3 Takeaways from the Toronto Raptors’ Dominant Win Against the Lakers

3. Not many minutes for the bench

Toronto Raptors’ coach Nick Nurse isn’t scared of limiting the bench’s minutes if he fears they aren’t ready for the challenge. This was also true at the start of the 2019-20 season where the first few games saw players like Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Terrence Davis, Matt Thomas among others receive extremely limited playtime.

The Toronto Raptors’ bench only saw Norman Powell play more than 20 minutes and he shot poorly with 25% of his shots going in. Nurse isn’t as strict with poor offensive play as he is with poor defence. But, last night, the bench didn’t show up too much.

Only three bench players saw more than 10 minutes of playtime (Powell, Ibaka, and Davis) but all three of them made six baskets out of 19 shot attempts. Their defensive ratings remained more-or-less on par with the team average of 90.9 but their weak shooting might have forced Nurse to keep going back to his starters.

Moving forward in the NBA Restart, it will be interesting to see how the Toronto Raptors’ bench steps up. Norman Powell, Serge Ibaka, and Terrence Davis have all proven they can offensive threats and despite a relatively quiet night for all three, their continued output will be essential if the Toronto Raptors want to make a deep playoff push without a bonafide superstar.