SACRAMENTO, Calif. – As the Toronto Raptors tipped off against the Sacramento Kings Sunday night, it suddenly felt like they had a coach’s ransom of talent to draw on.
So weird.
After nearly a full season of trying to cobble together lineups from spare parts and the walking wounded, the Raptors were nearly whole for once as Marc Gasol made his return after a 15-game absence. With Fred VanVleet to be back in the next week, Toronto’s problem could soon be too many players, rather than not enough.
No one is complaining but it will be fascinating to see how Raptors head coach Nick Nurse figures out how to best divide the 240 minutes of playing time among at least 10 worthy candidates.
Not much changed against the Kings. Serge Ibaka – who had been starting in place of Gasol – kept his spot for the moment and looked like he’s in no rush to give it up and Norm Powell, who has been starting for VanVleet while he’s been out, showed again why he’ll be very difficult to take out of the starting rotation.
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Kyle Lowry has been a constant this season and was a rock again as the Raptors had to grind for a 118-113 win. Powell led the Raptors with 31 points to follow up his career-high 37 against Golden State on Thursday. Lowry added 30 points and eight assists while Pascal Siakam added 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Toronto needed all of it and then some.
The Raptors led 78-74 heading into the fourth quarter, but momentum seemed to shift when Lowry picked up his fifth foul just 13 seconds into the period. He stayed in the game although the player most missed was likely VanVleet, who could have relieved Lowry or at least provided some more support.
The Raptors bench certainly wasn’t providing it — they scored seven points combined for the night.
Lowry made do, playing nearly the entire quarter of a possession-by-possession game without picking up his sixth foul, and chipping in 13 points on seven shots – all of them critical.
“You don’t ever want to let your coaches down, let your head coach down,” said Lowry. “Him believing in you, and understanding that you’re in a situation where you can’t foul but you still got to play defence and play hard. That’s just one of those things where you don’t want to let your teammates down, you don’t want to let your coach down because he trusted you to be in that situation. I appreciate Nick for believing in me, and Nick and Nate and AG and those guys for believing I can play without fouling out.”
The fourth quarter was wild. The Raptors led 78-74 after three quarters and each team caught fire as they combed to shoot 58 per cent from the floor with Toronto winning the quarter 40-39.
It wasn’t until Siakam drove the lane with 27 seconds left that the Raptors had the lead for good and were able to ice the game from the line after that.
Toronto improved to 45-18 with the win — its third straight — and improved to 3-1 on its five-game road trip which winds up Monday night in Utah. Their timing was good too as the Boston Celtics lost at home to Oklahoma City and Toronto moved three games ahead in the battle for the second seed in the East. The Kings have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA lately, coming into the game with a 7-2 mark since the all-star break as they try to reel in the Memphis Grizzlies for the final playoff spot in the West and break the NBA’s longest streak without a post-season appearance, 13 years and counting.
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The Raptors caught a bit of a break with Sacramento playing on the second night of a back-to-back after winning in Portland on Saturday.
Gasol returned after missing 27 of the Raptors’ last 35 games with hamstring problems. He looked rusty, going 1-of-5 with three rebounds in his 16 minutes. With Ibaka already back and VanVleet (shoulder) to return for the Raptors next home game this coming Saturday, Toronto will have a new set of problems after spending much of season trying to figure how to stitch together a competitive lineup despite layers of injuries up and down their rotation.
Given Ibaka is putting up 18 points and nine rebounds while shooting 55 per cent from the field and 42.4 per cent from three as a starter while laying elite all-round defence, how do you tell him to go the bench? He finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds on Sunday.
When VanVleet returns the same question can be asked as it relates to Powell, who is having a career season and averaging 19 points a game in his 21 starts before last night while shooting 51.9 per cent from the field and 41.9 per cent from three.
Both Ibaka and Powell have played well off the bench which makes it easier in some ways, but if you’re trying to run your team on merit it’s hard to ignore what the two have accomplished.
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And while one option might be to play Ibaka and Gasol together – a lineup Nurse used for a stretch in the second quarter – that means OG Anunoby likely sits and he’s been the Raptors’ best and most versatile defender.
They are rich people’s problems, but they still require some attention.
“I think it’s really wide open. I don’t think [Serge or Marc] is the only question either,” said Nurse. “I really think Norm is forging his way in there as well. There are probably seven guys there that at any time any five of that seven could [start]. I think we obviously need a big and a point guard and then in the middle you are probably going to see Pascal out there most of the time. But I think we could start both Serge and Marc, we could start both Kyle and Norm. There’s a lot of things we could do but let me get to that when we get them all back and start figuring it out. I’d like again to see us be versatile and flexible with that.
“The step up in play of Norm and OG and Serge has put us in this good position where we would even consider it. They have all had their opportunities here and made the most of it really.”
If there is a benefit to all the injuries it’s that almost everyone has had a time to shine. With VanVleet, Ibaka and Gasol all heading into free agency, each has had ample time to show themselves in the regular season – a small consideration maybe, but it’s easier to ask guys to sacrifice if they’ve all had a chance to prove their worth.
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Having a championship in your back pocket and plans on another one focusses the mind also.
“I’m not worried about that,” said Powell, who is averaging 28 points a game in five starts since returning from a finger fracture, when asked about a change in role or minutes after VanVleet returns. “I play to win. I sacrifice myself for the team. Whatever the coaches think is best for us to go out there and get wins, I’m all for it. I give myself up for the team because it’s not about the production, it’s about the end goal and getting to where we want to be.
Certainly, Powell and Ibaka were displaying the full range of their abilities in the first half. Whether Ibaka was conscious of a potential change of role with Gasol returning or not, he certainly made an early case for the status quo. Ibaka put up 10 points on five shots in his first eight minutes helping the Raptors jump out to a 22-13 lead after nine minutes. Gasol then came in and mishandled the ball a couple of times while failing to find the mark on some wide-open looks. The Kings surged back and tied things up 22-22 heading into the second quarter.
The Kings began to push the pace at that point and opened up a 42-34 lead midway through the second period. At that point Powell began to roll and knocked down a pair of threes on either end of three straight by Lowry allowing the Raptors to pull ahead at the half, 51-50. Nurse also played Gasol with Ibaka during the same stretch to counter some big lineups the Kings were running with, this – of course – kept Anunoby on the bench.
The bottom line is it’s going to be hard for Nurse to play everyone in the role they prefer and with the minutes they likely deserve, but these are the kinds of challenges teams with championship aspirations can only embrace.
“I think we’re confident,” said Lowry. “I think we just, we know who we are, we know what we can do. But at the end of the day, health is the most important thing and getting guys to be comfortable on the floor and getting back guys together. We got some time. Marc’s been out for a while and Freddy’s been out for a little bit, but now we’re starting to piece together the guys, and get guys back to their normal roles and getting guys back to their comfortable situation but still being themselves.”
