Throughout the 2016-17 NBA season we’ll take a look back at the week that was and set up the week to come in Raptorland.
When you boast the most efficient offence in league history, some defensive slippage can be excused.
The Toronto Raptors’ historic offensive rating of 115.4 has carried them to an outstanding 19-8 start to the season and the league’s second best net rating, behind only the superstar-laden Golden State Warriors.
But given the fact the Raptors rank 18th in the NBA in defensive efficiency (giving up 104.9 points per 100 possessions) that’s more than just a little slip up, particularly when you consider they were the 11th-best defence in the league last season with a 102.7 defensive rating.
Thus far the team’s spectacular offence has been able to effectively mask what has been a large hole on defence, but how much longer can this last?
Having played one of the tougher schedules among all teams so far this season it’s entirely possible to see the Raptors keeping up this level of offensive excellence throughout the rest of the season and therefore likely remaining among the NBA’s elite in the regular season. But what about the playoffs, when things get tighter and teams have a chance to really focus their scouting efforts over a prolonged best-of-seven series?
Right now the team simply isn’t playing good enough defence to inspire confidence when put into that context.
Case in point: the Raptors’ last three games.
Their match against the Philadelphia 76ers was never really in doubt, even after going down after the first quarter. However, the Raptors allowed the hapless Sixers – the league’s worst offence – to score 114 points, shoot 50 per cent from the field and hang a 40-point quarter on them. Granted, that 40-point fourth was in garbage time, but it’s still jarring, nonetheless, especially when you consider what happened in their next game.
Three quarters allowing 30 points or more, 125 points allowed in total and an embarrassing 53.5 per cent shooting torch job by the Atlanta Hawks at Air Canada Centre on Friday felt much like a continuation of the fourth-quarter evisceration from the Sixers. It was a rude awakening, and one Toronto didn’t actually wake up for until the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Orlando Magic.
In that contest the Raptors’ first-quarter defence was pretty much nonexistent, but something finally clicked after that. Whether it was Jodie Meeks shoving Kyle Lowry to the ground midway through the quarter and, as Matt Devlin was saying repeatedly on the broadcast, poking the bear or something else the Raptors looked rejuvenated, particularly on defence giving up only 28 second-half points.
Keep in mind the Magic are only the 21st-ranked offence in the NBA, but this kind dominant defensive showing should be evidence that sustained focus and defensive attention is something the Raptors are more than capable of. It was illustrated on Sunday and on Dec. 3 against that same Hawks team that took a machete to their coverages Friday.
The Jekyll and Hyde – mostly Hyde – identity of the Raptors’ defence is incredibly frustrating to watch, especially because of how amazing the offence is, but there’s something resembling last season’s defence within this team somewhere – maybe even better than last season – they just need to find it again sometime before May.
Rough end to 2016 ahead
Tuesday’s contest against the Brooklyn Nets will be the Raptors’ final home game of 2016, what follows is an eight-game stretch going into the new year that makes you wonder just what the Raptors did to the NBA schedule makers to bring this gauntlet upon them during the holidays.
The schedule looks as follows:
• Dec. 23 – At Utah Jazz
• Dec. 26 – At Portland Trail Blazers
• Dec. 28 – At Golden State Warriors
• Dec. 29 – At Phoenix Suns
• Jan. 1 – At Los Angeles Lakers
• Jan. 3 – At San Antonio Spurs
• Jan. 5 – Versus Utah Jazz
• Jan. 7 – At Chicago Bulls
That’s seven of eight games on the road, including six straight to end the year and kick off 2017, seven straight against western conference teams and an eight-game stretch facing a combined win percentage, as of Monday afternoon, of .559.
Happy New Year Raptors, from your pals the NBA.
