his shot following. Kawhi had a lot of shots miss short in the first two games of the season, showing that he just wasn’t quite back yet, but those same shots were finding nothing but net in this one as he scored 22 points on 9-14 shooting, but his defense might’ve been even more impressive than his offense, with Charlotte frequently choosing to just run their offense away from him.
Overwhelmingly, that’s the story of these early season Raptors, is that while this team is not yet a finished product and they have work left to do to hit their ceiling, there is just too much talent here for them to truly struggle. The defense was swarming against the Hornets, and they are a team that forces bad decisions and bad choices from opposing offenses. Attacking into Kyle Lowry isn’t a good option for a point guard playing against these Raptors, but attempting a switch may land you a matchup with Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam or OG Anunoby depending on the group on the floor at that moment, and none of those are options that you want. The Raptors embrace those switches and are often the aggressor, despite being on defense, with help coming in waves as opponents attack the basket.
Serge Ibaka again delivered a strong performance as well, finishing with 15 points and 8 rebounds in this one and showing that the move to the five has been a good one for him, with his help defense helping to contain Charlotte’s offense as well, and Jonas Valanciunas came off the bench with 17 points and 10 rebounds himself, showing that the center position is one of strength for the Raptors, giving them different options to match up with different challenges in the paint. Don’t forget – you can wager on casino-mate New Zealand online casino for more action.
It’s early in the season still, and a lot can change over the course of a NBA campaign, but thus far the Raptors clearly seem to be establishing themselves as one of the NBA’s elite despite still having room to grow.
Going forward, the Raptors will see Minnesota in town on Wednesday and Dallas on Friday prior to playing five of the next six games on the road, and they’ll look to retain their position on top of the East while further developing their chemistry. Delon Wright should return to the lineup at some point soon, and when he does, if that can help address some of the shortcomings of the Raptors second unit, this team could yet find a new ceiling.
