Do you remember how awe-inducing the early season Raptors were? The combined talents of the roster leaving you gob-smacked night after night as we watched them unleash a unique and explosive attack on team after team? As inspiring as it’s been to watch these Raptors gut out win after win with a depleted roster, last night provided a wonderful return to form on the offensive end. Even though the Raptors had chaotic lows in the OKC game, it was clear they were operating at a much higher ceiling than before. There was less reliance on Kyle Lowry, an ability to hunt mismatches, and a significant offensive punch from Norman Powell, Serge Ibaka, and Terence Davis II. Oh yes, and ‘Paella Papi’ was in fine form.
From last week’s Black Box Report:
“The Raptors have taken G-League players and asked them to carry the load of NBA rotation players. That has manifested in different ways, rarely in the skill department, but this team continues to provide meaningful production in any stat that one would consider to be “hustle”. VanVleet, the former G-Leaguer, is top-5 in the NBA in deflections. With that tiny wingspan, VanVleet is getting his hand on more basketballs than almost any other player in the league. The Raptors end of bench players have no doubt adopted this mentality and applied it to their own games. So while the Raptors tread water, trying to tease NBA skills out of players who have never been at that level, and ask them to leave it all out on the floor night after night (just like their point guard Kyle Lowry does), it’s important to remember there’s a reprieve coming.”
The beautiful thing about these Raptors, is that even though they have a ton of talent, the whole is still greater than the sum of it’s parts. When Pascal Siakam starts to impose his will on a given mismatch – let’s highlight Chris Paul – the Thunder defense has to squeeze in and surrender looks elsewhere. It’s a simple concept, of course, but the Raptors haven’t been able to force the issue in that way for some time, and as a result OG Anunoby’s value as a complementary piece took a dive. Next to Siakam and co., Anunoby comes alive.
We’ll skim past the fact that the shoulder into the lane, the gather, and the pass from Siakam look very Kawhi-esque, to acknowledge just how much space Anunoby has to get this shot off. Siakam’s gravity and skill create a chasm between Anunoby and the closest defender. It’s this type of defensive manipulation that starts to make offensive basketball really fun. Hell, the very next time Siakam posted up, the help-side defense was way late on the rotation and he coasted in for an easy layup. It takes precisely one Pascal Siakam to put a defense on a bed of nails.
Later in the first quarter you have the Raptors running three (!) DHO’s in one possession before working their way through some side-top-side action and finding Anunoby for another three. It’s beautiful basketball, and not something the Raptors have had access to lately. And where the Raptors used to shudder when they saw a rim protector packed into the paint and waiting for them, they have reclaimed a pretty capable counter to that:
33 assists, 15-27 3-point shooting, and 13 steals to fuel that frenetic transition attack. The Thunder are near top-10 in the league defensively and the Raptors dominated them. Rolling out a varied and multi-faceted attack on the strength of 7 (!) double-digit scoring performances! McCaw was the only player who played 10+ minutes to not score 10+ points. Even more impressive was the fact that 6 players had 3+ assists the Raptors weren’t overly dependent on one creator and having a multitude of players who can score and create dependably was too much for the Thunder’s defense.
*Rumble big fella, rumble.
Maybe most importantly, we saw a version of Siakam that wasn’t determined to launch 6+ threes in a game. I love his development as a shooter, of course, but there’s few players league-wide that have his type of finishing ability and athleticism when heading toward the rim. We saw Siakam carrying an unfathomable amount of offensive weight for a stretch of 10+ games, but now we can see him find his touch as a feature of the Raptors offense, not the feature of the Raptors offense. And the same can be said for Lowry, who despite averaging the most shots taken in January, actually saw a dip in scoring. 17 shots for an average of 19 points a game, and a tough to swallow 30-percent from the field. This isn’t meant to disparage Lowry, only to highlight how much more comfortable he is setting the table and choosing his spots. There was an incredible ease to the way Lowry played against OKC, and that’s likely part of the reason why he was such a capable closer down the stretch of the game.
The Raptors aren’t going to shoot 55-percent from three every night, and they won’t have 13 steals either. The sheer amount of options they flashed last night is exactly what makes them project as a laborious out in the playoffs, and one of the league’s toughest teams to deal with on any given night. They don’t have a prototypical star like James Harden, LeBron James, Damian Lillard or Luka Doncic. However (comma) the depth, IQ, and quality of these Raptors allows them to build upon one of the league’s most unique attacks. An offense built with an eye towards extreme efficiency, ingenuity, and unpredictability. And of course, with plenty of room for a little razzle-dazzle.
