Youthful Raptors show makings of entertaining team in loss to Celtics

Toronto Raptors' Fred VanVleet, front left, drives against Boston Celtics' Romeo Langford, right, during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021, in Boston. (Winslow Townson/AP)

Even dating back to before training camp and pre-season started, expectations for the Toronto Raptors were being tempered.

This is basically a brand-new team with plenty of youth and inexperience on the roster, despite pieces from their 2019 championship still present on the team.

Therefore, it’s understandable why even Raptors head coach Nick Nurse hasn’t been all too bullish about his team.

“This is a different thing for us, we're young and nobody really knows many of our players, we've only got I think four guys that have actually played a game in Toronto on our team, even less than that but probably four,” said Nurse before his Raptors took on the Boston Celtics in pre-season action at TD Garden. “So it's OK. I think that, again, I like our length and athleticism and our hard play right now, and I say when you come to watch us play you should see a group really going at it and trying to guard and defend and flying around and you should leave the game and say, ‘Man, that was fun to watch.’ And that's really all I'm asking for. See what happens from there.”

And though it was just an exhibition game, Saturday’s 113-111 loss to the Celtics showed why this Raptors team could end up being quite a bit of fun to watch.

First off, like Raptors teams from the past, this is a team that looks to have some real fight in it and won’t quit.

Even though the Raptors had a poor first quarter that saw them trail 31-16, they didn’t hang their heads and got back into the game, cutting down that deficit to carry a 59-57 lead heading into the second half thanks to a 28-13 run within the last five minutes of that second period.

As part of this run, nearly all of the reasons for optimism that have been identified through the first two pre-season games around this Raptors team were apparent.

There was OG Anunoby seen drilling a pair of step-back triples with comfort and ease as he went on for a solid 17-point night, there was Svi Mykhailiuk coming off the bench making an immediate impact as a reliable-looking shooting-threat, hitting a three-pointer in the early stages of the quarter to help the Raptors get going in the period and there was Scottie Barnes finding a cutting Gary Trent Jr., for one of his game-high nine assists, leading Trent so expertly that the mid-range-happy guard seemed to have no choice but to take the easy layup.

And, as far as the game as a whole goes, it’s hard not to like what Precious Achiuwa was doing, even if he wasn’t flawless. No, he didn’t convert enough free throws and his shot selection was questionable at times, but the 13-point, 13-rebound double-double he had reasonably flashed what he can do as a relentless driver and a guy who can grab the rebound and immediately start the break. It’s an undeniably intriguing skill and could pay dividends for the Raptors down the line, particularly as his shooting and – as a nice dime he dropped off to Barnes in the third quarter illustrated – as a decision-maker on the break.

“Well, he's very talented, as I've told you guys before, and he's got some pieces to his game,” said Nurse after the game of Achiuwa. “He's got lots of things. I always say we’ve just got to kind of get him, again, keep getting to know him a little bit and just narrow down a little bit some things. I thought he made some really good drives tonight and had nothing to show for it at the end. If he finishes those three or four layups that he drove in, now we're talking, and he got to his right hand jump hook one time and those kinds of things.”

Apart from the silky-looking games from Anunoby and the 22 points from Fred VanVleet – two of the veteran leaders on the team this season – there were rough patches to be seen from just about every Raptor Saturday night, but, as Nurse was alluding to before the game, that’s OK because it’s unlikely you’ll ever yearn for more effort from these Raptors.

Even as it seemed like the game was slipping away from the Raptors in the fourth quarter, this was a team that continued to scrap and claw right to the final buzzer, even managing to tie it up at 109-109 with 44 seconds to go on a Sam Dekker triple.

After that, the Celtics’ Jabari Parker hit two free throws to put Boston up again only for Toronto’s David Johnson to tie it up at 111-111 with 19 seconds to play. Once again, however, Boston would go up. Juancho Hernangomez hit a pair of free throws to give the Celtics a 113-111 lead to set up a final play that resulted in Dalano Banton taking a three, missing it, Isaac Bonga then failing to tip in the rebound followed by Banton converting on that missed Bonga attempt, but the time expired.

And this was just a pre-season game.

“Well we want to play hard. I think that certainly we want it to be one of our things,” said Nurse. “I still think playing hard in this league takes you a long ways and I think when you’ve got a young team, you’ve gotta use some of that youthful energy and things like that. We did play hard. It was super entertaining. I would have bought tickets to watch that game tonight.”

What the Raptors are is still unknown, but you should expect this team to give it all it has every time it’s out there, no matter the stakes.

And, who knows, if this Raptors team plays hard like they did on Saturday every night moving forward, then perhaps it might be time to start raising expectations.

“We should be a playoff team. We should definitely be aiming for the playoffs,” said VanVleet. “I think we’ve got a long way to go, we’ve got a lot of guys we’ve got to bring along, but I think the goal should be to scrap and claw and be one of the teams that nobody likes to play against every night. Whether that’s being long at every position and being athletic and flying around, winning a bunch of games, and then towards the end of the season you never know what could happen.

“So I think we’ve just gotta give ourselves a chance but we should definitely be aiming high because anything can happen once you get to the post-season.”

Seems like this team will be pretty fun to watch this season.

When submitting content, please abide by our  submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.
We use cookies to improve your experience. Learn More or change your cookie preferences. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the use of cookies.
close