Toronto Raptors: 3 takeaways from 2018-19 season opener

3. Despite results, room for improvement

The Toronto Raptors did a great job trying to utilize certain sizable matchups on the wings being able to switch on any player, but had a lot of issues in the disciplinary category, giving 29 personal fouls and 39 free throw attempts.

Its only one game and the fouls could be chalked up as an over-aggression on the defensive end due to the immense energy to deliver in the home opener, but giving up the third-most fouls among all NBA teams isn’t showing much discipline. Last year, the Raptors were 27th in personal fouls given, and have to do a much better job of finding ways to play aggressive without giving opponents free attempts at the line.

The team played well on the defensive end overall, despite a rocky start in the first quarter giving nine freebies to the opposition. The Raptors still need a lot more improvement on perimeter defending the long-ball, as the Cavaliers hit 36.8 percent of their looks from beyond the arc despite missing a lot of good looks. The Cavs are a shell of themselves offensively without the playmaking and shot creation of LeBron James, but were still able to get plenty of open looks beyond the arc. Fortunately for Toronto, the opposition wasn’t able to get them to drop.

On the other side of the court, the Raptors’ offense — despite being stagnant at times, which is to be expected when integrating two focal offensive weapons in Green and Leonard — had an effective field goal percentage of 56.5 percent.

At the point guard position, Lowry and VanVleet didn’t skip a beat, and there was no lack of production when Lowry came off the court. In the limited minutes the two players’ rotations coincided, they were able to penetrate the lane with ease despite being the two smallest guards on the court. This buzzer-beater at the half by Lowry tells the story:

Near the end of the game, it was a tough going. What was once a 20-point lead was cut down to eight with still five minutes remaining. The closing line-up of Lowry-VanVleet-Green-Leonard-Serge Ibaka was not getting it done. The Cavaliers, slightly struggling up until the fourth quarter, were able to collect missed shots, out-rebounding the small-ball Toronto lineup.

Leonard (six) was the only Raptor to collect more then two rebounds in the last quarter. Once Siakam substituted in for VanVleet, the small-ball lineup got much larger, and was able to utilize its length, switching on defenders and protecting the paint. In fact, Siakam had a block in their first defensive attempt, turning the ball over and extending their lead.

The Raptors will be experimenting with lineups all season long with eyes on postseason success, and this was only one game, but they will have a lot more to improve upon then one would originally expect.