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The Toronto Raptors are 18-4 after a comeback victory last night against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Raptors found themselves trailing 71-59 at the half and needed a 20-8 run mid third quarter to see their way to victory.
The Raptors got only 17 points from Kawhi Leonard, 24 from Kyle Lowry and 18 from Fred Van Vleet. While Leonard struggled, with his offense, for most of the game, he did record 10 rebounds, for a double-double.
He also used his playmaking skills to help seal the victory feeding Kyle Lowry and Fred Van Vleet late in the game with several assists for clutch baskets. Leonard completed the game with five assists. The Raptors beat the Grizzlies' 122-114 after trailing by 12 at the half. Memphis was led, by Marc Gasol's 27 points, 20 points by Mike Conley and 13, by both Kyle Anderson and JaMychael Green.
The next match-up for the Raptors is Golden State and a matchup that may be a sign, of things to come. Golden State will be expected to defend their NBA title come May or June of 2019. The unknown is who will that defense be against?
The Raptors figure into the short list of potential NBA Finalist, with Golden State, so an early season match-up between these two teams is intriguing. Including last night’s 122-114 victory, the Raptors have a tough stretch, of 10 out of 12 games, against plus .500 teams.
Here are the three takeaways from this last game.
#1 Another outstanding bench performance
The Raptors scored 122 against the Grizzlies and the bench contributed 51 points. They got a brilliant 6/6 shooting night from Fred Van Vleet for 18 points. Pascal Siakam had 10 points and Jonas Valanciunas, coming off the bench, against Memphis, scored 9 points.
This was another good showing, for a bench, that continues to provide the Raptors with productive minutes, both offensively and defensively. If there is one concern about the bench, it’s the general youth and inexperience and it usually means from night to night a different player stands out.
This could be a good thing, as well. On Sunday night, it was Pascal Siakam dropping 21 points, on the Miami Heat. Tuesday night, it was the play of Fred Van Vleet scoring 18 points on 6/6 shooting. It would be nice to see a consistent scorer coming off of the bench. Its been mentioned before, but a deal to bring Vince Carter back into the Raptors fold would help with consistent bench scoring and provide another shooter from long range. C.J. Miles, as the Raptors three point specialist, off the bench, only had 6 points.
#2 Defensive intensity of the Raptors
The Raptors really need to avoid turning on and off their defensive aggression or picking and choosing when to employ it. In an era where the rules favor offensive production it is still not wise to give any team 71 points, in the first half, even a low scoring team like Memphis.
As mentioned earlier, the Raptors used a 20-8 run mid third quarter to pull away. Trailing, by as much as 17, in the Third Quarter and giving a team like Golden State 71 first half points and a 12 point halftime lead, as the Raptors did with Memphis, is a blueprint to losing.
Never mind the Raptors were shooting 58% from the field or 50% from 3 point range and had 10 fast break points, by the half, their offensive production has to be matched by the defensive intensity. The Raptors upped that intensity in the second half, but NBA Basketball is 48 minutes and a team has to play well at both ends of the court.
#3 Nick Nurse’s mix and match lineups
Head coach Nick Nurse has mixed and matched his line up all season long. Essentially, the only two guaranteed starters for the Raptors have been Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard, when he plays.
We have seen starting lineups including Norman Powell, O.G. Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Danny Green and Jonas Valanciunas or Serge Ibaka at center. It’s the combination of Ibaka or Valanciunas that was most interesting last night.
Nick Nurse went with Ibaka, in the starting line up, against Memphis, to some surprise. Its usually expected that Valanciunas would start against bigger more physical centers like he did Sunday night, against Miami’s Hassan Whiteside, who scored two points.
Memphis employs Marc Gasol, who is 7’1 and 255 pounds. Nick Nurse, however, chose to start Serge Ibaka. It worked out. The Raptors did race out to an 8-0 lead early in the game and got 7-11 shooting from Ibaka for 16 points. Nick Nurse’s ability to mix and match lineups actually helps to build team chemistry and to discover lineups that work well in certain scenarios. It will be an aspect of the Raptors play this season to watch
