We know Fred VanVleet is an All Star. Against the New York Knicks, as against virtually every opponent, he proved it. The Raptors dominate when VanVleet plays. As has become somehow to be expected, he scored 35 points in a miniscule 17 shots. Ho hum for the megastar. But the Toronto Raptors also took some steps to proving another, similarly important — if less certain — fact: they can survive when VanVleet doesn’t play, too.
Significantly, Dalano Banton and Malachi Flynn, Toronto’s erstwhile backup point guard options, didn’t check into the game until garbage time, with four minutes left in the fourth in a blowout. Instead of playing traditional basketball, replacing VanVleet with another point guard who could keep the Raptors playing the same style, Nurse went off the board.
The first time VanVleet left the game was with a minute remaining in the first quarter. The Raptors had outscored the Knicks 27-24 to that point, with both teams cold from deep. Replacing VanVleet … was Chris Boucher.
Toronto was massive. The six-foot-nine Boucher and the six-foot-nine OG Anunoby, who was also checking into the game, joined the six-foot-nine Scottie Barnes, Svi Mykhailiuk, and the six-foot-nine Khem Birch. Every player was just another brick in the wall. The first defensive possession saw Toronto’s patented scrambling defense force a driver into the teeth of Birch, who erased the floater. Toronto had hands in the lane of every pass, every drive. On the other end, it subsisted on free throws and transition points: not a whole lot of points, but far, far more than the Knicks could manage. The Knicks managed four points in five minutes with VanVleet on the bench. Precious Achiuwa, Siakam, and Gary Trent jr. replaced Birch, Anunoby, and Mykhailiuk; the monster lineup remained consistent through the changes.
By the time the dust settled and VanVleet rejoined the game, Toronto’s three-point lead had grown to 10. The gamble worked.
The next time VanVleet sat, Toronto one-upped itself; at one point, every player on the floor was six-foot-nine. VanVleet sat to start the fourth quarter, and the Raptors took the next seven minutes seriously before emptying the bench for garbage time. In those minutes, the Knicks managed only 10 measly points. For those counting at home, that’s 14 points in 12 non-garbage-time minutes, which translates to a defensive rating of approximately 56. Toronto’s defensive rating on the season with VanVleet on the bench is 116.1, which has been more or less disastrous.
It was New York’s offense that was disastrous when VanVleet sat last night. That’s an important problem solved, and the solution ended up being simple: throw as many of your best defenders on the floor as possible, and make sure you’re gigantic. Simple, right?
The real magic lay in Toronto’s ability to survive on offense in those minutes. In those same 12 non-garbage-time, non-VanVleet minutes, Toronto threw 24 on the Knicks. That’s not great, but it’s livable. Especially if the other team puts up zilch.
Toronto’s best guard skills, outside of VanVleet himself, do not reside in the guard position. Nurse decided that he can’t replace VanVleet. So when he sits, the Raptors have to do something different rather than becoming a pale shadow of themselves. Siakam and Barnes become the team’s de facto initiators, although rather than only running sets from above the break, they mix in a hefty share of post-ups. Siakam especially was phenomenal at creating for his teammates, as he led the Raptors with seven assists. The Knicks threw two or even three bodies at him every time he touched the ball inside the arc, and he consistently made the right play, kicking out ahead of the rotation, opening up jumpers for Toronto’s shooters. If anyone other than VanVleet himself could have hit a triple (the Raptors shot one of six from deep with him on the bench), the Raptors’ offense without him might have looked a little better. As it was, they survived.
It wouldn’t work without transition looks, which don’t come without stops. So the defensive end is the most important when VanVleet sits, and everyone has to gamble and stay aggressive in stunting, reaching, rotating, and attacking the ball. Without free points, it’s not going to work at all. And free points won’t be available every night, no matter how much it may look like Anunoby can pick six whenever he so desires. That means Flynn and Banton still have roles on this team. But on some nights, facing opponents without enough shooting, who subsist on drives, Toronto can go off the board and throw all the length in the stable on the floor. It worked against the Knicks. Now Nurse has one more club in the bag, ready to be called upon when facing a poor lie.
