2019 NBA Playoffs: Which teams should be the most concerned right now?
5. Toronto Raptors
Game 2 went a long way in showing how the Toronto Raptors should fare in this matchup with the Orlando Magic, even if their opponent is a team that won 22 of its last 33 games in the regular season. When the Raptors are operating at full capacity, there’s nothing Orlando can really do.
However, the Magic did what any team lacking home-court advantage can hope for: steal one on the road. Thanks to their Game 1 upset on D.J. Augustin‘s game-winner, where Toronto’s playoff demons all came out to play once again, this series is tied 1-1 heading back to Orlando.
The Magic weren’t really a dominant team at home this season, posting a good-but-not-great 25-16 record within the friendly confines of the Amway Center, but they also haven’t gotten a good game out of their All-Star and leading scorer, Nikola Vucevic, who’s posted a meager 17 points and 14 rebounds combined on 6-of-21 shooting through the first two games.
Something that hasn't really been touched on: Nikola Vucevic has been a complete afterthought through two games.
— Chris Walder (@WalderSports) April 17, 2019
With that being said, that 111-82 rout Tuesday night felt like a return to form for the Raptors, whose best path to avoiding those Game 1 struggles might be to simply gift their opponent with a 1-0 advantage and just move on to Game 2. Kawhi Leonard dropped 37 points, while the strength (Marc Gasol) and length (Serge Ibaka, Pascal Siakam) of Toronto’s frontcourt continued to bother Vucevic, who’s seen double-teams all series.
Game 1 was a ton of fun for this plucky Magic squad, but unless Vucevic has a few monster performances building up, or Augustin plans on outscoring Kyle Lowry 25-0 again, it might wind up being their lone victory of the 2019 NBA Playoffs now that the Raptors exorcised their Game 1 demons.