Alex Garland changed much in his movie adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation, but no change was more pronounced than when a silver humanoid fractal mimics the motions of biologist Natalie Portman. Half symbolism, half Metal Mario, the scene made literal the reciprocity inherent to VanderMeer’s Area X. It was a mirror match, but one in which Alice fell through the looking glass, the mirror, and returned not Alice at all.
On Saturday, the Raptors faced their own mirror match against the Orlando Magic. But on Toronto’s side, the Raptors had been feeling a crisis of identity leading into the game. With Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes returning to the lineup, they responded to the expectations of health — for the first time, really, since before Tampa Bay — by suffering a loss of personality. Who are they when not the unlucky and plucky underdog with one or more stars on the sidelines? They haven’t faced that question, not for an extended period, for ages. The Raptors have been fighting uphill for more than two seasons. Now on equal ground, with the athleticism and talent to conquer the world, the Raptors have been foundering.
And fortunately for the Raptors, they faced a Magic team with much the same identity, when at their best, as the Raptors. Orlando’s President, Jeff Weltman, was part of the team-building project in Toronto before running his own team, and both rosters are innovating in the same giant-wingspan-for-wings direction. The Raptors are used to being the bully. Facing bigger bullies in their previous two games, both losses, the Raptors failed to fight.
The tables turned yet again against Orlando. The Magic are absolutely monstrous — larger even than the Raptors — starting four players standing at or over 6-foot-9. But the Raptors proved to be the aggressors regardless, winning in a laugher 121-108 that was never as close as the final score looks.
And in the matchup between such enormous rosters, it was Toronto’s largest and most athletic players who thrived. O.G. Anunoby proved inevitable at the rim. Improvements in his balance and footwork — his ability to transition his horizontal momentum into vertical attacks on the rim — have enabled him to unlock his enormous strength. When he wasn’t bashing the Magic to a pulp on the offensive end, he was humiliating them on the defensive end, stripping balls away constantly to contribute to the 12 steals Toronto managed to snag.
“I like it when he goes down there and he’s making a move and all of a sudden, he’s dunking it,” said Nurse of Anunoby. “There’s some power to get to that spot and then there’s a lot of bursts left at the end.”
Barnes relied on the short midrange, as he did last season, to finish the Magic with 1000 papercuts (push shots). He was a homing beacon for the paint, putting his back into his defender with nearly every touch and moving them under the rim, finishing over top of everyone and their grandmas with his endless length. He shot 8-of-10 from the field. Siakam drew free throws seemingly whenever he ventured into the paint and hit circus jumpers for some razzle dazzle flair. All three were too big, too fast, to be opposed.
“There’s a fine line there between barreling guys over and just bouncing them off you,” said Nurse. “[Anunoby has] barreled a few guys over to this year, but that’s good, you’ve got to stand in there and take it on him. That can’t feel too good.”
It’s worth mentioning that Toronto’s guards looked relatively out of place in the feats of strength. Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent jr. finished shooting 6-of-21 from the field. VanVleet finished with more turnovers (four) than shots inside the paint (three), and he continued his streak of inefficiency from the field. Particularly as Siakam and Anunoby grow into huge facilitators for these Raptors, VanVleet’s limitations inside the arc become apparent. He is still an extraordinary, two-way player (who was as terrific on the defensive end as any of Toronto’s behemoths against Orlando), but he’s deadliest finishing plays created by his teammates. (He led Toronto with three triples.) The team is increasingly better served with the gargantuan wings initiating more and VanVleet shifting to a play-finishing role. Which, to be fair, the Raptors are slowly doing.
But Toronto’s quality victory over such an enormous team begs an important question for the Raptors: If they can manage to be more athletic than the Magic — the longest team in the NBA — then why can’t they bully every team in the league?
Nick Nurse thought perhaps that the Raptors were not facing more athletic teams in the New Orleans Pelicans and Brooklyn Nets. That was simply an illusion.
“I would probably agree with you that we might have looked less athletic at times in both those games,” he said, “but I’m just thinking that’s more related to energy than it is pure athleticism.”
The Pelicans had 13 dunks against the Raptors, which doesn’t include those highlights that were just missed. It was a huge number, but one the Raptors almost matched, albeit in a later game. The Raptors had 10 dunks against the Magic, not including a reverse attempt from Anunoby in transition that rimmed out. The Raptors have the ability to bully the entire NBA, which makes it all the more frustrating when they do not.
“I think that we got some really good athletes out there,” said Nurse. “But they need to be firing. The energy piece needs to be there… It’s something that we try to create with the style we play, and when we don’t have it, for whatever reason…then it’s going to be a little harder for us and we are going to look a little ordinary. But when we do have it, we look like we can be really good.”
It helps that both teams, when not using their ham hands to batter one another in the paint, instead used them to fling shots haphazardly at the rim from deep. (The Magic hit some triples late to bring up their accuracy.) The game not being decided by the 3-point line makes sense given that both teams are among the bottom 10 3-point shooting teams in the league by accuracy. The Pelicans and Nets both outshot the Raptors from deep and outworked them on the floor.
Toronto can do well in rock fights, especially against poor teams with little defensive connectivity like the Magic. They can, on occasion, even win skill contests with extraordinarily skillful teams. But they cannot win if they lose both the skill and physical contests. The trick is to ensure they turn as many games as possible into wrestling contests.
That is the identity of these Raptors: Be bigger, stronger, faster, and longer than their opponents. If they can do it to the Magic, they can do it to anyone — especially when healthy. (Precious Achiuwa and Otto Porter jr., when they return, will help there.) It’s crucial for Toronto not to lose sight of that personality, for that is when they can run into trouble. If it takes energy to be more athletic, then the Raptors need to find a bottomless well of the stuff.
Portman survived her deadly, diaphanous dance with the alien in Annihilation. She was changed, but whole. So too did the Raptors survive their miserable road trip. They remembered who they were — after a players-only meeting — and how they win against another mimic in the Magic. As long as the Raptors are the biggest and the strongest, then they’re going to do okay. As soon as they allow other teams to dictate identity, to beat them up in the paint, to run down their throats in transition, then things are going to look bleak. For the Raptors as for Portman, it’s who chooses identity that ultimately will win in the end.
