Toronto Raptors: Starting To Wake Up

The Toronto Raptors have been playing poorly as of late. They’ve lost six of their last seven games and have looked like a red and white rag doll, getting tossed around by a bunch of good teams and even a very, very bad one (the New York Knicks).

But when Toronto matched up with the Cleveland Cavaliers the last time out, they finally showed something that had been missing the previous six games (even in their win over the Philly Tankers): fight. They were down by as much as 17 points early in the third quarter and the game looked over.

Indeed, they could’ve folded right there. The Cavs have been playing some great basketball of late and it would’ve been easy to have just bowed down and conceded the game. Without their leader Kyle Lowry at the helm, Toronto looked as lost and pathetic as they had the previous games.

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And then something changed. James Johnson, noted Raptor-spark, leapt into action to try and spur his team on. He dunked, laid it in and showed off his fancy footwork. Soon after, Jonas Valanciunas entered the mix with a big performance; tearing up the Cavs on the interior even with Timofey Mozgov doing a solid job defending him.

Throw in a few typical Lou Williams leaning treys and DeMar DeRozan starting to find a groove and the Raptors came storming back out of nowhere to make it just a 10-point game by the end of the third. Amazingly, they even stole the lead with 8:16 remaining in the game on a three by none other than Sweet Lou himself.

What happened next just wasn’t fair.

Against any other opponent, the Raptors might’ve pulled off their crazy comeback and taken the game. But LeBron James wasn’t having it. Once the game got to the four minute mark, he went bonkers. He hit two huge three-pointers in the grill of Terrence Ross (who was doing well to defend him), then he made a layup and some key free throws down the stretch to keep the contest well out of the Raptors’ grasp.

Yet, rather than disappointing, this game still came across as quite the opposite. Instead of being a letdown, it felt a lot more like a moral victory (if indeed those do exist) because no one had really thought the Raps would be able to handle the red-hot Cavs with the way they have been playing of late.

But they managed pretty well. Here are some of the things to note from that meeting.

1. Give Valanciunas The Dang Ball

The man dominated. When he actually had the ball in his hands, he went hard inside and attacked, attacked, attacked, which is what you love to see from a young, hungry big man trying to prove himself to the basketball world.

He finished the game with 26 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks on 12-of-17 shooting from the field in a monstrous effort. Plus he only played about 31 minutes.

Valanciunas is going to be (probably) the most important part of this squad come the playoffs. When he plays well, the rest of the team comes along. But Toronto needs to recognize when to get him the ball – which is a lot more often than they have been.

2. DeRozan Is Alive!

After coming back from injury, DeRozan has looked dismal. Even before the injury, his numbers weren’t that great.

But he started to look a bit more like himself again in the game against Philly, and then against the Cavs he looked even better. He dropped 25 points on an efficient 10-of-19 shooting, while guarding LeBron for large portions of the game.

DeMar is one of the few Raps who can create for himself and get the shot that he wants. If he really is starting to return to his All-Star level from last season, that can only mean good things.

3. Lowry Is The Fuel

Surprise, right? Toronto still needs Kyle to hit that next level: the level they want to be at come the postseason. Without him, they’re not getting past the first round.

Lowry and his ability to take over the game for a few special minutes is largely what has been the Raptors’ key to success. He does it at least once a game, no matter who they’re playing. He can turn things up all of a sudden, when he so chooses, and scorch an opponent for a select few minutes until he cools down again.

That ability turns the tide in the favor of Toronto, and they’re going to need all the waves they can get.

4. Defense Is Still An Issue … But Looked Better!

The Raptors currently have the 20th best defense in the league, which is not ideal for a team who has hopes of making it to the Eastern Conference Finals. Still, this is the East, meaning that the Raps definitely have a chance to still go far even with a mediocre defense.

They’ve got the third best offense in the league, so that helps balance things. Still, when the playoffs come around the game slows down and even high-level-offense teams often find things more difficult when the game becomes rooted primarily in the half court.

The Raps showed nice effort against the Cavs though, with Ross and DeRozan giving some surprisingly good minutes on The King himself. That’s the sort of intensity that needs to be there all the time.

The Raptors still have a long way to go, but this game was a pleasant reminder that they can be good. And hopefully, it reminded them just as much as it reminded me.

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