Powell making a case to start in Raptors’ regular-season opener

Toronto Raptors guard Norman Powell (24) shoots past Chicago Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen, right, during the first half of an NBA preseason basketball game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Chicago. (Matt Marton/AP)

Well, that’s a wrap. It was fun while it lasted.

The Toronto Raptors closed out their short-but-sweet five-game exhibition schedule with a 125-104 win over the Chicago Bulls at the United Center to finish with a 3-2 record. Toronto rode some solid contributions from their second unit to victory, with newcomer C.J. Miles as the centrepiece. Most importantly, no one got hurt in the proceedings. The Raptors have some good practice time before they open the regular season against the same Bulls on Thursday at the Air Canada Centre.

Here are six takeaways from Friday night’s win.

Miles looking like a perfect fit

It’s probably wise to avoid getting too excited about these things, but it’s beginning to look like Miles is going to be one of those acquisitions that is an absolute perfect fit.

He’s not just a guy who makes threes, he’s also a pure sniper who has unlimited range – witness his pull-up triple from several feet behind the line in the second quarter – and has the footwork, the release and the height to turn a marginal opportunity for a three into a bucket. Without disparaging Patrick Patterson or DeMarre Carroll – who combined to shoot a respectable 34.4 per cent from deep last year – Miles is in another class. His motto is ‘I’m always hot’ and it’s pretty refreshing to see the ball consistently finding a guy who is so happy to take advantage.

Miles got up six quick threes in his first-half stint, making three and providing the steadiness that second unit can use and the 16 first-half points off the bench were pretty useful, too. By the time he checked in again with four minutes left in the third quarter, the Bulls had pulled within one, but Miles stepped off the bench and hit another triple. He finished 6-of-11 from deep and his 27 points in 20 minutes of floor time led all scorers. It’s early, but what a pick-up.

Siakam shows encouraging signs

Pascal Siakam got the start for the Raptors in place of Serge Ibaka, who was rested.

One thing Siakam does really well is run the floor. There can’t be many bigs who do it better across NBA. He simply sprints to straight to rim and gets there faster than the other guy. It’s the least fancy play imaginable but not enough players do it and he does it every time. He scored his first two – and only, as it turned out — baskets doing exactly that. It’s a welcome element. He also set up for a pair of wide-open corner threes, which is something he’s been working on feverishly.

I don’t see any reason why Siakam can’t be competent from that spot, but confidence is everything. When I’ve asked him about it, he allows that one of the hardest things in transitioning from a big who doesn’t shoot threes – he took just 20 threes in two years of college, making three – to a guy who is supposed to be a threat from the NBA line is accepting that there will be misses. A moment later, Siakam failed to pull the trigger on another open three and it ended up being a wasted possession for Toronto.

The kids are alright

We got another look at the second-unit sans DeRozan late in the first quarter as Fred VanVleet and Delon Wright took the floor with Miles, Jakob Poeltl and OG Anunoby. First impressions? They could use another perimeter threat.

The ball has a way of finding those who aren’t ready to shoot, as Sam Mitchell used to say, and in the lineup that took the floor in Chicago, the ball seemed to find Anunoby wide open around the arc. His lack of comfort seemed evident early as his go-to move was a couple of pump fakes before releasing a shot that’s not in his arsenal yet, this on top of his 0-for-4 on Tuesday. But maybe he just needed to shake off that rust? Anunoby bounced back to hit three triples in four attempts in the fourth quarter suggest. It bodes well, put that way, as the rest of his tool kit seems more than ready for NBA action. He finished with 12 points and three rebounds in 17 minutes. As a bonus, Anunoby is a threat to drive and he can put pressure on the defence that way.

The second unit’s finest moment might have been a wide-open corner three by VanVleet on the last possession of the first quarter when he drove, kicked it out to Anunoby in the corner, who put it on the floor before finding Wright at the top and whipped it down to VanVleet for a triple from the far corner.

The kids might be all right, after all. They entered the game with the starters up by three and extended it to 11 after Miles hit his second triple and Lowry and DeRozan had checked back in. Not bad. They dominated the fourth quarter, too, and were the reason the Raptors won the game.

Powell making a case to start in season opener

That’s two solid showings from the second unit with Miles, and at the moment, it looks like Norman Powell will be the starter come Thursday, although it likely it remains a fluid situation.

If Powell can shoot like he did against Chicago – he was just 2-of-8, but that he’s willing and ready to put up that volume of shots from deep – he will help create space for DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas to operate.

Hometown kid gets a shot

It was nice to see Alfonzo McKinnie earning some real minutes in the first quarter in front of his hometown crowd. He said the other day that it was his first game at the United Center of any kind. McKinnie played for the Windy City Bulls in the G-League last year, but they didn’t have any games in the big arena.

I’m not sure where he’ll fit in the rotation and how much his early minutes were Raptors head coach Dwane Casey just doing a solid for a hometown kid, but I’m sure it made a lot of people’s night. Based on how Casey doled out minutes over the final two exhibition games, you can only conclude that the 14th roster spot is going to McKinnie and that the Raptors may be leaning towards leaving the 15th slot open as K.J. McDaniels got just two minutes of garbage time.

Lowry is raring to go

Lowry is clearly ready to play for real. Early in the second half, DeRozan made a sloppy entry pass to Valanciunas that got picked off. Lowry was standing outside and below the three-point line and won a foot race to the ball into the Raptors half of the court, sprinting past a trio of Bulls along the way. He calmly brought the ball back up and the play ended with a three from Powell. A few possessions later, Lowry got up under Denzel Valentine, forced the turnover and then drew a foul on the chase for that loose ball. Get this man into a game that matters.

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