Raptors: Grading win vs Magic on Fred VanVleet’s historic night
By Mike Luciano
The Toronto Raptors sat back and watched guard Fred VanVleet provide fans with one of the best individual performances in the 2020-21 NBA season, as he lit the Orlando Magic on fire by scoring 54 points and making 11 three-pointers. VanVleet completely took the game over on a night that will go down in Raptors history as perhaps their greatest offensive performance ever.
More importantly for Nick Nurse and the Raptors, the 123-108 win pushed them to 9-12 on the season, reigniting hope that the Raptors can shake off their 2-8 start and make it to the postseason. Of one of their stars like VanVleet can get that hot from downtown, all the while remaining efficient and aggressive, the sky is the limit.
Still, while VanVleet’s unbelievable day from the field deserves every iota of praise that will be heaped upon it, not everyone played at the same elite clip. It’s time to figure out who helped the Raptors decimate Orlando, and who was merely along for the ride.
Fred VanVleet was dominant against Orlando, but some Toronto Raptors disappointed
Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Fred VanVleet played the best game any Raptor has played this season. By setting a new career-high with 54 on just 23 attempts, VanVleet set a record for points in a single game by a Raptors player. VanVleet was just shy of tying the record for threes in a game by a Raptor, as his 11 almost matched Donyell Marshall’s 12 makes.
No undrafted player in NBA history had ever scored 54 points in a game, showing how improbable and remarkable VanVleet was tonight. Anytime you overtake a Hall of Famer like Moses Malone in the record book, you’re doing something right. VanVleet’s 54 broke DeMar DeRozan’s old record of 52 points.
The Magic rotated different defenders and tried to vary their looks in an attempt to slow him down, but it was all for naught as VanVleet authored the best individual offensive performance in the history of the franchise. If VanVleet can get close to as hot as this on a somewhat regular basis, Toronto’s postseason push could easily become a reality.
Very rarely does a triple-double fly under the radar, but VanVleet’s ungodly performance on the offensive end took some of the spotlight away from Lowry. While he was just 4-11 shooting and totaled just 14 points, Lowry pulled down 10 boards and recorded 10 assists. As hot as VanVleet was, Lowry played a pivotal role in setting up the offense and making sure everything was flowing.
Lowry’s shooting was off for most of the night, as a few baskets late with the game likely decided went some way to beefing up his scoring. While Lowry didn’t have the best offensive night, especially when compared to his backcourt mate, he showed that he is capable of helping Toronto as a rebounder and distributor, making him an invaluable asset for the playoff push.
If there was one Raptor that didn’t pull his weight tonight, it was Davis. While he didn’t play very long, he was one of the few Toronto players that ended the evening with a negative plus/minus, and he failed to put himself on the scoresheet as his inconsistent shooting continues to baffle Nurse just when he thinks he’s settled on the ideal backcourt rotation.
While Davis wasn’t unwatchably bad, he could’ve used Norman Powell playing somewhat limited as a chance to make his case for more playing time. Davis didn’t ultimately hurt the Raptors that much today, but VanVleet isn’t going to shoot like this every day. When he goes to the bench and Toronto trusts Davis to hit some shots to keep them in the lead, he can’t put up goose eggs.
While not the most efficient shooting performance, Powell has the most points of any non-VanVleet player on the floor tonight, going for 23 despite starting off the day as a game-time decision. Powell has rebounded after a slow start, and he is really picking up the slack on offense without OG Anunoby.
Powell remains one of the streakiest shooters in the league, and he was clearly not playing at 100 percent in this game. Even with that, he didn’t try to settle for contested jumpers, as he attacked the rim and use his size to take advantage of mismatches against Orlando’s smaller guards. While he stat-padded at the end a bit, this was an encouraging game for Norm.
The box score doesn’t look to flattering for Siakam, as he managed just 12 points on 4-11 shooting just days after leading the Raptors in scoring against this same Orlando team. However, Siakam did a lot of the dirty work today, setting up the offense from the post while keeping a dominant big like Nikola Vucevic limited when he was on the defensive end.
Siakam not only kept Vucevic in check, with help from Aron Baynes, for most of the night, but he was able to use his passing to great effect, dishing out eight assists to make sure VanVleet had as many opportunities as possible to capitalize on his historic night. Siakam showed that even when he doesn’t have his best offensive stuff, he’s one of the most unique weapons in the NBA.
The Raptors will have a much more difficult test ahead of them, as Fred VanVleet and company will lock horns with Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.