The Toronto Raptors returned from their holiday break to take on the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center on Boxing Day.
It was sloppy from start to finish, but the Raptors managed to eke out a 95-91 victory. Here are five takeaways from Monday night’s action.
Failure to Rip Apart the Defence in Rip City
All signs pointed to this being a walk-in-the-park win for the Raptors. Toronto leads in the NBA in offensive efficiency while Portland sits dead last in defensive efficiency. The numbers said a blowout was on the horizon. Instead, what transpired was arguably the most uninspiring victory of the Raptors’ season. The Blazers’ abysmal defence managed to hold the visitors to an ugly 34 per cent from the floor, with Kyle Lowry once again having to go into high gear in the second half to will his team to their seventh straight road win.
Another stat that seemed to be working in Toronto’s favour coming in was the mismatch beyond the arc. After their early-season struggles, the Raptors sit third in the NBA in three-point percentage, while the Blazers allow opponents to shoot 38 per cent from deep. Lowry and Patrick Patterson found their stroke from deep as the game wore on, but as a team, the Raptors started 1-of-10 from long distance.
A win is a win, but this doesn’t really feel like one for Dwane Casey’s squad.
DeRozan Watch
Entering the evening, DeMar DeRozan needed 35 points to pass Chris Bosh as the Raptors’ all-time leading scorer. He’ll have to wait a little longer to accomplish that feat after finishing with 20 points.
Despite failing to reach the milestone, DeRozan still put together a complete game, adding 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Portland was aggressive with its defensive gameplan out of the gate, double-teaming the all-star guard early in the shot clock to force the ball out of his hands.
Look for DeRozan to etch himself into Raptors history on Wednesday when he suits up in his home state of California against the Golden State Warriors.
Christmas Hangover
The Raptors very much looked like a team that had flown to Utah, flown home for Christmas, and then out to Portland in the span of a few days. Toronto came out flat, missing seven of their first eight attempts from the floor and looking nothing like the most efficient offence in the NBA.
While the jumpers weren’t falling early, the Raptors were able to stay in the game thanks in large part to Jonas Valanciunas, who tallied eight points and four rebounds in the opening frame. Overall, the Raptors scored 12 of their first 16 points in the paint, working the ball inside with their outside stroke not quite right in the early going.
Hometown Woes…and Dunks
Terrence Ross has been very solid for the Raptors off the bench this season, averaging better than 10 points per game and shooting the ball at the most efficient clip of his career. Playing in his home town (meaning no post-Christmas travel), Ross figured to be in for a productive night in front of friends and family but couldn’t get anything going offensively, making just two of his eight attempts from the field. He did finish with four steals before leaving early with a sore left wrist. Oh, and he did this.
And this.
Captain McCollum
The battle between two of the best backcourts in the NBA will have to wait. Prior to tip-off, it was announced Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard would miss the game with a sprained ankle. That meant C.J. McCollum would have to slide over to the one spot and take up the torch as Portland’s leader, and he was up to the task.
McCollum showed off all the tools that make him such a fearsome scorer. He’s able to get to the rim with his athleticism, pull up for jumpers on a dime, using his six-foot-four frame to shoot over opposing defenders, and can knock down threes with the best of him. The 25-year-old went on to finish with 27 points and seven helpers.