Toronto Raptors Roundup: Stories and Highlights From Week Five

Game Recap

New Orleans at Toronto

Superman had kryptonite. Batman had The Joker. Seinfeld had Newman.

And the Toronto Raptors have Jrue Holiday.

Probably an overstatement but on this particular night, Holiday and his backcourt partner E’Twaun Moore certainly had their way with the Raptors defeating the good guys 126-110.

The Pelicans guards thoroughly outplayed Toronto guards as Holiday scored 29 points with 14 assists while Moore scored a game-high 30 points.

Kyle Lowry played one of his worst games of the season hitting only 1-for-9 from the field while shooting even worse from deep (0-for-6). The team didn’t do much better going 13-for-45 (28.9-percent) from deep.

Pascal Siakam, the Eastern Conference Player of the Week, was the best Raptor again, with an efficient 22 points in 28 minutes.

Perhaps more of a concern than poor shooting was the Raptors inability to match the pace and speed of the Pelicans. New Orleans came into Toronto averaging 111.5 points per 100 possessions per game which ranked sixth best in the league. The Pelicans matched that pace shooting 55% from the field.

"“It just felt like we were just not quite with much pace and readiness on defence wasn’t good enough,” – said Nurse."

The Raptors, who also struggled with Milwaukee’s pace, might have discovered a weakness that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

Kryptonite? Jrue Holiday? No, probably not.

Up-tempo teams, who can get up the floor and have a high number of possessions? Yeah, maybe something to worry about.

Detroit at Toronto

There were two games circled on Raptor fans’ calendars of “must-see” matches. This one and the San Antonio Spurs.

Now there’s only one.

On an emotional night dedicated to Dwane Casey, a man who led the Toronto Raptors through their golden age, the Raptors came up short 106-104 in a disappointing loss on a buzzer beater by Reggie Bullock of the Pistons

Raptors fans showed their appreciation with a standing ovation after a first-quarter video tribute.

Despite being short three players (Serge Ibaka, C.J. Miles and Norman Powell) to injury, the Raptors played well in the first half, leading at the half 65-53.

But the Raptors went cold in the second, giving up a 19 point lead. The Raptors shot particularly bad from three-point land for the second game in a row, hitting only 20% from deep.

An 11 point Pistons run in the third and a 29-16 fourth period put the game on ice for Casey and the Pistons.

The Raps had a chance to pull ahead in the final seconds but Kawhi Leonard, who finished the game with 26 points, dribbled the ball off of his foot giving the shot back to Detroit with two seconds remaining.

What stung even more for Raptors fans was that the inbound pass to Bullock for the winning shot was from none other than former Raptor Jose Calderon.

After the winning shot, Casey couldn’t hide his emotions and ran into the court to celebrate with his team.

"”He would never say it, but anytime you come back to a place you spent so much time at, had so much success, and obviously the fans love him here, to win Coach of the Year and switch jobs in the same year is tough,” Griffin said of Casey."

It was a tough loss for the Raptors who dropped two in a row for the first time this year.

Toronto at Boston

The odds-makers had the Celtics as favourites despite their poor start to the season. The odds-makers were right on this night as the Celtics won in overtime 123-117.

The Raptors hung in there all the way to the end despite being short up to five players at different parts of the game for various reasons.

Norman Powell and C.J. Miles were still out with injuries while Danny Green and Pascal Siakam (both!) fouled out. O.G. Anunoby fell hard on his wrist on what should’ve been a foul against the Celtics.

Kyrie Irving was the story on this night going off for 43 points and 11 assists on the Raps. He scored 17 points in the final eight minutes of the fourth quarter and was a part of every point in overtime.

"“Kyrie did a great job in the fourth quarter knocking down shots,”  said Kawhi Leonard."

Leonard had 31 points himself in what was turning into quite the shootout between the two stars.

The difference? Kyrie was able to make shots in crunch time, and for the second night in a row, Leonard could not.

Another issue? Lack of ball movement. Perhaps it was because the team was short five players, but the ball seemed to get stuck a little too often down the stretch, particularly in Kawhi’s hands.

There’s no doubt Leonard is the Raptors best option as he can often beat his defender in a number of ways but the Raptors have several other prospects who can score including a vastly improved Siakam.

The Raptors will increase their odds of winning any tight game if they can become a little less predictable.

Toronto at Chicago

The Raptors rolled into town to beat a depleted Chicago Bulls squad 122-83 and move to 13-4 on the season.

Missing Kawhi Leonard, O.G. Anunoby, C.J. Miles and Norman Powell didn’t matter. The Raptors started Fred VanVleet, and it paid off. He was electric with 18 points, four assists, and four rebounds.

Pascal Siakam scored 12 adding eight boards while Kyle Lowry added eight points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.

Lowry came down funny on his ankle in garbage time. The injury may highlight a need for Nurse to be more careful with his starters minutes, particularly Lowry who was on a rest program last year.

The Raptors started strong and never looked back. A 13 point first half lead expanded to 33 after a huge Raptor third quarter as they outscored the Bulls 32-12 in the period.

The Raptors shot better as a team from three, hitting 14 of 35 from deep. Danny Green had a strong shooting night Green going 7-for-7 from the field, including going perfect from deep

The 39 point victory was Toronto’s largest margin of victory on the road in franchise history.