The Raptors completed a recent impressive West Coast swing, where they posted a 4-1 record, accentuated with a 103-101 staple win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
With momentum riding on their side, the Raptors found themselves on the losing end in their following two games against Eastern Conference foes. They fell to the New York Knicks at home again, as they have not been able to beat them yet this year. The Raptors would then drop a road matchup against the Orlando Magic, evening the season series at one win apiece.
Fortunately, Toronto was able to put an end to the two-game losing skid with a narrow home win against the Utah Jazz on February 1. However, there have been some glaring issues that have presented themselves with their play over the last week.
Not to discount how well the Raptors have played so far this season. Many will look at them as ‘over-achievers’ in the East, as they currently sit at fourth in their Conference. That being said, if they want to position themselves for a deep playoff run, they must work to clean up these areas — some of which they may need to address by looking out-of-house.
Here are some areas of focus that stood out while covering the Raptors on the road.
3 issues to address moving forward for the Toronto Raptors
1. 3-Point Shooting
Probably the area that the Raptors need to address the most at the deadline is three point shooting. Over their last two losses, they went 14-for-54 on 25.9% shooting, which has them as the third worst three-point shooting team in the league. Mind you, they only rank 24th in three-point attempts, but you still want to see them knock down more than a quarter of their shots from beyond the arc.
Also, they did happen to improve in their win against the Utah Jazz, shooting 34% from three off of 12-for-35 shooting. However, Toronto was up against the worst defensive team in the league as the Jazz rank 30th in defensive rating. Perhaps a call to the Atlanta Hawks for Luke Kennard could help in this area?
2. Perimeter Defense
The Raptors have been hit and miss when guarding the perimeter. They were able to get back on track against the Utah Jazz who rank 20th in 3PT%, but their loss to the Magic was largely in part to their inability to close out on threes. Against a team that ranks 27th in 3PT%, it feels like a major missed assignment that can’t be overlooked.
Desmond Bane made them pay in that department going 7-for-10 to make up his 32 points against the Raptors. That was one of the main difference makers on January 30 as to why Orlando came out on top. Especially when Toronto as a team ranks just behind Orlando in threes at 28th in the league, it makes it extremely difficult to come from behind in the three point department.
Again, we saw an improvement against the Jazz holding them to 8-for-36 for 22% shooting from beyond the arc. But as I addressed in the last point, the Jazz rank 20th in 3PT%. The Raptors need to buckle down in this department against elite shooting teams, like the New York Knicks who rank 3rd in the league.
3. Bench Consistency
While this year’s bench unit has been regarded as the ‘Bench Mob 2.0’, there has been some lack of bench consistency, which was quite evident in the loss to Orlando. Ja’Kobe Walter was the only player in double-digit scoring with 13 points off the bench, which puts a lot of the onus on Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram to score. That was very much the case against Orlando, as both Barnes and Ingram combined for 54 points in the loss while both logging 35 minutes.
When asked about the lack of bench production, Coach Darko had this to say:
"For a big part of the season, they're doing a really good job and they are our true power. Those guys are coming in a lot of times off the bench…bringing energy and taking us to another level. Thanks to our second second unit we won a lot of games this year…but we lacked that tonight outside of Ja’Kobe we did not get that usual support not just offensive but on defensive as well."
While Coach Darko has a case for the bench being a big part of some of their wins this season, it’s hard to ignore the fact that they rank 24th in bench scoring with 32.2 PPG as per StatMuse. Relating back to the first point, providing a boost in three-point production would be something the Raptors should consider at the deadline.