NBA in Threes: 5 starters combined for 266 points; Injuries for the Raptors

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Toronto Raptors

Ironically, although the Toronto Raptors came away with a convincing win over the New Orleans Pelicans, it was a much worse night for the Raptors than it was for the Pelicans.

I don’t think many would have picked the Pelicans to win this game and there are a lot of things the Pelicans need to clean up if they’re going to have a chance at even a semi-respectable season once Zion Williamson makes his NBA debut.

The Pelicans went 10-41 from 3-point range. Oy vey! I know that the theme of the modern NBA is live by the three, die by the three but for goodness sakes! There needs to be at least a measure of common sense involved.

I mean, when you take 21 3-point shots in a half and only hit four of them, a change of strategy seems like an obvious course of action. If even seven of those missed 3-point attempts were made two-point field goals that would have been a score of 67 at half-time instead of 53. Until some of these young teams and their coaches start to appreciate that, there are going to be a lot more losses like this one.

In the first half for the Raptors, on the other hand, it rained threes. The Raptors shot 23 from range and made 13. Pascal Siakam was 5-10 from beyond the arc on his way to a 44 point, 10 rebound double-double performance.

OG Anunoby also continued his hot start to the season shooting scoring 21 points on 7-13 shooting including a lights out 5-7 from 3-point range. And besides that, OG’s defense is always on point. If OG can get his points average up around 15 or 16, a strong argument could be made for Siakam and OG as a fourth duo worthy of elite status this season.

Norman Powell also really showed up for the first time this season after a very slow start. He scored 18 points on 6-10 shooting and not a moment too soon. Because with all of the good news in this game, the bad news is much worse.

Both Serge Ibaka and Kyle Lowry were injured in last night’s game. Lowry will be reassessed in two weeks with a fracture in his left thumb. Ibaka is out indefinitely with a severe ankle sprain. Lowry and Ibaka have had fantastic starts to the season averaging 22 and 14 points respectively.

As if this wasn’t bad enough news for Raptors fans, the matchup with the Pelicans was the first of a five-game West Coast road trip. The Raptors’ next games are against the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers back-to-back on Sunday and Monday. I mean, come one, that scheduling was already so unfair.  The rest of the trip sees the Raptors squaring off against the Dallas Mavericks and the Portland Trail Blazers.

The good news is, with this tough road trip out of the way, by the time Lowry and Ibaka are back the Raptors will have moved on to a much less demanding portion of their schedule.

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