The Toronto Raptors have taken advantage of one of the NBA’s easiest schedules a quarter of the way through the season, turning in the league’s best record as November draws to a close.
Now the going gets tough for the Raptors as 10 of their next 12 matchups come against teams above .500. Toronto kicked off that difficult stretch with a 122-114 victory against the surprisingly good Memphis Grizzlies Tuesday.
Coming off a 22-60 campaign in 2017-18, the Grizzlies have returned to relevance thanks to a grind-it-out mentality anchored by a stout defence and resurgent efforts from veterans Marc Gasol and Mike Conley.
After trailing for much of the night, the Raptors turned things around in the second half and picked up their sixth straight win. Here are some takeaways from a wild game in Memphis.
Leonard the facilitator
Struggling with his offence for much of the evening, Kawhi Leonard sealed Toronto’s victory with his playmaking abilities down the stretch.
With the Raptors and Grizzlies exchanging blows throughout the fourth quarter, Leonard found Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet for corner threes on back-to-back possessions that gave the Raptors a six-point advantage with about four minutes left to play. Leonard then fed VanVleet for another triple with two minutes remaining to extend the advantage to 116-109. Memphis never came close after that dagger.
Leonard completely iced the game with a three-pointer of his own to finish with a solid line of 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists with just one turnover. It goes to show just how much of a difference-maker the former Finals MVP can be even if his scoring isn’t at its best.
Bizzaro Bigs
Memphis boasts one of the premier centres in the NBA in Gasol. For a coach who likes to tinker with his lineups depending on matchups, it seemed like Nick Nurse would start Jonas Valanciunas to counter Gasol’s size.
That was not the case as Nurse gave Serge Ibaka the assignment to kick things off, and it seemed to pay dividends early. With Gasol having to stretch out to cover Ibaka, the Raptors were able to capitalize, running out to a quick 8-0 lead in the game’s first minute and a half.
The Grizzlies responded and seized control for much of the game, but Ibaka had an effective offensive night, scoring 16 points on an efficient 7-of-11 shooting. Valanciunas saw just 14 minutes but finished with nine points of his own. Gasol was able to get the best of the Toronto bigs on the other end, cruising to a game-high 27-point performance.
First-half blues
A quick glance at the first-half box score would give the impression the Raptors were rolling: 58 per cent shooting, 50 per cent from three-point range, and 10 fast-break points against the stingiest defensive team in the Association. The score at halftime? 71-59 Grizzlies.
Nine turnovers and poor defence hurt the Raptors in a big way in the first 24 minutes as the league’s lowest-scoring team was able to hang a whopping 71 points on Toronto. For context, the Grizzlies average just 103 points per game.
It seemed like Memphis was in position to ride its defence to an easy win, but the Raptors refused to roll over…
Flipping the script
Entering the third quarter, the Raptors found themselves in a unique position. Nurse’s club is usually the one with the double-digit lead, not the other way around. Whereas Toronto has a tendency to let opponents back into games instead of stepping on their throats, it was their turn to do the rallying Tuesday.
After going down by as many as 17 points in the third quarter, the Raptors reeled off a 20-8 run in the middle of the frame to get right back into the game. VanVleet in particular was a key scorer in the Raptors’ comeback victory, and he seems to be shaking off his slow start with four consecutive double-digit-scoring performances.
The 24-year-old ended the evening with a healthy 18 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting. Lowry finished with a team-best 24 points and added six assists for good measure.
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