Gameday: Raptors @ Spurs, Dec. 26

The climb back to .500 basketball has never felt so alien. Regardless, the Raptors climb, and against DeMar DeRozan and the Spurs.

So, right off the bat, I’d expect DeRozan to have a good game in this one. He is more than capable of operating in a similar fashion to Brandon Ingram (at the end of the Raptors first game), slicing in to the teeth of the defense, peppering in some shot-making and finding open teammates. And the Spurs seemed to have found a sweet spot with the “old man game” DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge both bring mixing in with their youth in revolt. Erm, it’s probably closer to say youth in revolution.

You have to go out and beat the Spurs, because at no point are they going to hand the game to you. They won’t fall in love with the 3-point shot as they shoot themselves in the game, and they won’t turn the ball over a lot. You have to assess what they’re doing well, mitigate it, and respond in a more efficient manner on the other end. Luckily, the Raptors seem to possess a few tools that should help.

If you were looking for Pascal Siakam to shred the Pelicans to bits on his way to a 30+ scoring performance, you might have been disappointed. The good news is that the Siakam made a lot of impressive reads as a passer against a Pelicans defense that was loaded up against the drive (they employed a similar strategy against the Heat on Christmas day) and stretched his legs from deep. Finding the time and place to force the issue is an important thing to develop as a star (something Siakam doesn’t have yet) and his finish in the Raptors opener featured a lot of good decision making. When Siakam swung to one of OG Anunoby or Fred VanVleet they missed, when Ingram found Lonzo Ball or Eric Bledsoe they made it. 3-point variance can be nasty that way. If Siakam plays a similar game today, that’s a good thing.

The trio of Norman Powell, Anunoby, and VanVleet almost assuredly won’t shoot 3-17 from deep again. The Raptors offense was dynamic in the half-court in the first half of their debut, and they’ve found iron-clad plays to set Matt Thomas loose with. There’s things to like, and you don’t have to look that hard. The Spurs faced a low-volume 3-point team in the Grizzlies in their opener and they’ll have to showcase better coverage against the Raptors. Dejounte Murray and Jakob Poeltl are both excellent defenders, but the Spurs aren’t going to be intimidating on that end of the floor.

If you’re worried about the Raptors ‘sell out’ defense has been figured out en masse by the NBA, I don’t think that’s the case. The Raptors have been able to affect 3-point shooting consistently for a couple years now, and the calculated risk is that sometimes teams are going to make them, like we saw against the Pelicans. The Raptors matchup quite well with the Spurs, even if Aldridge might have some opportunities to take Baynes in the post, you live with that.

A fun game against the beloved DeRozan, and an opportunity to watch some of the exciting young pieces in San Antonio (Murray, Keldon Johnson, Lonnie Walker).