Three takeaways from Toronto Raptors sound defeat of the Brooklyn Nets

In a possible first round preview, the Toronto Raptors took care of business against the Brooklyn Nets, defeating them 115-105.

Seeding has been decided, late-season momentum is a myth, so why exactly do the Toronto Raptors final games matter? Well, because sitting for multiple weeks before a playoff series would throw players off their rhythm, and generally, whenever you have a basketball team on the court you at least want to push them towards playing their best.

With a remarkably easy schedule, the Raptors have been heating up as of late. Despite a few shaky efforts and a couple of DNP-rests (under a new name at this time), they’ve won five straight.  With beatable opponents in each of their last three games, they could enter the playoffs with eight straight wins and a franchise-record-tying 59-23 record.

What did we learn from their win against the Nets on Wednesday night? Quite a few interesting developments.

Turnovers

Since the Marc Gasol trade, the Toronto Raptors are averaging 14.2 turnovers per game, ranking 20th in the NBA. After March 1, the number shoots up to 15.0 per game, 25th in the NBA.

Over the past two months, turnovers have been the Achilles heel of remarkably hot-shooting Toronto offense. — The Raptors have the highest true-shooting-percentage in the NBA since the Gasol trade. — It makes sense. New players still working themselves into the offense, miscommunication is going to happen.

So when Toronto only turned it over seven times against the Nets, it was a good sign. The Raptors didn’t shoot the ball particularly well in this contest, and yet, they were still able to defeat Brooklyn due to the additional shots (105-86) they were able to generate.

With more time to gel, perhaps the offense is starting to turn the corner. They’ve been good of late. However, reducing turnovers in the postseason still should be a top priority.

Get well OG Anunoby

Ruled out of Wednesday’s contest due to concussion symptoms, it’s time to worry about OG Anunoby’s postseason availability/readiness. The good news is he’s reportedly passed all concussion protocol and the decision to hold him out has been largely cautionary.

But it’s never encouraging when you miss three games late in the season. Pile on top that OG hasn’t had exactly the smoothest year in terms of development, and it’s understandable to worry about his postseason standing.

Concussions are nothing to play with, and if OG doesn’t feel 100-percent he absolutely should not step on the court. However, with a shorter playoff rotation, if he’s not able to suit up in any of the next three games, his postseason minutes could be extremely limited.

See you soon?

If the playoffs started today (they don’t), the Raptors and Nets would be squaring off as the 2-7 matchup. Nurse stated publicly that he would be playing a vanilla defense all game in order to prevent giving Kenny Atkinson and company any additional film to prepare with. The Nets needed a win, and as a result, could not be as judicious in their approach.

Well, it turns out, even the Raptors vanilla defense is enough to beat the Nets, as Toronto improved to 3-1 against the New York borough on the season. If these teams do meet in the first round, don’t expect the Raptors to have any difficulties.