Toronto Raptors: 3 takeaways from Game 1 vs. Magic

1. Silver lining

Siakam continued his breakout season in style, Leonard showed flashes of his takeover game ability and Gasol in the first half was the best playmaker on the floor. This article so far has been outlining the unexpected outcome of the game and what contributed to that loss. This takeaway will take the positives from this game and translate them to Game 2 on Tuesday.

Since adding Gasol into the rotation, the Raptors were the best 3-point shooting team in the Association on the fourth most attempts. It helped them improve from 24th in threes made to eighth. Against the Magic they were a mediocre 33.3% from three, missing 24 attempts. This is more of an outlier than the norm for this Raptors squad. Look to see them improve in this aspect of the game.

The Raptors are also one of the strongest teams in finishing at the charity stripe at over 80 percent on the season. They were well below their average, shooting 64 percent from the free throw line in Game 1. Other statistics they were below from their season averages compared to the first game against the Magic, including steals, blocks and field goal percentage.

This was an example for the Raptors of worst-case scenario performance and the game was within a single possession. Expect the starters to play heavier minutes in the next game — Siakam was the only player who played more than 34 minutes. The team is still cohesive, supportive and hungry to get back out there and prove they are no playoff choke. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and no reason for the team to press the panic button, yet.