Anthony Davis started his first full season with the Washington Wizards off with 34 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, and 2 steals in a 12-point win against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Toronto Raptors and their defense quickly put an end to his strong start. Despite being undersized and struggling to defend Davis in past matchups, they held him to 9 points on 25% shooting, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 1 steal in 32 minutes of action and got the 10-point win.
Scottie Barnes and Collin Murray-Boyles may give up some size against Davis, but they were physical and never let him get comfortable in the paint. The only issue was Murray-Boyles’s foul trouble. He picked up five fouls in 17 minutes.
It was a nice change of pace for the Raptors after they struggled to contain Davis in past matchups.
Anthony Davis gave the Raptors plenty of trouble before
This game marked the first time since November 2022 that the Raptors held Davis to under 20 points. In the six games after that, he even scored 41 points once and recorded a double-double in five games. Even last season, when the Raptors had the fifth-best defensive rating in the NBA and won 46 games, Davis recorded 25 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and 3 steals in a win against Toronto.
The 6’10” ten-time All-Star has been a handful for the Raptors, but they finally managed to keep him in check despite having a notable size disadvantage against the Wizards. The Wizards have a rotation of Davis and two seven-footers with Alex Sarr and Deandre Ayton. The Raptors, meanwhile, rely heavily on Barnes and Murray-Boyles alongside Jakob Poeltl. That’s a much smaller three-man rotation than the Wizards trio of Davis, Sarr, and Ayton.
The Raptors’ defense is off to a good start
Two games are a small sample size, but the Raptors’ defense has looked impressive so far. They held the Bulls and Wizards to a league-best 34.8% field-goal percentage and 21.9% shooting from deep. They have also forced a league-high 50 turnovers and scored 57 points off those turnovers, which is just one point away from the best mark in the NBA.
Everyone in and around the NBA had high expectations for the Raptors’ defense once they replaced Brandon Ingram with Kawhi Leonard. If they finish with the best defense in the NBA or at least in the top three, it would be no surprise at all. However, that doesn’t make it any less impressive.
Now, they just have to maintain it for the whole season and against the best teams in the NBA.
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