Here are 10 takeaways from the Toronto Raptors' 114-105 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
One -- The Raptors reaped what they sowed. There was no atmosphere in their return home to Scotiabank Arena, except for the decidedly lackadaisical tone that started in warmups. Whether it was veteran leaders trying trick shots like Stephen Curry, or deep reserves chucking up half-court prayers a minute before tip-off, there was no sense of seriousness nor intent in how the Raptors approached the night, and it showed in the results. They fell down by 34 points in the first half against a road-weary and shorthanded opponent, to which they have already lost to earlier in the year. And while the Raptors deserve credit for how hard they fought despite the overwhelming deficit, they only have themselves to blame for not showing up at the start.
Two -- It was almost unbelievable how badly the Raptors performed in the first half. The Raptors shot just 23 percent from the field and had 11 made baskets compared to 10 turnovers. There were some point-blank chances not taken, but the Raptors also were shooting themselves in the foot with the types of errors they were making. Gary Trent Jr. botched three transition layups in the first quarter alone, while Pascal Siakam tried to force the issue and picked up a pair of offensive fouls that sent him to the bench with over eight minutes left in the second. There was so little cohesion or intent behind the few plays they tried to run. For example, Nick Nurse called the first timeout after the Raptors immediately slid into a double-digit deficit, only for his team to produce a heavily contested jumper from Fred VanVleet, followed by an even more difficult attempt at a spinning hook shot from Trent Jr. Raptors general manager Bobby Webster had sat behind the basket at the start of the game, only to walk down the tunnel and not return as the Raptors slipped into a 33-15 deficit at the end of the first quarter.
Three -- Portland's simple zone defence had the Raptors flummoxed. The Blazers shifted to a zone as soon as Nurse inserted the hustle duo of Chris Boucher and Precious Achiuwa into the game as his reserves, and they stuck with the look for most of the half. Nobody on the Raptors took the level-headed approach of getting inside the zone, touching the paint, and making a play from the middle. Instead, the team mostly swung it harmlessly around the perimeter, before ending in some contested three that would miss badly leading to transition opportunities going the other way. Part of this speaks to the Raptors personnel, which is light on reliable outside shooting, but it was also just a failure to execute. There were a handful of plays where two players would both cut to the elbows trying to fill the role of zone buster, only to make life even easier for the Blazers as they crowded each other out. Teams are smart in the NBA. Portland likely saw how the Raptors almost blew their lead when Washington zoned up, and the Wizards probably got the idea from when Dallas used the same strategy against the Raptors.
Four -- The Raptors compounded their own problems by failing to execute on the defensive end. The game plan should have been fairly simple in the absence of Damian Lillard, but the team couldn't even do the basics. First off, their transition was poor, with the Blazers getting an alley-oop after a made basket in the first half, and then racing ahead for a two-on-one break to answer one of Toronto's rare threes. Second, there were simple mistakes where the Raptors were consistently a step slow in their rotations out to Portland's shooters, who torched them all night to the tune of 18 threes at a 56 percent hit rate. Some of it was great shotmaking, but a lot of the looks were avoidable with more attention to detail. The Raptors kept playing too tight to Dennis Smith Jr., who mostly wants to slash and he was able to get downhill to draw the extra defender. Another mistake was how often the Raptors lost track of a gunner like Ben McLemore who had a field day out of the corner.
Five -- The second half was an entirely different story. The Raptors played an all-out style of defence where they were pressing full court and trapping near half, and it nearly flipped the game. The Blazers were caught off-guard and coughed up 12 turnovers which gave the Raptors extra possessions to eat into the deficit. But even their base defence was better, as pride was starting to kick in, with the double teams being more aggressive and better ball pressure on the whole. The whole approach got the Raptors looking like themselves as a team that scores off their defence. It wasn't enough to salvage the win, but turning a 34-point deficit into a four-point game in the last two minutes is hardly easy.
Six -- VanVleet is taking on more than he should. Even at the start, VanVleet took eight shots in the first quarter alone as he tried his hardest to jumpstart the team. Except that the end result was just a smattering of missed prayers as he only made one of his attempts. There's no doubt that VanVleet is the best shooter on the team and that he is capable of nailing momentum-shifting shots, but it's starting to feel unbalanced as to how much the team is oriented around feeding him. Still, what's special about VanVleet is the variety of ways in which he is able to affect the game even if his torrid shooting has fallen off over the last two weeks. His defence in the second half was maniacal, as he constantly applied double teams to pressure the Blazers into turnovers.
Seven -- Siakam is too important to be saddled with foul trouble. He picked up two quick offensive fouls during a hairy stretch for the Raptors at the start of the second quarter, pinning him to the bench at the eight-minute mark of the second quarter. The Raptors were unable to replicate the pressure that he puts on the basket. It's hardly a coincidence that the offence found its footing when Siakam was back on the floor in the second half. His ability to create an angle on his defender to get to the basket with his assortment of quick-twitch moves is unmatched on the team, and he poured in 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting in the second half with all dozen of his makes coming within the paint.
Eight -- Anunoby had a tough night on offence. It's always difficult when he's not hitting open threes, but his approach was just not efficient. Anunoby seems determined to create shots, whether that's slashing to the basket or setting up his stepback jumper after breaking out his programmatic set of dribbles and it's not working. He was blocked three times which is unfathomable for someone in his role as a secondary scorer and it shows a lack of awareness in his moves. Until he finds his rhythm again, it might be best to scale it back to what he does reliably, which is catch-and-shoot for three, post-up against smaller players and finish sequences in transition. But then again, this comes down to a question of what this season is all about. For development purposes, it makes sense for Anunoby to work through it but results will be uneven in the meantime.
Nine -- This was a strange game for Barnes on the whole. In the win over the Washington Wizards, Barnes scored at will on the interior against smaller defenders, but he got the opposite assignment in Jusuf Nurkic, who sat back in the lane and largely ignored Barnes. He tried to beat that strategy by shooting 11 threes but outside of a quick flurry of three triples in the third quarter. The gamble paid off as Barnes wasn't looking to attack while Nurkic provided timely help at the basket as a free rover. In games like this, it would be best to involve Barnes as the screener as often as possible to create two-on-one chances to punish Nurkic for sitting back.
Ten -- Much of the comeback came on the backs of the reserves. Chris Boucher gave them a shot in the arm in the first quarter, Dalano Banton was great in the second and Justin Champagnie's shift in the second half was excellent as he nailed two threes while picking up two steals. If Nurse wants to extend the rotation, Banton would be the best choice, as he can push the pace in transition while being disruptive with his length on defence. He's consistently performed at the G-League level, scoring 33 points in his most recent trip, which hardly guarantees success in the big leagues. Except that it's at least better than the clunker showings from Malachi Flynn at all levels of late. There's not a guarantee that Banton will be reliable, but there's at least the upside that he can positively impact the game to buy VanVleet some much-needed rest.
