OG Anunoby changes the texture of this Raptors’ team. Anunoby is not the best player on the Raptors. But for stretches — even for a full half, as against the Sacramento Kings — he can be the most important. Behind Anunoby’s 18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks, Toronto beat Sacramento 124-120. The game was never really close until the end, and even then, it was more of a ho-hum win than a nail-biter.
As a rookie fifth starter in 2017-18, Anunoby was just good enough to succeed in his role. He hit open shots to the tune of 37.1 percent from deep, defended well, and didn’t make mistakes. Now in 2019, Anunoby is starting once again in ostensibly the same role. He averages by far the fewest touches among all starters, and he’s still asked mostly to hit his shots and defend opponents’ best players.
The role may not have changed, but Anunoby certainly has.
Anunoby has grown dramatically since his rookie year. Many of the skills that he flashed once in a blue moon in 2017-18 were on full show against the Kings. Thought he had some underrated passing chops as a rookie? He showed brilliance against the Kings, dropping a touch-pass dime to Marc Gasol after a heady cut horizontally through the lane. Later, he drew a double-team and waited for a Norman Powell cut to develop before hitting Powell for an uncontested layup. Anunoby can pass, but even more impressive is his ability to combine his chops with patience and timing. Young wings who can pass often show the skill too much; Anunoby, on the other hand, set his career high with five assists on a night he also recorded zero turnovers.
Anunoby’s scoring was more diverse than simple stand-still shooting. Towards the end of the first half, he drove the lane and euro-stepped through the paint, and though it wasn’t as graceful as the same move in Pascal Siakam’s arsenal, Anunoby kept his balance and used his strength to make the contested layup.
Siakam took over as the dominant on-ball force to which we have become accustomed in the second half of the Raptors’ win, as Anunoby melted back into his secondary role. He focused more on defense and less on creation. Guarding Buddy Hield in the pick-and-roll, Anunoby channeled his inner Kawhi Leonard and completely annihilated the play, fighting through the screen to block Hield’s pull-up jumper. He contested everything within range, using his massive wingspan to record one stop after another. He was great even defending Sacramento’s transition chances, when he had no business forcing misses. The driving and kicking from Anunoby wasn’t as necessary in the second half; his scoring was mostly limited to spotting up around the arc. He hit three triples in the game.
Anunoby is a vital component of Toronto’s horde of role players overqualified for their roles as third or fourth scorers, but without the skills quite yet to step into primary initiating roles for extended periods of time.
“The way I see it, I think different nights, different guys should be third and fourth [options],” said Nick Nurse. “Some nights, your one and two, with this team aren’t really going to be one and two all the time.”
That’s the benefit of Anunoby. He can shape-shift, transform at will. The Raptors need some oomph? He’s happy to shift more onto the ball, driving, dishing, and drilling jumpers. Other players are rolling? Anunoby can electric slide back into a supporting job, running in transition, cutting off the ball, and spotting up around the arc. Anunoby has all the tools, but perhaps his best ability is knowing when to sheathe one weapon and draw another. He may have entered the league a raw athlete, but Anunoby is able to switch roles seamlessly because of his multi-faceted skill-set.
“I just think he’s looking like more of a complete player now,” said Nick Nurse after the game. “There’s some shooting there that looks not hesitant at all, and good when it goes up. It’s almost like when he’s open and it comes to him you expect him to make ‘em, like all of ‘em, which is great. There’s good cutting, there’s a little bit of driving, there’s usually one a game where he gets in the lane and steals it and he’s off the other way.”
For a role player, consistency is one of the most important factors. And Anunoby’s been offering that, too. His 18 points against the Kings were a season high, but he’s scored at least nine in all seven games so far. Anunoby averaged 7.0 points last year and 5.9 as a rookie.
“We need him to be pretty consistent,” said Fred VanVleet after the game. “And he’s been doing that for us. So, we’ll lean on him quite a bit this year and hopefully he can answer the call… He’s really taken a step just being a professional this year. And I’ve noticed him working more. I’ll say I’ve seen him in the gym working on his game and you see it pay off.”
On a night on which the Kings shot 20-of-44 from deep, good for 45.5 percent, the Raptors were still able to win handily. The Kings were close at times, but the Raptors led from jump street. Anunoby wore a variety of different hats during the win, but he was integral no matter his job.
The game wasn’t a blowout Raptors’ win, but that was partially because of unseasonably warm shooting from the visitors. The Kings have good shooters, sure, but Harrison Barnes and Bogdon Bogdanovic combining to shoot 1o-of-20 from deep ought to be enough for an easy win. Instead, the Kings became only the 12th team of all time to make at least 20 3s in regulation and lose. That the Kings only shot 22-of-51 from inside the arc had plenty to do with Anunoby.
It was on Toronto’s stars, Lowry and Siakam, to close out the win. Siakam glided through the game, hitting awkward floater after awkward floater en route to 23 points. He only seemed to dominate the ball in the third quarter, but that was enough. Lowry was Siakam’s alter ego, channeling his anger at the refs, teammates’ mistakes, and just life in general while he scored 24. Ice and fire. The two were Toronto’s leaders, as they were Toronto’s closers. But they are known quantities. OG Anunoby is the unstable element, the change-up to Siakam’s curve and Lowry’s fastball. Siakam played the role of unpredictable scorer last year, and he was exactly what Toronto needed to win the championship. Anunoby’s growth this year as an overqualified role player is exactly what Toronto needs now.
