Welcome to the Weekly Rap, a resource for getting you caught up on what went down in the past week and what’s on the docket in Raptorland.
Following a loss to the Chicago Bulls, that included surrendering 49 points in a single quarter, there was much trepidation surrounding the Toronto Raptors as they were about to embark on a very tough-looking, five-game Western Conference road swing.
After two games out in the Wild West, however, all fears should be allayed.
The Raptors have managed to open their foray on the left coast with victories against the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets in back-to-back contests and as such now look golden for the rest of the trip.
Coming into the roadie, two wins was looking like the goal in order to make the trip successful because of the quality of competition.
Mission accomplished.
With the primary goal out of the way, it’s now time for the Raptors to get greedy. As the road trip so far – and most of the season – has proven, Toronto is a good team and its place in the standings shouldn’t be considered a coincidence, so why be satisfied with just the bare minimum?
With encounters next against two of the NBA’s top-five teams in the Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors, why not show the supposed class of the league that they also belong in that conversation.
Record
24-7 (1st in Atlantic Division, 1st in Eastern Conference)
What happened?
This Tyler Hansbrough dunk
What was learned?
Caboclo was sent down to the D-League: Raptors first-round pick Bruno Caboclo was given the oddest of Christmas presents via a demotion to the NBA Development League.
Caboclo made his D-League debut on Saturday racking up 13 points and seven rebounds, but may have been a little too trigger happy in his quest for points. In his second game on Sunday, he barely saw the floor, only playing four minutes and going 0-for-3 from the field.
The Raptors fourth-quarter magic could be returning: During the Raptors’ hot start a signature trend that was noted was the club’s ability to flip a switch and turn it on in the fourth quarter. In Toronto’s most recent run the trend seemed to come to an end – that is until this past week.
In their wins against the Clippers and Nuggets, the Raptors tightened the screws defensively and managed to explode offensively in similar fashion to the beginning of the season and effectively close out both games. Even against the Bulls, where despite the 49 points given up in the fourth, they themselves scored 37 showcasing real heart in never wanting to die.
Is this the return of “We the fourth?”
Upcoming slate
- Tuesday 10:00 p.m., TOR at POR
- Friday 10:30 p.m., TOR at GS
- Sunday 8:00 p.m., TOR at PHO
Storylines to follow
Valanciunas’ surging confidence: Over his last six games, Raptors centre Jonas Valanciunas has been averaging 15.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game on 53.3 percent shooting. The 22-year-old’s confidence is at an all-time high and it’s shown in his play, acting more decisive with the post and not pump-faking himself out of good opportunities as often. Hopefully he can keep it up.
Lowry dominating his matchup: A big feature of this Raptors’ road trip has been the amount of quality Toronto is seeing at the point guard position, making Kyle Lowry that much more important to the team’s success. Through three games so far out on the road, Lowry has delivered and can be said to be flat-out dominating his matchup.
Against the Derrick Rose and the Bulls, Lowry dropped 34 points on 12-for-22 shooting and seven dimes, while Rose had 29 points and three assists; going up against the Clippers, Lowry had 25 points and seven assists to Chris Paul’s 10 and three; and versus the Nuggets Lowry put up 30 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, while Ty Lawson had 28 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
Up next for Lowry will be Damian Lillard, Steph Curry and the three-headed point guard monster of Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe and Isaiah Thomas. Should he overmatch these guys Lowry’s MVP candidacy should definitely pick up more than a little bit of steam.