Toronto Raptors’ franchise record win streak highlights fantastic February

Outlier Performances

There are always some games that the Toronto Raptors play that just stick out, for good and bad reasons. February was no different, with the Raptors having some good and bad outlier performances. The loss against the Brooklyn Nets that snapped the 15-game win streak is this month’s bad outlier performance.

The Nets seemed to come out the gates faster than Toronto in that contest, jumping out to a 30-19 lead in the second quarter. It was a 52-40 lead at halftime and the Nets never gave up the lead after the break. They withstood the multiple comeback efforts by the Raptors and ended up winning the game 101-91. The energy didn’t seem right from the start for Toronto and they tried to get it going when it was too late.

They shot pretty bad that night, having a 37.8 field goal percentage and a 30.2 three-point percentage.  The bench failed to show up, only scoring nine points on an awful 21 percent shooting. In fact, the only players to shoot over 40 percent in that game were OG Annunoby (who only took 5 shots), Serge Ibaka, and Fred VanVleet. It was an off night offensively and it ended up costing the Raptors.

They also were beaten on the boards, being outrebounded by the Nets 64-52. They also were outscored in the paint 50-38. Marc Gasol’s presence was missed in this game, and the interior players on the Nets feasted on the boards in his absence. Having this loss snap the franchise-record win streak, and it happening right before the all-star break only made the taste of the loss more sour for Toronto.

Moving on to the positive, the Raptors’ dismantling of the Indiana Pacers is the good outlier performance of the month. They trounced the Pacers, beating them by 46 points in a game where the offence was clicking and the defence was stout. This was their biggest win of the season by far and it was never close.

The Raptors came out of the gates hot against Indiana, achieving 34-12 lead after the first quarter. When it was halftime, they nearly doubled the Pacers score at 63-32. A 42-point explosion by Toronto in the fourth put the exclamation point on a dominant 127-81 performance. Their defence was the key to this win, as they shut down the Pacers offensively.

Toronto held Indiana to 32.6 percent shooting from the field and 24.2 percent from three in the contest. They also had 10 blocks, making life really hard for the Pacers that night.  The Raptors also won the rebounding battle 57-39, including a season-high 15 boards from Ibaka. No Indiana player scored more than 15 points, which emphasizes the defensive stranglehold the Raptors had on them. It was a trademark defensive game for Nick Nurse’s squad and he had to love what he saw on that end of the floor that night.

Offensively, Toronto shot over 50 percent from the field and 38 percent from three. Pascal Siakam led all scorers with 21, followed by Matt Thomas who scored 17 points and shot 5-7 from deep. Kyle Lowry had 16 points and 11 assists, and Serge had 15 points along with the aforementioned 15 boards. The offence was clicking that night for the Raptors and Indiana has no answer. The sheer dominance displayed on both sides of the ball makes this an outlier performance for all the right reasons.

February was a short, but very successful month for the Toronto Raptors. They set a new franchise record with 15 straight wins, got some much-needed rest during the all-star break, and are now seeing their young players growing into their potential. The defending champs put everyone on notice that they are one of the best teams in the league this year with their elite defence and their above-average offence.

The Raptors have to be feeling good where they are despite the plethora of injuries they have had to endure. The Raptors look like they are starting to peak at just the right time, and that should make teams in the NBA worried. Once healthy and at their peak, the Raptors can do some serious damage, and February was just a small sample.