A story of two very different teams. The Celtics, voluminous in their attempts from downtown, burning hot on the offensive end, winning games in streaking fashion. The Raptors, meager in their attempts from downtown, laboring greatly on offense, and losing games.
The Raptors went from a team that had a wide array of offensive motivators, and then very few all of a sudden. The cascading effects of RJ Barrett’s injury lingering and the Raptors depth struggling to fill in the blanks. The Raptors are a fragile offensive ecosystem. Still in the top half of the NBA offensively, still in the top 10 in halfcourt efficiency coming into the game against the Celtics despite ranking as the worst offense in the league since Barrett went down.
For too long, the Raptors were getting too little from too many players. A lot of “too” in that line, perhaps I’ve become as one dimensional as the Raptors offense. The Raptors needed more punch, more verve, more everything. They weren’t getting it from their usual rotation, so Darko Rajakovic looked back toward his bench and searched for answers.
“I wanted to see how the new guys would perform. It’s good for them. It’s good for their development, knowing that there is somebody behind. Like ‘If I don’t do well, if I don’t perform well, then somebody else is going to be getting this opportunity.’ I think that’s fair. You have a roster of 17 players and we believe in trusting all of those guys.” Coach Darko said after the game.
AJ Lawson has spent a lot of time trying to find his place in the NBA, and has more trouble than you would think an energetic shooter might have doing so. Especially since he’s played in an NBA Final. Coach Darko looked his way, needing something, and Lawson started off by slipping a screen for a layup. Then he hit a triple. He crashed the glass. He hit another triple. He filled lanes in transition. Maybe most importantly, his constant effort defensively helped the Raptors stay on a string.
Even Alijah Martin, in the midst of a torrid Raptors run, got a look from his coach and made his NBA debut. No points, no stats really, but you know, effort. A steal. Along for the ride. A +6 in his 4 minutes. Maybe most importantly he served as a reminder to Gradey Dick, Ja’Kobe Walter, and Collin Murray-Boyles — the Raptors prized first round picks of the last 3 seasons — that there is no guaranteed spot for them. Those 3? They were benched in favor of different looks. Across 25 minutes, the trio combined for 0 points. Dick & Murray-Boyles didn’t even combine to take a shot.
“I’m demanding more urgency from everyone. More scrappiness. When we do that, like we did in the second half, we can compete against every team in this league.” Coach Darko said after the game.
All of this coincided with a hot shooting streak from Brandon Ingram, and a great bit of controlled stardom from Scottie Barnes. The Raptors grit their teeth and set their feet to battle. They overcame a 20+ point deficit to take the lead back from the Celtics.
Eventually though, the Celtics shot making, from Derrick White in particular, came crashing down once again. The Raptors one last burst of energy didn’t last through the end of the game and how could it? It was built on effort, chaos, and gumption. Once the game quieted, the Raptors lost the thread, as they were meant to. They’ve been playing unimaginative offense, and largely failing at it over the last however many games.
Both of the following are true:
- The Raptors main creators are failing to create enough easy, dependable looks for their role players to create offensive flow.
- The Raptors depth players, even their rotation players, aren’t giving them nearly enough to help out on offense. They’ve failed to provide the level of punch in play finishing that is expected of them, and if anything was expected of them in terms of creation, they’ve been providing nothing.
The Raptors have shown a ceiling regarding their offense, and they’ve shown a floor. They had questions about how much their depth would factor into this season, and the early part of it had whispers, then chants of “bench mob”. Now? They’re searching for any semblance of competence from the back end of their roster.
Coach Darko and the deep bench captured something in their run against the Celtics. Was it the type of something that cures their offensive woes? Probably not. It’s hard to create an offense out of Lawson trail man triples, and a rush of turnovers to run out on. I mean, the Raptors are already the highest volume transition team in the NBA. Questions remain. I hope to answer some tomorrow.
Have a blessed day.
