Toronto Raptors: 3 issues impacting Raptors’ success in 2021

The Toronto Raptors are playing too recklessly on offense

The philosophy of playing two point guards together on the basketball court has been appealing to NBA head coaches because it means ball-security and potentially error-free basketball. There are problems with doing it, like being size-challenged, which is a factor every time the Raptors play Fred VanVleet and Kyle Lowry together.

However, going into Wednesday night’s contest with the Bucks, Toronto has accumulated 417 assists but committed 255 turnovers. Lowry has missed three of Toronto’s 17 games, but that means he and VanVleet have been on the court together quite a bit. Yet, the team’s assist to turnover ratio is less than 2:1.

The Raptors’ assists totals so far are down 2.7 percent over last season, and their turnover rate is up 1.2 percent. It is no wonder then that the Raptors scoring per game is low at 110.5, and they struggle to score in the paint at just 40 per game. That speaks to the fact that Toronto is playing with too much reckless abandon, trying to make up huge deficits by playing hero ball.

While VanVleet and Lowry are first and third in team scoring, they commit 3.1 and 1.8 turnovers per game (5 combined) while distributing 13 assists. In Wednesday night’s loss to the Bucks, the two guards combined for 13 assists but committed six turnovers.

However, they are not the only culprits, as Siakam, who has seen his scoring drop 4.3 points to 18.6 per game, has also been plagued by 2.6 turnovers every time he plays. He added two more in play against Milwaukee last night. It is troubling that the team’s best and dominant ball handlers are making the most mind-numbing mistakes.