It was exactly what the doctor ordered.
Not often would you thank the schedule maker for a home and road back-to-back assignment, but playing the Philadelphia 76ers was the tonic the struggling Toronto Raptors needed. Riding a three-game losing streak with MVP candidates Anthony Davis and Steph Curry upcoming on the schedule, a loss to the woeful Sixers would constitute panic mode territory. Especially since the Raptors’ wing depth has been depleted with DeMarre Carroll and Terrence Ross unavailable due to injury.
However, it was the way, and more importantly who, the Raptors were forced to play that may have provided some relief to what previously ailed them.
What the Raptors still haven’t solved is their terrible starts. Last year Philly began the season 0-17. They have yet to win this season and in fact the last time Philadelphia won was March 25 at Denver, 99-85. Despite all of that, the Sixers started the game 9-18 from the field. Philly came in to the contest only averaging 90 points a game yet the Toronto starters gave up 34 in the first quarter on 56 per cent shooting.
It was a different story from then on after the defensive tone was set by the Raptors’ bench contributors. Chief among them was Norman Powell, who went from playing three minutes versus New York to 24 against Philadelphia. In the second frame the Raptors hit their first nine of 11 to go on a 15-4 run sparked by Powell and Cory Joseph. Toronto’s 63 points after two quarters is the most they’ve scored in the first half this season. That momentum carried over into the third quarter where they outscored Philadelphia by 13 to put the game out of reach. The outburst after the halftime break is nothing new as the Raptors are No. 3 in the NBA in third quarter scoring. They are now 6-1 when scoring 100 or more points.
Luis Scola was the main catalyst of the big third, shooting 8-10 and scoring 17 in the quarter. It’s fitting the man who dominated the youngest team in the NBA was the elder statesman on the Raptors; the Argentinian found his offensive touch, posting 21 points on 10-15 from the field to go with his five rebounds and a steal in just 18:33 of work.
Despite carrying the offensive load, Scola credited the team’s defence as the reason they made a run. “You get eight stops in a row, and then you start running, then you see shots,” he said. “When you see shots your confidence builds, your margin of error grows bigger.”
The injury to the left thumb of Terrence Ross may be a blessing in disguise for the Raptors’ perimeter defensive woes.
Head coach Dwane Casey singled out Powell’s insertion in the rotation as a reason for the increased defensive intensity. “He did a good job of being tough on the defensive end,” Casey said. “He got in to their shooters, their scorers, attacked the rim with some force. That is what young guys should do, come in and play with a lot of energy and add energy to the lineup.”
Powell wasn’t the only strong bench performer. As usual the steady hand on the bench was Joseph, who dropped 15 points, on 6-of-9 shooting, to go along with his five assists.
The defence of Bismack Biyombo was paramount, but he managed to stay on the floor by contributing offensively with a double-double (10-points, 10-rebounds) in 21 minutes.
More than anything what the bench did was allow the Raptors’ horses to rest on the second night of a back to back with a big road trip ahead. Kyle Lowry had 23 points, eight assists and three rebounds in just 28 minutes. DeMar DeRozan chipped in with 14 points and four rebounds in only 27 minutes.
This win isn’t a true litmus test, just a potential stumbling block avoided in a long season. Toronto remains the only Eastern Conference team not to lose to Philadelphia in the last two years. Carl Landry is the Sixers’ only player born before the 90’s and he sat out the contest with a wrist injury; as did Nerlens Noel, one of seven players out of the lineup due to injury.
A loss would have been more of an indicator than the win is. But what it did reveal is Casey and his staff have some options to jump-start their bench even when they return to full health. Hard not to make a case for Powell to take some, if not all of Ross’s second unit minutes if he continues to defend the perimeter well. Maybe Casey can lean on Scola to close games more often at the four instead of playing Carroll in small lineups.
The bench bailed the slow-starting Raptors out once again in The City of Brotherly Love. I would love to see some competition for bench minutes when their fallen brethren return to the fold.