TORONTO — So, here’s the night in one play:
There was more to it than that, probably. But there also wasn’t. The Cleveland Cavaliers showed up to work Monday with about the same enthusiasm you did, while the Toronto Raptors enjoyed the slump-bustingest of slump-busters, running away with a 133-113 victory.
Powell threw down that thunderbolt sometime late in the third quarter — a rambunctious frame in which he scored 16. It came a little bit before Pascal Siakam’s fifth three, and not long after Kyle Lowry completed the 110th double-double of his Raptors career, moving into a tie with Antonio Davis for third in franchise history (Jonas Valanciunas has 137 and Chris Bosh has a ridiculous 239).
These are the things the Raptors do offensively at their best — moving the ball, hitting threes, making hay in transition. A final box score that shows five players in double-figures, 31 assists on 52 field goals, 50 per cent (16-of-32) shooting form beyond the arc, and 29 fast-break points to the opposition’s four is the formula for your trademark Raptors victory here in the final days of the decade. There was only one thing out of the ordinary, and one thing missing.
The one thing missing we’ll get to in a minute. The one thing out of the ordinary was Powell’s 26 points, six rebounds, five assists, four steals, and zero turnovers. At least out of the ordinary in the context of his career. Of late, it’s almost commonplace. Monday was Powell’s third consecutive 20-point performance, and the fifth in his last nine games. Coming into this season, he’d yet to top 20 in back-to-back contests over a four-year, 255-game career.
“I think I’m really comfortable,” Powell said. “Just being able to read what the defence is doing, how they’re playing, where their bigs are at. Whether it’s a finish or a kick-out or a drop-off to the bigs. I’m taking what the defence is giving me and being aggressive and thinking that I’m going to try to go up there and dunk the ball. Even if I’m not dunking it. That mindset gets me more aggressive in being able to finish whatever it is.”
Powell played so well, and is playing so well, that it’s fair to wonder what happens when the Raptors reintroduce the injured Fred VanVleet to the rotation. That’s the one thing missing. Does VanVleet step back into the starter’s role he vacated? Or does Raptors head coach Nick Nurse keep rolling with Powell, who’s right now on the heater of his life?
Asked after Monday’s game if Powell’s play was making him reconsider who his starters would be once VanVleet returns, Nurse was brief yet revealing.
“It certainly will,” he said. “It certainly will make me reconsider it.”
That’s at least a minor surprise, considering Nurse has indicated in the past that he favours VanVleet starting alongside Lowry, and that Powell’s challenge would be finding a way to replicate his production as a starter in a bench role. But that departure speaks — actually, it bellows — to how well Powell’s playing right now.
“When he’s in the open floor he’s being decisive, putting the jets on, and going to the rim. And he’s finishing,” Nurse said of what’s changed in Powell’s play. “I think a few games ago he was looking around, trying to figure out where to go and who to throw it to — and he wasn’t making the right decision all the time. What I like is the speed at which he sees the open floor and goes to it. It’s reminiscent of a few years ago.”
So, stay tuned. The Raptors have been evasive with the particulars of VanVleet’s injury, as they often are, referring to it only as a contusion. It’s definitely to his right knee. And it’s definitely the sort of ailment that doesn’t afford a reliable timeline of recovery. He’ll just be ready when he’s ready. And Monday night he wasn’t.
“He’s making some progress, hopefully. Day-to-day still,” Nurse said before the game. “I think there’s a little swelling there. I’m not sure it’s a bone bruise or just a little swelling or a little soreness.”
And while the Raptors have found ways to win without him, it’s impossible not to notice VanVleet’s absence on the floor. It’s not only his shooting that the Raptors could have used throughout their recent slump from beyond the arc. And it’s not only his aggressiveness pushing the ball in transition or his nose for the basket through traffic.
It’s his ability to facilitate and run the offence with the starters, allowing Lowry to take turns working off the ball. And it’s his utility running secondary units, as well — a job that has fallen squarely on Lowry’s shoulders since he went down.
And Lowry’s great at it. But he could probably benefit from another couple minutes on the bench in the middle of halves in order to be at his best come crunch time. But Without VanVleet, Nurse doesn’t have a reliable option to get the most from his reserves. And so, Lowry spent nearly 37 minutes on the floor in Monday’s laugher against Cleveland, and is currently averaging nearly 39 minutes per night in seven games since returning from a long-term injury.
So, maybe that’s why Nurse can envision VanVleet returning to a bench role upon his return. The Raptors keep continuity in their starting lineup, Powell gets to see how long he can ride this hot streak, VanVleet provides a valuable boost to Toronto’s bench lineups, and then Nurse can roll out whatever’s working for crunch time.
Because, remember, some of Toronto’s best lineups have featured Lowry and VanVleet playing together. It increases Toronto’s capacity to create shots, puts two playmakers in the back court, and maximizes sheer unquantifiable hustle at both ends of the floor.
“Fred and Kyle are two really special players,” Nurse said before Monday’s game. “They’re tough, they can shoot, they defend, they can take on bigger people, and they really know how to play the game.”
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VanVleet wasn’t needed Monday against the Cavaliers but, frankly, not much was. If the Raptors have proven one thing through the first 30 per cent of this season it’s that they can reliably boat-race teams like Cleveland, as they should. Toronto has yet to lose to a club without considerable breathing room above .500, with the 17-9 Houston Rockets representing the most unsuccessful team the Raptors have fallen to thus far.
If you’ve been a Raptors fan for a while, you can appreciate this improvement over the Dwane Casey-led, DeMar DeRozan-featuring teams of yore, which unfailingly played down to lesser opposition, relying on late-game dramatics to pull out nail-biters against second-class foes.
But if you’re the perpetually anxious type — and aren’t all Toronto sports fans? — you see the problem herein. If the Raptors are going to raise another banner next to the big, black-and-gold one hanging atop Scotiabank Arena’s west end, they’re going to have to beat those good teams at some point. Not necessarily some point soon. But some point before long.
And everyone would feel a lot better about Toronto’s odds of doing that four times in seven chances if they could come up with a victory or two against elite opposition before things get real. Dates later this week against the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards won’t present such opportunities. But a home date against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, plus a home-and-home with the Boston Celtics starting Christmas Day, certainly will.
We’ll see if they can do it. And we’ll see what Nurse’s starting lineup looks like if Powell can keep this up. It’s a good problem, having too many players capable of starting and finishing games. It’s one Nurse should hope he gets to continue to grapple with. Because, in the end, the Raptors will need everyone.
“I’ve said it before — whatever best way helps the team. I’m going out there and doing whatever I can to help the team,” Powell said. “Whatever decision they make, however they feel, I’m going to go out there and put my best foot forward. Whether I’m coming off the bench, starting, it doesn’t matter to me. As long as we’re winning. I’ve always been like that. And that’s not going to change.”
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