Deflating Raptors loss delivered a stark wake-up call they simply cannot ignore

The Raptors looked incredibly close to pulling off another season-defining victory, this time over the dominant San Antonio Spurs in their last game on February 25. It was about a minute left in the third quarter when Toronto held a 15-point lead over the Spurs. That stretch was 12 minutes of intense play where the Raptors turned up their energy, got into the bonus and made 10 of 11 free throws, and executed a couple of great plays on defense along with some much-needed three-point shooting boosts.

Headed into the final quarter, the Raps held a 12-point lead at 90-78. All they needed to do was hold on to the lead, execute the right offensive plays, and stay locked in on defense to contain a Spurs team that had already struggled in the previous quarter.

Early in February, the Raptors experienced a very disappointing fourth-quarter collapse against the Timberwolves. The game seemed like an inevitable victory, but Toronto's decision-making became too frantic, resulting in numerous costly turnovers. When the Raptors couldn’t keep up with the Wolves’ blitzing output, they ultimately lost the game.

A pretty telling stat courtesy of @SNStats on X revealed:

Raptors’ talent is clear but finishing strong remains a problem

This time around, the Raptors once again let a winnable game slip through their fingers, but it wasn't due to careless turnovers or weak decisions per se. Toronto's offense simply stagnated, allowing the Spurs to go on a run. Their defense broke down and became too lackadaisical, and the Raptors failed to generate good shots, keep the ball moving, or get players moving to the right spots.

In the crucial fourth quarter, Toronto shot just 6-for-23 from the field, a mere 26.1 percent, and went 0-for-6 from three. Meanwhile, San Antonio was shooting effortlessly, going 11-for-19 from the field for a 57.9 percent clip and hitting 6-for-12 from three. The Spurs also had 10 free throw attempts but only made four of those. Even with that opportunity for the Raptors to capitalize, it just didn’t happen.

When Toronto's top scorer in the fourth is Jakob Poeltl (with all due respect), who had six points on 2-for-4 shooting, that's a major red flag. The other four starters, Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, and Immanuel Quickley all hit a wall with their offense and it just came at a horrible time. There was a game not too long ago where the Raptors found themselves in a similar spot, that time against the Chicago Bulls. Luckily, Brandon Ingram stepped up on offense just enough to give them the push they needed to secure the win.

Here's my problem with the loss and the uncomfortable truth Toronto had to face as a result. The Raptors' defense has been praised all year, currently ranking sixth in defensive rating, much of that thanks to Scottie Barnes. But here’s the thing: in that fourth quarter, their defense was less than desirable.

I know how heralded the Raptors have been this season for being the league's best fast break team, passing the ball effectively, and looking to score inside. Personally, though, I feel no matter how good you are in those categories, if the team on the other side is shooting hot — and we all know Toronto's three-point shooting is a glaring weakness — it’s going to bite the Raptors hard. People can say what they want, but I believe three-point shooting matters a lot, and it’s only going to become more crucial in high-stakes, pressure situations like the playoffs.

Toronto simply doesn’t have consistent shooters outside of Brandon Ingram and Immanuel Quickley, and we saw that the Raps can’t just rely on BI to save the day in clutch moments. He clanked his potential game-tying three off the back of the corner backboard. The Raptors' formula can hold up all game, but if it falls apart in the fourth quarter and the other team starts exploiting your weaknesses, it spells trouble in more ways than one.

I'm not even saying that three-point shooting alone will save this team. Honestly, any kind of offense would have helped, especially from a guy like Scottie Barnes, who should have taken the initiative to play more aggressively when the game was on the line.

Then again, I do acknowledge it's a back-to-back against one of the NBA's elite, coming off a showdown with the Thunder the night before, so there’s a bit of grace. But things are only going to get tougher and tighter from here. But fourth quarters are do-or-die moments. When opposing defenses contain your best players, who steps up when everything else is falling apart? Unfortunately for the Raptors, they don’t have many offensive bright spots or specialists who can rescue them from a slump, and that's just the blunt truth of it all.