Week eight saw the Toronto Raptors finish with a 2-1 record against a familiar foe and some weaker eastern conference matchups. What Raptor performance made the top five this week?
It was an emotional week for not only the Toronto Raptors but for the city as a whole. Both welcomed back Kawhi Leonard to Scotiabank Arena in what was truly a festive moment. The fans got the chance to see the Raptors face off against a fully loaded Los Angeles Clippers team and got to see Leonard finally receive his championship ring.
Unfortunately for Toronto, however, they were unable to keep up the good spirits as they were bested throughout the game. While, yes, Fred VanVleet was missing, that isn’t enough to explain a 20 point blow out at home.
This was a common theme for the entire week as VanVleet ended up missing all three matchups. Fortunately for the Raptors, their other two matchups were against the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets, two beatable rosters.
The Bulls are clearly a lottery team in the Eastern Conference and lack the talent and depth that the Toronto Raptors have, so a blowout win was expected. However, Zach LaVine, along with some poor play for Toronto, allowed the Bulls to keep this game close as the Raptors squeezed out a one-point win on the road.
Their last game against the Brooklyn Nets was another matchup against a weaker conference opponent. Still a seventh seed in the East, the Nets did not have Kyrie Irving or Caris LeVert at their disposal. Yet, Brooklyn continues to find ways to win through the heroics of Spencer Dinwiddie and Jarrett Allen. The Nets kept it close for most of the game but were unable to push Toronto to the limit as the Raptors finished with a 10 point win behind Pascal Siakam‘s big night.
While the week could have gone better, the Raptors won the games they needed to win and lost one game to a superior foe. Managing to go 2-1 without Fred VanVleet, what were the top five performances from week eight?