3 hot takeaways as Raptors choke away golden opportunity vs. Kings
By Mike Luciano
The Toronto Raptors are currently running on fumes, as they lost five of their last seven games in what was supposed to be an “easier” part of the schedule. The Sacramento Kings did not provide the welcome home reprieve that Fred VanVleet, Scottie Barnes, and the rest of the squad were hoping for.
The Raptors were on the losing end of a 124-123 nailbiter that saw the Toronto defense completely fade down the stretch. With Toronto now in last place in the competitive Atlantic Division, it’s fair to wonder how much panic is going around that team.
While Sacramento is a much-improved opponent with a solid offense, and the Raptors were missing OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa, that should not excuse being up by 16 points in the middle of the second quarter and eventually losing at home to a team that played on Tuesday.
The Raptors will embark on a stretch in which they play 13 games in a row against teams with a winning record. With that nightmare stretch coming up, it’s hard to take much away from this game other than some very concerning observations.
3 hot takeaways as the Toronto Raptors blow home lead, lose to Kings.
1. The Raptors are the worst shooting team in the league.
The Raptors have shot under 30% from 3-point range in six of the last eight games. Coincidently, the Raptors have lost six of their past eight games. It took true Sherlock Holmes-level detective work to find the connection between those two trends.
In an NBA that is moving more towards 3-point shooting than ever before, Toronto rolling out lineups that often feature three complete non-shooters is not a viable strategy for a team trying to make some noise in the postseason. Toronto abused a suspect Kings interior defense, and it ultimately was in service of a tough home loss.
The Toronto Raptors have serious shooting issues.
The only qualified players making more than 33% of their 3-point attempts on this roster are Otto Porter Jr. (who has missed 20 games) and perennial benchwarmer Malachi Flynn. When so many proven shooters are struggling, that’s either a sign that a hot streak is due or something is very wrong behind the scenes.
The Raptors’ success under Nurse came with an array of snipers from beyond the 3-point line. Being efficient and limiting turnovers, two things Toronto can do on any given night, are great offensive philosophies, but the 3-point line can’t be neglected or exploited this poorly by a team with playoff aspirations.