TORONTO — Starting their latest six-game homestand the way the Toronto Raptors did couldn’t have been more indicative of the team’s inconsistencies.
The Raptors kicked it all off by falling to an uninspired Denver Nuggets team by one point after being down by as many as 14 in the first half and then followed that up with one of their best efforts of the season, losing to the then-undefeated Golden State Warriors at home by just three points.
That’s why, heading into the Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers, the team’s last game of it’s six-game homestand, the thought the Raptors could possibly lay an egg and lose was a distinct possibility.
But then again, these are the 76ers.
As has been the case for every game but one, Philadelphia lost, getting blown out by the Raptors 96-76 at Air Canada Centre.
DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with a game-high 25 points on six-for-14 shooting, along with a 13-for-14 mark from the free throw line.
Jahlil Okafor’s 23 points led all 76ers scorers, while Canadian Nik Stauskas finished with eight points for Philly.
Despite the unnecessary scare they faced Sunday, the Raptors put together a solid six-game stand at home, racking up four straight that included an impressive win over the San Antonio Spurs.
“It sucks to lose the two that we did lose, but we learn from it, keep pushing and we gotta keep this going,” DeRozan said after the game.
Sitting on a 16-9 record and a second-place seeding in the Eastern Conference, it appears the Raptors are in good shape as they prepare to embark on a short three-game road trip starting Monday against the Indiana Pacers.
But is the success they’ve enjoyed so far sustainable?
The Raptors have been ravaged by injuries, with DeMarre Carroll, Jonas Valanciunas and Lucas Nogueira — who returned Sunday after missing four games — all going down within the last three weeks. Additionally, the team’s had a history of ups and downs since it first turned things around when Rudy Gay was traded back in December 2013.
For example, shortly after the Gay trade, the Raptors beat what would end up being a 59-23 Oklahoma City Thunder team, 104-98, and would then do it again at home in March, 119-118 in double overtime, but they also lost to a 28-54 Sacramento Kings team.
Last season, after an incredible 24-8 start to the season, the Raptors were 25-25 after the calendar flipped to 2015.
So far in the 2015-16 campaign there’s the aforementioned Nuggets and Warriors games, not to mention the big win over the Spurs and the loss to the Phoenix Suns.
So what gives? Why can’t the Raptors find much of a level of even-keelness?
For one, the injury situation is a major part of the equation. One of the biggest differences between the Raptors last season and the team from two seasons ago was how healthy the 2013-14 edition was, and during this season, the previously-mentioned injuries have thrown head coach Dwane Casey’s rotations out of whack.
Players like Bismack Biyombo, Patrick Patterson and Terrence Ross have had to pick up the slack, and for the most part they have.
"They’ve played really well, they stepped up," Casey said before the game. "That’s what we preach to guys all the time, be prepared, be ready. You never know what opportunities are going to come, when your opportunity is going to come. Bis has stepped up, Pat has stepped up in those situations.
"And Terrence Ross. … He’s playing really well at his position. Defensively he’s been locked in."
Ross, in particular, has been good since Carroll went down, averaging 11.7 points per game on 58.5 per cent shooting coming into Sunday’s contest. He didn’t have a great showing Sunday, failing to score in more than 28 minutes played, but he’s certainly playing with more confidence and it’s shown on the defensive end.
"Anytime guys shoot the ball, usually it carries over to their defence and give them a little bit of pep in their step," Casey said.
As admirably as these three have filled in, however, they still can’t replace the level of production that Valanciunas and Carroll were providing when healthy. Valanciunas was in the midst of a career season and Carroll had been the team’s best perimeter defender. At some point the loss of these two key starters will begin to take a toll.
Additionally, to reiterate, the Raptors just haven’t been able to find that consistency because they have a tendency to play down to inferior competition.
“We’ve had a five-game streak before,” said Raptors forward Luis Scola, who finished with 22 points on 10-for-14 shooting, including 14 on six-of-eight in the first quarter. “We’ve followed it up with a three-game, four-game losing streak, so there’s no question in the locker room and around the team that we’re capable, we are talented, we can win games, we can win games in a row, we can beat good teams, we can beat good teams on the road, in their own place.
“We’ve [done] all those things. So that’s not the question. The question we ask is, ‘Can we win consistently? Can we do it every night? Can we be ready to play every night? Can we play well every night?’ These are the questions we need to answer if we want to get where we want to get. … We have to develop that consistency and develop that attitude that allows you to be a really, really good [team].”
That was best exemplified in Sunday’s contest when the Sixers jumped out to an eight-point lead after the tip, and the game had the makings of a tighter affair than it should’ve been before the Raptors regained the lead, finishing the first quarter up 32-24.
Later, after leading by as many as 20 points midway through the third quarter, the Raptors conceded their big lead and allowed the 76ers to within eight points again midway through the fourth.
A look at these two examples, coupled with the fact Toronto has lost to the NBA-best Warriors by a combined score of eight points split between two games, and one gets the sense that this team’s focus isn’t all there every game.
"We can’t overlook anybody in this league," Casey said. "For us to win we’ve got to play. Our margin for error is very small."
He isn’t kidding.
The Raptors are a solid team and should feel good about how they’ve fared during these last six games as well where they are at this point in the the season. However, you have to think the injuries they’ve sustained are going to catch up to them at some point, and the roller-coaster efforts they’re prone to certainly do the Raptors no favours.