NBA 2018-19: 4 Takeaways From Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets match up

On Monday, December 3rd, 2018, the Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets matched up, in Toronto. For the second straight game, the Raptors' shooting was suspect. They were 3/23 from the three-point arc in the first half. Meanwhile, the Nuggets were 11/28 from long distance in the game, for 39.3%

The Nuggets also got a double-double from their center Nikola Jokic on 6/7 shooting for 14 points, 10 assists and 5 rebounds, in the first half. Jokic wound up with a triple-double, with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists.

Jokic had one of the best passes of the game, when he fired a right-handed pass, from the left side, of the offensive zone, to the left corner finding Jamaal Murray for a three-point make. The Raptors had another miserable game rebounding. They gave the Nuggets 8 first-half offensive rebounds and 15, in total, for the game. The Raptors also gave up 9 first-half turnovers. It all added up to a 12 point halftime lead, for Denver, at 59-47.

The Raptors kept fighting and found themselves down, by only four points with 5:30 to play. An attack, from the wing, along with the baseline, by Pascal Siakam, led to a pass to Ibaka, for a one-handed slam, with less than 5 minutes to play, tying the game at 94.

Hernan Gomez followed, with a three, restoring a lead, for Denver, at 97-94. Danny Green, on a great pass, from Lowry, retied the game at 97, with a three-pointer, and both teams then traded turnovers, before Denver recorded another three-point shot, for a 100-97 lead, with 2:28 to play.

The Raptors took the lead on a jumper, by Kawhi Leonard with 54 seconds to play at 101-100. Ultimately, the Nuggets would prevail 106-103 improving to 16-7 and the Raptors suffered their 5th loss of the season and are now 20-5. Both teams remain the class of the Western and Eastern Conferences respectively.

The three takeaways, from this game, are, as follows.

#1 Defensive rebounding is a shortcoming for Raptors

This continues to be a glaring weakness for the Raptors. Against teams with size and length, and players, who are active, on the glass, the Raptors struggle mightily, in this area, of the game. Pascal Siakam, as great, as he has been this season, needs to fill out his frame and add strength. Since Thursday night, against Golden State, the Raptors have allowed their last three opponents to record 30 plus offensive rebounds. It was 15 tonight against Denver.

It appears the failure to grab defensive rebounds is the trade-off the Raptors have decided, for the moment, to suffer, by not playing two big men together. Serge Ibaka has been starting lately and Jonas Valanciunas has been coming off of the bench.

While Ibaka is a good rebounder, there is only so much he can do on his own. With less than 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, against Denver, the Raptors' starting unit had grabbed 19 defensive rebounds five each to Ibaka, Siakam and Leonard.

On one key defensive possession, with 1:17 to play, the ball was knocked out of bounds and possession was given to the Nuggets. In the battle for the rebound, Jokic might have gone over the back, on Ibaka, however, even with good box out position, Jokic, at 7 foot 250 pounds, is bigger than Ibaka and was muscling Ibaka under the backboards.

The Ibaka versus Jokic match up cost the Raptors the game. With seven seconds left, Ibaka was caught tugging Jokic jersey around his chest. Jokic hit the ensuing free throw and, with time frozen, Denver maintained possession, on a side throw in. This meant the Raptors had to fowl again and Denver made the free throws. The score went from tied at 103 to 106-103 advantage Denver, without the clock moving.

In contrast, late in the third quarter, Denver's Jokic and Millsap had 16 total rebounds and five of them were offensive. Torrey Craig had three offensive rebounds out of four in his first 15 minutes played in the game. The Nuggets, by the end of the third quarter, were winning the second chance points battle 23-2. This is a direct link to the Raptors failure to close defensive possessions, with rebounds.

#2 Three-point shooting has to improve

Toronto Raptors v Cleveland Cavaliers - Game Three

Three-point shooting is a huge part of the Raptors overall offense. They average well over 30 plus three-point field goal attempts per game. They struggled against Denver. With 9:20 to play in the 4th quarter the Raptors were only 9/33 from behind the arc for 27.3%. If the three is not working, for the Toronto Raptors, they struggle offensively. They were getting good looks they just could not make the shots.

C.J. Miles, who was a 40% three-point shooter, in the 2016-17 season, is struggling right now for the Raptors. He was just 2/6 from long range, in this game, against Denver. Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry combined for 2/13 from behind the arc and Danny Green was 3/7. Fred VanVleet who shot around 41% last year on three-point attempts has seen his average fall to about 35% this year and he was 0/5 from three.

The Raptors finished this game against Denver 11/41 from three-point range for 27.5%. The Raptors took 87 shots in total and making so few three-pointers destroyed their offensive schemes. The Raptors do need to find some consistency, in scoring, off of their bench, whether its this group now stepping it up or somebody is brought in via a signing or trade.

#3 Defensive hustle kept Raptors in this game

When nothing else works, the Raptors usually are strong defensively. It is that desire to stop the opponent that kept this matchup, for the Nuggets, close and potentially winnable. While the Raptors trailed 59-47 at the half, they only allowed Denver 47 second-half points. The Raptors recorded 56 second-half points. The turn around was defensive.

The Raptors recorded 11 steals and forced 20 Denver Nuggets turnovers. Toronto also blocked five Denver shots. The Raptors trailed for much of this game but did take a lead at 101-100 with 54 seconds left on Leonard jumper. Even with their offensive struggles tonight, this game was in reach.

While a defensive negative, like the Raptors poor offensive rebounding, was that the Raptors committed 21 fouls. This led to the Nuggets getting 24 free throws. However, the Nuggets did the Raptors a favor, by making just 15 free throws for 62.5%. The Raptors did show a lot of fight and intensity, in this game.

#4 Nikola Jokic dominated this game

Nikola Jokic at 7 foot and 250 pounds, had 2 inches and 15 pounds on Serge Ibaka. Jokic's size gave Ibaka fits all night. With 7 seconds to play, on an inbounds play, with the clock stopped, Ibaka was called, for grabbing a fist full, of Jokic's jersey.

That foul led to Jokic hitting a free throw giving Denver a 104-103 lead. What compounded Ibaka's gaffe, even more, is Denver maintained possession on the throw in, in the offensive zone.

With the clock stopped at seven seconds, the Raptors had to foul again, on the inbounds pass, to avoid Denver running out the clock. However, it meant 2 more free throws, for Denver, who did not shoot well from the free throw line. However, they made these two, with about 5.6 seconds left, which rounded out the scoring, in the game, at 106-103 in favor of Denver.

It was clearly Jokic who dominated this game. He recorded a triple-double, with 23 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds. The Raptors did not have much, of an answer, for his game tonight. The Raptors' centers combined to matched Jokic's 23 points and together Valanciunas and Ibaka had 15 rebounds to Jokic's 11. Jokic was a +15, for Denver, while Ibaka was a -6 and Valanciuas broke even for the game.

On key hustle plays, the Raptors big men could not handle Jokic. During several battles for rebounds or loose balls, Ibaka was manhandled and bodied around, by Jokic.

This was the case even when Ibaka had box out position. Jokic's physicality created loose ball situations and extra possessions, for Denver. Finally, Toronto's centers could not and cannot duplicate the offensive creativity that Jokic provides Denver. In response to his 15 assists, Ibaka had two and Valanciunas had zero assists.