3 mind-blowing stats from Raptors’ start to 2022-23 season
By Mike Luciano
Pascal Siakam, O.G. Anunoby, and the Toronto Raptors are halfway done with their gauntlet of death to begin the season, as they are playing seven consecutive games against teams expected to make the postseason. The club is 2-2 after four extremely close games.
A win against the Cavaliers at home was followed by three straight road games against the Nets and Heat. After losing two straight despite Siakam being as elite as ever, the Raptors were able to limit Miami to 90 points in a win that came without the services of Scottie Barnes.
The Raptors are leaning on their tried and true formula that they perfected last season to grind out wins. These games are low-scoring, and the offense ranks 29th in ace, but the Raptors have one of the most dominant defenses in the league. That philosophy has produced some interesting results on both sides of the floor.
These three stats show that the Raptors are not going to accept anything less than a massive improvement from 2021-22. While 2-2 might not seem like the best record in the world, they’ve proven that they can with some of the best teams in the NBA regularly.
3 mind-blowing stats from the Toronto Raptors’ first 4 2022-23 games.
3. Gary Trent Jr. and O.G. Anunoby are locking down
The start of the 2022-23 season has been uneven for both Trent and Anunoby, as they have been very mixed bags on the offensive end. Defensively, however, both of them have been nothing short of unstoppable despite some very difficult individual matchups.
Per Synergy Basketball, Anunoby and Trent are the top two players in the league when it comes to surrendering the fewest points per possession as an isolation defender. The Raptors currently have the fourth-best defense in the league in terms of points per game, and these two deserve immense credit for this performance.
Toronto Raptors: O.G. Anunoby and Gary Trent Jr. have excelled.
With Trent fresh off ranking near the top of the NBA in deflections per game and Anunoby long established as one of the best defensive players the league has to offer, both of them have become lynchpins of Toronto’s unique defensive scheme.
After being included in trade rumors all offseason long, the duo’s performance to start the year has underscored just how important these two are to the long-term plan this franchise has put in place. The Raptors aren’t going to win many shootouts, so this defensive excellence needs to stay.