Week nine saw the Toronto Raptors finish with a perfect 4-0 record against a fairly easy slate of opponents. With the injury bug hitting Toronto, what Raptor performance made the top five this week?
If you’re a Toronto Raptors fan, you’ve got to feel excited about what transpired this week. Sure it wasn’t all good. Pascal Siakam, Marc Gasol and Norman Powell all went down. And when news first broke about the injuries it definitely caused a panic amongst Raptors fans everywhere, but in their absence, the team has stepped up.
Their first game of the week against the Cleveland Cavaliers was never going to be competitive. The Cavs are still a young team without an identity, and the Raptors were able to use that to their advantage, dominating the contest 133-113.
Their second game against the Detroit Pistons was another easy matchup. While the Pistons do have Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond at their disposal, Griffin hasn’t looked like himself so far this season, and the Pistons just aren’t deep enough to beat this Raptors squad. Toronto took care of business. However, it came at a brutal cost. The team lost Siakam, Gasol, and Powell all to injuries that were sustained in this game. Talk about bittersweet.
It was another easy matchup for the Raptors in their third game as they went up against the Washington Wizards. The Wizards were extremely thin at the center spot and don’t have a lot of talent beyond Bradley Beal and Davis Bertans. As expected, the Raptors came out on fire. While the game did get close at the end, the Toronto was able to secure the victory.
The final matchup against the Dallas Mavericks was the big one. The Mavericks did not have Luka Doncic and the Raptors were missing a bevy of bodies. The game didn’t look like much during the first 36 minutes as the Mavericks were able to go up by as many as 30 points. But, in heroic fashion, Kyle Lowry and the Raptors completed the HUGE 30 point comeback to beat the Mavs 110-107. It will go down as the greatest comeback in Raptors history and the first 30-point comeback in a decade.
Overall, you have to respect what this team is doing. They continue to lose players to injury. Yet, they continue to still win games. It’s been impressive to watch them the past few contests. Nick Nurse’s coaching, the team’s depth, and an easy schedule can be given the lion’s share of the credit.
With so many injuries and so many players needing to step up, which Raptor performance made the top five this week?