Three players who are starting to step up for the Toronto Raptors

Norman Powell

The enigmatic Norman Powell is beginning to return to the player that was third on the team in scoring last season.  He’s eclipsed the 20-point mark four times in the Raptors’ last six games, previously doing so just once.  Over the last ten games starting with the team’s victory in Sacramento, Powell is shooting 39 percent from downtown on almost six attempts per game, while averaging 16.7 points per game.

Powell’s +/- stats are also very telling.  Through the first seven games when the team was 1-6, he was a minus in six of them.  Over the last ten? He’s been in the negative just three times. When Powell plays well, good things usually happen for the Toronto Raptors.

Powell’s aggressiveness on both ends of the floor he gives the Toronto Raptors an added dimension.  His ability to attack the basket and get to the free-throw line provides the team with a scoring punch that they need, especially with the offensive void left by Ibaka and Gasol.  Powell tends to try to do too much on occasion, and he’ll make a bone-head decision from time to time, but overall he’s been looking like the player Raptors fans expect him to be lately.  That trend needs to continue.