Toronto Raptors: Three keys to series win vs Brooklyn Nets
By Jason Mills
Offensive Consistency
The Toronto Raptors, with one game left to play against the Denver Nuggets in the bubble, are the 13th best team in producing points this season. With no true superstar as Kawhi Leonard now plays for the Los Angeles Clippers, the team has relied upon Kyle Lowry (19.4 points per game) re-emerging as an offensive threat and Pascal Siakam (22.9 points per game) ascending to the all-star class of player. This season has also seen Norman Powell re-emerge as a key member of the team averaging 16 points per game.
This edition of the Toronto Raptors also connects on 37.2% of their three-point attempts and get scoring production from a variety of players. The problem is that the Raptors score in streaks and can go stretches of play without scoring.
A recent example is the 114-106 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks Monday night. With about 8:00 minutes left in the final quarter, the Raptors led this game 103-83. The Raptors were outscored 23-11 down the stretch.
In the first game in the Orlando bubble against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Raptors had three double-digit leads starting the game on a 10-0 burst before securing the win 107-92. In their only loss in the 8 game bubble schedule against the Boston Celtics, the Raptors gave up 122 and scored just 100 points on 42.7 percent shooting from the field and 26.3 percent from three-point range.
Pascal Siakam, Toronto’s top scorer this season, is just 41/104 for 39.4 percent shooting in his first seven games in Orlando. Siakam, in an interview, stated that during the Covid-19 break that he went “around three months without actually playing or shooting the basketball.”
The rust in his game has been evident. Also, except for his 23 point outburst against the Lakers, OG Anunoby has not taken a bigger role offensively only averaging 9.6 points per game since the restart of the season.
Thankfully, it appears that Siakam will be matched up against Nets power forward Rodion Kurucs who will require help guarding Siakam. Any double-teaming by the Nets in this individual match up provides Siakam with open teammates to pass to and the Raptors are great when they move the ball on the offensive end.