Panic or Patience on 4 early season Toronto Raptors trends
By Mike Luciano
4. Half-court offense
The Raptors have been struggling to score in the half-court for the better part of two seasons now, and the Siakam injury has only made this issue even worse. Contending teams never put up the numbers that the Raptors do in these scenarios, and that could be an issue.
The Raptors currently rank 26th in the NBA in points per play out of half-court sets. The struggling Lakers and Clippers rank ahead of them. The four teams below them, the Pistons, Thunder, Hornets, and Rockets, are four of the five most likely candidates to win the Victor Wembanyama chase.
The Toronto Raptors must be better offensively.
Consider that those numbers are in the gutter despite having Siakam put together an All-NBA statline. Scottie Barnes and potential max contract earner Fred VanVleet are both terrific players, but both of them could stand to be a bit better when it comes to creating for themselves in these sets.
The Raptors are the best transition offense in the league, but running like this is not going to be a winning formula when the you-know-what hits the fan in the postseason. The Raptors weren’t this bad in the half-court last year, so they need to somehow get back in a groove.
Verdict: Panic
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