First, there was the unfortunate-but-still-very-manageable Patrick McCaw knee injury.
Then both Kyle Lowry (thumb) and Serge Ibaka (ankle) both left New Orleans on the injured list.
And now OG Anunoby is dealing with a contusion in his right eye that will see him miss Wednesday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers and likely more games.
The injury bug has hit the Toronto Raptors and, unlike in years past, this greedy little thing has come back for seconds, thirds, fourths and – who knows? – could be coming for even more as it’s appears to be treating the Raptors roster like its personal all-you-can-eat buffet.
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But even as this locust-like wave of unfortunate events have ravaged the Raptors over their past two games, the team has just kept chugging along like business as usual.
Toronto’s Los Angeles trip was a success as the team managed to pull off one incredibly fun and impressive victory over the Lakers Sunday and then a moral victory of sorts Monday against the Clippers as the team only lost, really, because it eventually ran out of steam on the second night of a back-to-back.
Most importantly from these two games, the Raptors showed glimpses as to how they might be able to keep the boat steady while they wait for guys to return healthy, and it starts with the performance we’ve seen of the previously little-used players such as Chris Boucher, Terence Davis, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Matt Thomas stepping up and rising to the occasion.
Additionally, we’ve seen the play of Pascal Siakam remain as brilliant as it’s ever been this season – with one wrinkle – and the apparent re-discovery of form from Norman Powell.
The sample size is obviously minuscule, and it’s very reasonable to expect drops in performance, but the early returns have been promising at the very least. Here’s a closer look at what’s been working so far.
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Pascal Siakam
Given the Raptors’ record at the moment, it’s not stretch to say that Siakam is playing like an MVP at the moment, with season averages of 26.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.
Siakam jumped out to an incredible start to this Western Conference road trip the Raptors are currently on, dropping 44 points on just 28 shots against the Pelicans. But after Lowry and Ibaka went down in that game, he saw his scoring and efficiency drop in L.A. as he put up 20 points on 35.7 per cent shooting against the Lakers and Clippers.
Part of this came from the fact the two Los Angeles clubs are both strong defensively and have personnel to bother Siakam, but another big reason stems from the fact Siakam had more responsibility on the defensive end, and has been asked to play point guard for stretches, to boot.
To the latter point, in the two L.A. games, Siakam averaged five assists per game and has looked quite comfortable carrying the ball up the floor and running offence.
The Raptors have just one point guard at the moment in Fred VanVleet, but knowing that the Siakam can reliably play a little point guard will certainly help during these trying times.
Norman Powell
In the seven games Powell played before the Raptors took off on this long road trip, he was averaging only 7.4 points and shooting 38.3 per cent from the field. In the three games since, however, he’s averaging 15.7 points on 51.6 per cent shooting, looking far more confident and sure of himself than he’s had all season long.
It’s not entirely clear what suddenly clicked for Powell, but the Raptors shouldn’t be complaining as it’s come at a very opportune time with so players going down.
His three-point stroke isn’t there yet (he’s only shooting 33.3 per cent from deep), but the old straight-line drive has come with purpose and his finishing ability looks to be back on track.
Chris Boucher
With Ibaka going down and Siakam forced into a point-guard role because of the Lowry injury, the Raptors were looking especially thin at their big-man rotation.
And then head coach Nick Nurse called Chris Boucher’s number.
While in Los Angeles, the Canadian’s been averaging 14 points, two three-pointers made on 44.4 per cent shooting from beyond the arc and 2.5 blocks per game and has been something of a revelation for the Raptors when they really needed the help up front.
“He’s got a little bit of game outside and inside, blocking some shots, pretty good rebounder down there as well and he plays pretty fearlessly,” Nurse told reporters of Boucher’s performance in Los Angeles after the Clippers game. “He’s been good, really good, to see in two games, a guy that’s gonna to probably have to stay in the rotation.”
Terence Davis
He didn’t look as good against the Clippers, but on Sunday against the Lakers, Davis was exactly the kind of change-of-pace energy wing Nurse wanted him to be, knocking down open shots and playing tenacious defence by actively crashing the glass.
Even dating back to the McCaw injury, it was looking like the role of the No. 8 man in the rotation was leaning towards Davis as he provides the Raptors with an athletic wing that Nurse can trust to at least put in some serious effort on the defensive end.
But while what Davis was going to bring defensively was a known commodity, what wasn’t was his offensive game.
Sunday, though, Davis showed the three-point shooting ability that’s needed for him to stick in the league and just what his natural athleticism can do for him as an offensive player as he scored 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, going 3-for-5 from three-point range and even collecting five rebounds.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
Hollis-Jefferson has only gotten into three games this season, with two of them coming recently in L.A.
Known as a defensive specialist, Hollis-Jefferson was asked to check the likes of LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard in back-to-back nights after not seeing the floor for five straight games and, against Leonard especially, looked every bit the stopper he supposedly is cracked up to be.
In about 28 possessions matching up on defence as the primary defender against James and Leonard, Hollis-Jefferson conceded just two points, no field goals and committed just two fouls. More impressively, because of Anunoby going down so early on Monday against the Clippers, Hollis-Jefferson was, essentially, given the Leonard defensive assignment and really shone as — when he was individually matched up with him — he held Leonard to zero points on 0-or-4 shooting and didn’t commit a foul on him.
Judging by these two L.A. games it looks like the Raptors could have a reliable perimeter defender on their hands in Hollis-Jefferson, and the fact Hollis-Jefferson managed to chip in with nine- and, 10-point scoring efforts was just the cherry on top.
Matt Thomas
Last, but certainly not least, we have Thomas, who didn’t get as much burn as the likes of Boucher, Davis and Hollis-Jefferson, but, as has been the case every time he’s been on the floor this season, looked just as deadly from deep as ever.
Thomas is shooting an outrageous 64.3 per cent from three this season with an effective field-goal percentage of 97.1 (not quite 99 per cent, but pretty close).
On the season, Thomas is only averaging two three-point attempts per game and has only attempted more than two looks from deep twice, but what would happen if he was given a little more leash and upped his attempts? His shooting ability seems darn-well undeniable, so it might be worth it for the Raptors to give him more opportunity.
