Toronto Raptors
Up to this point in the season the Toronto Raptors‘ defense has been on point but their offense was still a bit behind. It makes sense that would be the case considering they lost the central piece of their game as far as scoring.
When it comes to defense, you don’t need the same level of chemistry that is required to be successful on the offensive end. Move your feet, keep your hands up, rotate on time, box out. All of that can happen with a bunch of guys who’ve never played together before.
On Wednesday though, the Raptors had their most complete offensive game of the season so far. Kyle Lowry is not playing like a guy who’s previous season lasted into June. That championship Kool-Aid must be legit.
He was leading the NBA in fast-break points going into Wednesday night’s game with 32 according to Josh Lewenberg. The next guys on the list are down at 25. Kyle continued his strong early-season performance with 20 points, two steals, and eight assists. And according to Lewenberg, Kyle feels like he can play even better. That’s excellent news for Raptors’ fans.
Future first-time All-Star (and by future I mean February 2020) Pascal Siakam is continuing to prove that he deserved every penny of the $130 million extension he signed with the Raptors. He just keeps getting better. When a young player starts to become the focus of opposing defenses, you’d expect that they’d have to take a step back to figure out how to continue to be productive. Not Siakam. His ability to learn on the fly means he’s able to adjust in real-time.
In Wednesday’s game, he had 30 points in 30 minutes of play. High production and in the kind of playtime that means he won’t be burned out come playoff time. What more can you ask for? Oh, I know. Playmaking. Did I mention he also had 5 assists?
Fred VanVleet‘s 11 assists with Kyle Lowry’s 20 points show that Fred having the ball in his hands takes the pressure off of Lowry freeing him up for more scoring. A starting lineup with two 6-foot guards shouldn’t work. But it’s not just kind of working in Toronto, it’s working really well.
Patrick McCaw and Norman Powell also had solid performances off the bench. Both started out the season disappointingly slow in ways that made me wonder where the depth off the bench was going to come from. If these two guys can build on their performances from Wednesday night, that question will have been answered.